It all started with my love for food
Ever since I was little I’ve loved food and it’s a passion that has always been with me. As I started learning more about cooking I realized it’s a lot like sports. Chefs work several hours a day to perfect their craft and have to perform to perfection every day. Chefs are also under a lot of stress and pressure and face anxiety, depression.
Unlike athletes though they live lifestyles that are unconducive for performance. Studies have shown that chefs frequently abuse alcohol and illicit substances and that sleep quality in restaurant workers is poor. In my experience, many chefs also have subpar nutrition.
If chefs are like athletes then restaurants are like teams. The team has to be able to work together and require good communication and timing in order to perform at the highest level. Sadly, there are many factors keeping restaurants from performing. For starters, the restaurant industry can have a hostile work environment and has been classed as one of the worst industries to work in. The turnover rate is also very high reaching rates of 70% a year. Despite the staggering turnover rate and hostile work environment restaurants still manage to perform at incredible levels. But, imagine how well they would perform without these barriers.
What would happen if new personnel didn’t need to be continuously hired and trained, if the workplace wasn’t hostile and if chefs started taking care of themselves?
The solution
There are no shortcuts to fix these issues. They need to be addressed and it’s going to require a lot of work. Chefs need to be given the preconditions for performance and sustainability, the tools to handle stress and pressure. They need to be supported in structuring their day to get in the right amount of sleep and good nutrition and the motivation to start living like proper athletes.
As for restaurants they need to be run like a proper team. They need to create a motivational climate, facilitate performance and objectively track performance indicators.
Do you want to improve performance, increase sustainability, and lower costs and turnover rates?
Do you want to learn more?
Psychology - Michelin p1 & 2 are available on spotify
You can also read my articles or see which restaurants have taken part
I recommend beginning with the recipe for motivation
DO YOU WANT TO BECOME THE NEXT RESTAURANT?
Schedule a free consultation where I answer your questions and help you identify different working areas.