We’re taking you back to the fundamentals of our trade with a 13-part series on the 13 ethics of hospitality–brought to you by Director of Ops. Greg Nasser. Read on for part 2.
#2 Effective Communication & Honesty – Answers you give and promises you make to guests and teammates must be accurate and true. Always follow through on the promises you make.
Is everything on your menu exactly what you are serving? If you have “organic strawberries” listed on the menu, are they actually organic? This ethic—honesty—should be firmly planted at each step of the decision-making process.
When a guest asks you a question that you may not know the answer to, honesty in hospitality reminds us to seek out the correct answer from a reputable source.
Effective communication is about closing the loop. Following through with all communication is an important step for creating trust and accountability among your team, your partners, and your guests.
Feeling frustrated and/or discouraged is normal and often unavoidable when working in hospitality (and any industry, really). Given that a wide variety of circumstances can change your working environment within minutes, practicing honesty inwardly can help you understand what has caused you to have those feelings. Once you understand the triggers of your frustration, the next step is communicate effectively to prevent negative circumstances from derailing you again. You gain full control of the outcome of almost all incidents when you allow yourself to identify with your feelings through honesty.
At Beretta—our very first restaurant—General Manager Tom Kennedy practices the ethic of honesty on a daily basis. He follows through on his word, following through on all promises made to his staff and rewards them for achieving great results. Tom always seeks to find the right answer to a question—no matter the circumstance. When he has the answer, he follows through in communicating it.