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www.ohiorestaurant.org 15 Summer 2012 Issue

There’s a learning curve in every profession, and you have to make mistakes before you can learn the right way to get the job done. No matter how smart you are, the best way to learn is experience, whether from your education or your work history. Seasoned restaurateurs say their previous jobs helped them succeed, but they learned few lessons the hard way.

Here are a few success strategies restaurateurs shared with NRA Partner CareerBuilder:

• Look for staff who care about what they make and sell. Ryan Lowder, owner, Copper Onion and Plum Alley, Salt Lake City, looks for people who understand food and wine and care about both. “When we hire for the back of the house, we ask what cookbooks they use and what they do in their spare time,” Lowder says. “In the front of the house, we ask [wait staff candidates] their opinions about wine. If you have someone out there selling wine, they should understand it and care about it.”

• Don’t wing it. James Sinclair, CEO of OnSite Consulting, brought a technical and business background to the restaurant industry and suggests having a detailed plan before starting. “If you and I wanted to start an insurance frm, we would [learn] the metrics of success and the break-even points before even considering it,” he says. In restaurants, because they’re fun and the barriers so low, people often dive in headfrst and sometimes drown, he adds. “Treat a restaurant like you would any service- and product-based business.”

• Fix only what’s broken. Jeff Flancer, owner, Flancer’s Restaurant in Gilbert and Mesa, Ariz., has learned the hard way over 30 years to follow customers suggestions -- up to a point. “If I thought about fxing something, and I see that suggestion on a comment card from a customer, I know that I should make it happen,” he says. “But I don’t drive myself crazy making every change. A change should make things better for everyone, including yourself and staff.” • Hire the right people, and keep them. Bert Smith opened his frst restaurant,

Plank Road Steakhouse in North Carolina, three years ago. He says part of his success comes from bringing on the right people and doing everything possible to reduce turnover. He says he hasn’t hired anyone new in the kitchen in two years, and most of the serving staff has been there since opening. He says management selects many candidates who come from personal references. “We are almost like an extended family,” he says. “We try to fnd people who like people because you cannot teach those skills.”

This content was prepared for NRA Partner CareerBuilder by Larry Buhl. National Restaurant Association (NRA) Partner CareerBuilder and its niche restaurant website, JobsOnTheMenu. com, provide NRA members access to the best talent at a cost effective price. Ohio Restaurant Association (ORA) restaurant members, who have dual membership in the ORA and the NRA should call (877) 513-4867 to learn more about special pricing opportunities available to them.

Social media has found its niche when it comes to restaurant marketing. From Facebook, to Twitter, to Yelp, restaurants and their employees use these sites to engage with customers. But is the monitoring of employee social media accounts the right thing for employers to do?

Since social media is commonplace, it would seem that requesting that either an employee or job applicant provide his or her username and password for an employer to access private social media information may seem like a sound, proactive approach to protect other employees, customers and the general good name of the business. While this practice may be little more than what the company already does in performing routine checks on the internet to monitor and prevent potential problems in the workplace, there are many pitfalls that make the practice rare and unadvisable.

Yet, Ohio is looking to follow the charge of other states includingMaryland, California, Illinois and New York, in prohibiting employers from requesting social media and personal email information from current and potential employees.

Ohio’s pending social media privacy protection bill

On May 24, 2012, State Senator Charleta Tavares introduced S.B. 351, which would make it an “unlawful discriminatory practice” for an employer to either ask or require a job candidate or current employee to disclose usernames or passwords, or provide access to that person’s private electronic account. The bill defnes a “private electronic account” broadly. This includes all private information stored on a social media internet website – such as Facebook, YouTube, Pinterest or Twitter – as well as in email or on electronic devices.

An employer also cannot fre an employee or fail to hire an applicant because the person refused to provide access to their private social media information. The bill, however, would not prohibit employers from monitoring public internet information and profles, company email accounts and employee usage of the company’s internet system.

Perceiving a privacy threat from companies and other institutions, Senator Tavares’ bill is part of a growing trend at both the state and national level to prohibit employers, as well as schools and universities, from acquiring private usernames and passwords of current or prospective employees or students. In fact, this proposed law furthers a basic principle that can be found on the American Civil Liberties Union website: “People are entitled to their private lives.” People use social media sites to interact with friends and family; they

Password Protected?

Four Tips to Prepare You to Run a Restaurant

Follow these strategies from fellow restaurateurs to avoid common mistakes