Wednesday, August 22, 2012

Poaching

Poaching employees is common practice in, I suppose, all businesses, and certainly happens with great frequency in the restaurant business, more often in large metropolitan areas where there are lots of cooks moving from one spot to the next, following a chef, a sous-chef or just the next hot place.  "Hey, I'm gonna open a SouthWest Latin Fusion Tapas Milk Bar, want to come on board?"  

Luckily, in our small town atmosphere, poaching is not so common.  It is pretty much the worst thing you can do to your competitor, if you ever want to borrow half and half from them again.  It's hard enough to get the staff you have, without having to worry that another restaurant  is going to attempt to lure then away with promises you can't honor.  We would never poach.  It's just plain wrong.  But we have had employees who were approached by other restaurants.  One time - the most egregious - occurred after we had agreed to accept a delivery for a restaurant in Rock Hall. When the manager came to pick it up, our LaVonte was out on the loading dock, helping him pack it into his vehicle.  LaVonte came back in, to tell us that the fellow had offered him a job!  Right on our own loading dock, while we were doing him a favor!!  That's pretty low.

Brittany is also one of those very valuable staff members.  She's been here a little over a year.  She works the lunch line competently and consistently.  Sure, she calls out now and then, but no worse than any other.  She takes direction, works well with Kevin and over all is a real leader in the BT kitchen.  Of course other restaurants would want to hire her.  But lucky for us, she is not interested. (So far!)  So, when an ex-coworker calls her on her cell and asks Britt to come to work with her, we are grateful that she declined the invitation. Now, if Brittany wants to move on to greener pastures, that is her right and her prerogative.  We would hope to get our two weeks notice, and then we would wish her well and look forward to seeing her now and then in the future.  But to have another restaurant call her and try to get her to come work with them, well, that just ain't neighborly.  And in this area, it's downright insulting.


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