Empowering Your Team

Empowerment has been variously defined as the authority or power given to someone to do something, or perhaps, better the process to become stronger and more confident.  Empowering your people is a form of reinvestment back to your staff that long term, will help you not just retain them, but create a work environment they enjoy showing up to daily.  Knowing that they are part of the process will give them the confidence and strength to WANT to come to work every day.

While this seemingly may present various challenges for some up front, we want to take that time to reinvest in their education and build them up so that they continue to invest in your business. 

I remember a few years ago when I was running operations, I presented a dish to my saute cook for a special and he looked at me like, “Chef, we can do better.”  I thought to myself, he’s not bought into this dish.  I said to him “If you can re-plate this and it looks better than mine, we’ll roll with it.” and he did just that.  He re-plated it from a view I hadn’t thought about.  It was gorgeous.  I gave him the props he deserved and we went about service.  He took such pride in the dish that everytime one sold, I saw the smile light up his face.  That was the same dish we presented to the FOH team at pre-shift and I could see from the moment we showed it, they were bought in.  I had to put my ego aside at that moment, for the greater good of not just the dish, but for the evening's service.  Had I presented the waitstaff the dish I plated, they may not have bought in, and we may not have moved any of that product that evening.

Point being, we need to be able to empower our employees to make “in the moment” decisions sometimes, to help guide us in leading our operations.  From that moment on, I knew that I had to give him some authority to make some decisions, and that was just what he did with the special we put together.  He made the decision that he wasn’t bought in and wanted to contribute to our success.  I didn’t just give him the power to make a change in the moment, but for us to look at it from a different perspective and to continue to build that trust for one another.  We can do more with an extra set of eyes, ears and brains than just ourselves as leaders.

How are you empowering your team to be great today?