Let me show you how it's done*

Tonight I got to do a role playing exercise with our new employees. It’s always my favorite part about hiring new people. I remember when I was new I wanted to quit after about two weeks because I was so intimidated by employees that had been there for so long. Most of the employees when I first started did not treat others with the respect they deserved, and it definitely got to me at times. I tried to remember my experience as I became the experienced one, and new people looked to me for guidance. I didn’t want them to feel the same way I did.

At the end of the shift for the trainees, they are usually quizzed on what they have learned or sat down for some review to refresh their minds. Training can be pretty intense at Olive Garden, you have to remember menu items, how to describe them, how they taste (employees get a chance to taste them of course), the different wines, what wines go with what meal, and what to suggest for an appetizer; it can add up to a lot to remember.

I got the chance to sit down with the trainer and three new employees and pretend that I was out to eat while they took my order. I always try to be realistic and use what I have encountered before, which is not always that pleasing.

In the first scenario, the trainer and I were on our lunch break and were in a hurry to get back. The server greeted us, and I interrupted her, which happens often, as she asked if we’d like a sample of wine. “No wine samples, ma’am, we can’t drink on our lunch break.” She stepped back and took a deep breath, and I could tell she was nervous. She then asked what other drinks we’d like and started naming what the restaurant had. I interrupted her again, “Actually ma’am we are in a huge hurry and know everything we want, can we order now?”

NOTE- No matter how much of a hurry a customer is in, servers are still going to get the drinks before anything else, so it doesn’t actually speed things up to order all-at-once.

She smiled and politely listened as we gave our orders. I tried not to be too picky yet. When she came to check on us, I interrupted and said we were fine. When she was talking to another employee for a minute, I waved my hand at her to come over to our table. “Ma’am we need to get going, can we get boxes and our check?”

As she was handing me the “check” I handed my card to her right away. “You can just take it now, we need to get going.”

NOTE- Usually when servers drop a customer’s check they don’t have time to get change right away. They have other tables to check on and it only puts them more behind schedule when customers think they are the only table being taken care of.

For the next scenario, we were out to eat for a friend’s 21^st birthday. We were loud, obnoxious, cheap, picky… as disruptive as we could be. I ordered a bottle of wine for the whole table, and our server asked for everyone’s I.D.s except mine (Red flag! Ask everyone for his/her I.D.).

The final scenario was perfectly pleasant. I didn’t want the new hires to think everyone was terrible all the time. Most of the time, tables are pleasant. However, they needed to know what it was like to encounter ones that weren’t. Maybe next time I’m training I will do a “dine and dash.”