So how did it go?

quote:

I maintain that the job of a manager is to uphold the best interests of the owner(s) of the business. That is where your loyalty should be, not to an employee who is degrading the quality of the product, alienating the staff, and giving the customers an inferior product.

Concur.

That means being "the bad guy" when required.

Do it now.

I understand your feelings, I don't enjoy firing people either. You are a good man, but its time to be a good manager. You are going to start losing customers and staff, and you will start to lose your respect from the staff also. Fire this guy and watch how much your staff respects you and applauds your decision. Ill bet morale will jump 1000% after you do it, and the staff will know here is a guy who has our backs, and doesn't screw around.

Do it, you have to. You know you have to. Its not pleasant, but its your duty and your job.

As a person coming from the customer side of this type of thing you are already losing business due to this guy.

The regular customers might give you another chance, but first timers will NEVER come back if the food tastes like crap. And after a second crappy meal, the regulars will write you off as well.

Not to mention the kitchen crew you will have to hire to replace the ones that leave, which will result in more hiring headaches.

Cut your losses now.

quote:

Originally posted by rusbro:
Sounds like there are just too many serious problems, and...

quote:

Originally posted by Ronin1069:
Worst of all, literally everything I have tasted that he’s created…was not good...He made products that were not on the approved list (and they did not look good) and brought new dishes out for the owners to try….that were not appetizing.

...if the food is truly not up to par, then that's something you can't and shouldn't have to fix. I say that knowing that different people have different ideas of what's good, what's in style, etc., and that you should make sure it's him that's out of step and not the reverse.

Nothing to add to this, but I would also take a look at any hard data - complaints, cash register trends, etc.

The other question is, how did you wind up hiring him and what would you change about how you hire for the position going forward?

When I had to let someone go for any reason, I would get them an interview with someone else for a position better suited to their abilities.

Made termination less traumatic for everyone plus saved on unemployment costs.

The tone of that text message tells me he’s all about dick measuring contests and that’s gonna cost you everyone you have that’s worth keeping.

I concur with everyone saying that it is time for him to go. The job of a subordinate is to do his job and to alert superiors to potential problem areas and to make knowledgeable suggestions on how to improve the business. He is not the CEO; he is a supervisor charged with operating an already successful operation. He is NOT a decision maker.

It seems as if all he is doing is causing problems. Replacing multiple skilled and happy employees will be harder than replacing one troublesome manager.

He was hired to do a job and failed to meet set expectations. You have warned him and discussed multiple times and he continues doing a subpar job. Time to move on and find someone that is a better fit.

At the point in the process I'd be concerned ownership was taking a hard look at me and my ability to manage their busines with a hire like this.

You okay, Ronin?

UPDATE

quote:

Originally posted by arfmel:
You okay, Ronin?

My head is about to explode. Working for an entrepreneur can sometimes be a major pain-in-the-ass....I am so f'ing pissed off right now. Unbeknownst to me, Owner gave Chef a jump-drive with all of our recipes on it...he in turned downloaded said jump drive to his laptop.

Owner called me late Sunday night and told me I cannot fire him yet....he has our recipes. Owner has not ever had anyone sign any type of non-compete, or any type document to protect our intellectual property. Just add it to the elevety-billion number of things I have found I need to take care of in the 3 months I have worked here.

I've researched these types of docs and found that in most/all cases, they are good from the date they are signed. They do not include anything that may have happened prior to signing the document. Meaning....if Chef wanted to go out and sell cook books with our recipes in them...he probably could.

The past couple days have been 'circle the wagons' mode for me. Meeting with the staff, and then meeting with him. I put him on a very strict action plan, and am busting his ass every time he strays from it. Owner is out of town; so I am keeping things above water as best I can for right now. Hopefully I can get him to sign something saying he will delete any recipes he has in exchange for some type of severance....I need to get this done.

Side gripe....I have worked for owner just 3 short months. It's not my first time working in a situation like this, but I've been 'corporate' for the past decade or so. It's been awhile since I've had my phone blow up at all hours of the day/night because of a whim Owner has. Time for a come-to-Jesus meeting when owner gets back into town. I cannot focus on the priorities (like creating some freeking budgets so that the staff stops spending money on shit) when I am constantly pausing to answer Owner's text messages and emails.

I could have worse problems I guess.

I suppose you're right, you could have worse problems but damn if you don't have a full plate of tough ones as they are. You have my sympathy for what's going on - especially as it seems a lot of the issues are brought on by the owner and ought not to be if he'd let you do the job you were hired to do.

ouch.

Is the owner ignorant of what is happening with this chef that he would give him a thumb drive of his recipes?

I don't see what waiting for will do you since he already has the recipes.

For what little good it would do you, you might as well slip in a non-disclosure agreement for him to sign as part of the condition of getting a two-week severance package.

The good news is the chef probably thinks your recipes are shit as he wouldn't have switched from butter to margarine. One can only hope that he would simply "improve" on your recipes. I still think you have to lay him off sooner than later. Later isn't going to help your situation. And the constraints you have to put on him in the meantime is simply going to chafe him and make him more resentful.

quote:

The good news is the chef probably thinks your recipes are shit as he wouldn't have switched from butter to margarine.

That made me laugh out loud!

quote:

Originally posted by Ronin1069:

quote:

The good news is the chef probably thinks your recipes are shit as he wouldn't have switched from butter to margarine.

That made me laugh out loud!

For real!
Let me count the number of things I personally think are better with margarine... seriously, hang on, this could take a while...
.
.
.
.
Yeah, ZERO!!!
I never buy that stuff.

Damn John. Is this standard procedure to give the chef all of the recipes like this in the restaurant business? I understand they need access, but to be able to have them take them from the building? The owner should be the only one with digital access and print out the recipes, laminate them, and put in a binder that does not leave the kitchen. If one of the pages gets destroyed, a new copy is made and a one for one exchange is done.

Even a non-compete is only good for a certain amount of time. After the time expires, he can do as he wishes with the recipes.

I feel bad for you having to go through this and trying to clean things up. Is the owner new to this? A meeting would definitely be high on the priority list when he returns.

As was made clear by my apparently terrible made-up examples when trying to be helpful in another thread on legal advice, I'm no lawyer.

But have you ever tried to protect a recipe as IP of even know anyone who has. I believe it is exceedingly rare, especially down at the restaurant level.

The recipe for Coca-Cola is one thing.

The rib rub and garlic aoli at such and such bistro is a different thing entirely.

On top of which, just about every kitchen employee at every professional kitchen has most of the recipes if they want them. They have to have them to prep and cook, after all.

I'd ask a legal professional, of course, but your entrepreneur boss may have unrealistic expectations with respect to those recipes, none of which are probably all that unique in the first place, and are easy to change and make "unique" again.

quote:

Unbeknownst to me, Owner gave Chef a jump-drive with all of our recipes on it...he in turned downloaded said jump drive to his laptop.

The owner is a FUCKING IDIOT. Nothing to stop pain in the ass Chef from writing a cook book or starting his own business?

O.P., you might want to freshen up your resume before the shit storm comes your way.