Q & A Table of Contents
His Lateness Undercuts Confidence
From: Jin, Sydney, Australia
Question: One Bar Manager has worked for five years in my hotel. He started as a ‘Bar Useful’, then worked as a Bartender, and moved to the cellar operations two years ago continuing with the title of Bar Manager.
His reliable and responsible work record has led to his promotion, six months ago, to Bar Manager. I am the Beverage Manager who takes all responsibility of controlling four managers in hotel. Finally, the General Manager is a stickler for discipline and punctuality and a strong believer in the need for management staff.
My hotel is a very large and busy hotel. The Bar Manager is usually late at least twice a week. Consequently, I have noticed that other staff have begun to comment on his lateness.
I am perturbed that he is not honouring his obligation to be on time and that he has been chastised by the General Manager, during one of his inspections of the back-of-house areas of the hotel.
How should I approach this situation, recommendation, please.
Response: You should take your approach in two directions. First you should confer with the General Manager to gain an understanding of his concerns. Do they relate to getting the job done, staff reliability, his reputation with his superiors, the General Manager’s assessment of your performance as a manager, something personal in the General Manager’s feelings about the Bar Manager’s behavior — or other issues?
You should continue your inquiries through conversation with other people you manage. Do they know anything — or have any theories about why the Bar Manager is late for work? If he continues to get away with lateness, what impact will that have on other members of the staff in terms of morale, respect for the rules, or an increased workload while waiting for him to arrive?
The second direction you need to take is direct communication with the Bar Manager. If you have done your homework with the General Manager and the staff members, you will have a sense of how far you can or should be prepared to go. Part of your homework should reveal your BATNA, your Best Alternative To a Negotiated Agreement. Perhaps there is someone else on staff who could replace the tardy Bar Manager. Perhaps he should be put on warning or probation so that members of the staff and the General Manager know you are taking decisive action and yet being humane.
You need to find out why the Bar Manager is late so often: is he testing the system, does he have a health problem that requires medical appointments that conflict with his starting time, is he taking time off to look for another job? There are many possibilities, and the only way you can gain useful information is to ask the Bar Manager — even if other members of the staff have given you an explanation of his behaviour, you need to verify the accuracy of the information.
Once you’ve got a sense of what information you need, what expectations the General Manager has, and the impact of the situation on other staff members — and yourself — you will have developed a strategy and a series of tactical objectives that should give you more confidence when you approach the Bar Manager himself.
The hardest part about dealing with someone in this situation is that no one wants to be a ‘bad guy’. Taking a serious approach to the Bar Manager is a way you can be a ‘good guy’ for yourself, your boss, the staff — and the hotel. You may also be doing the Bar Manager a favour by being honest with him and getting him to face reality.
Plan ahead. Do your homework. Your ultimate dealings with the Bar Manager will go better as a result.
Good luck,
Steve
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