Working as a fast food manager is more than just telling staff to flip burgers and wipe down tables. There’s a lot involved in this fast-paced environment and is the perfect role for people who have a passion for food, want a career in hospitality and want more responsibilities.
Here are 10 vital duties of a fast food manager:
1. Deliver High-Quality Food
This is simple — you’re responsible for the quality of food served to customers. If the quality isn’t great, it’s you who’s ultimately responsible for it as it’s your job to ensure you train staff members to cook everything on the menu to a high standard.
You don’t need to look over every portion of chips or burgers made in the kitchen, but it’s a good idea to do random checks to ensure the quality doesn’t drop. With sufficient training, motivation, teamwork and checking the quality regularly, you can be sure the food standard will be high.
2. Recruit New Staff
One of your main duties will be to hire new staff. The turnover rate is high in the fast food industry as many see it as an entry-level job or part-time work. While you may not be able to influence people’s decisions to stay or leave, you can find the best people to join your team. By hiring talented, energetic people, you can create an environment where they enjoy working.
Hire people that are passionate about food and want to work in hospitality. Look for engaged team players that love making customers happy and can be relied on. To gain a better understanding of the people you hire, prepare some interview questions, too.
3. Prepare Rotas
Whether it’s weekly or monthly, it’s your duty to create work schedules. You need to consider who’s on holiday and how many hours each employee works to avoid any clashes with commitments.
As a manager, be firm but fair with your team. Work with them to create schedules that fit around their personal lives but also what the fast food restaurant needs at certain times. They’ll appreciate you and feel valued when they realise you want to create schedules that benefit everyone.
4. Create a Safe Work Environment
It’s your job to make the fast food restaurant a safe place to work. Your team needs to feel comfortable and safe, knowing you’ve made an effort to reduce potential hazards that would place them in danger. That means risk assessments and regular equipment maintenance is your duty, so you can remove anything hazardous or replace outdated equipment.
You also need to maintain high hygiene standards. Work surfaces and kitchen utensils need to be clean and you need to ensure you avoid cross-contamination to avoid risks such as food poisoning. Have hygiene prompts placed around the kitchen to remind staff to wash their hands and also keep surfaces tidy.
5. Organise Team Meetings
As the fast food manager, you’re also responsible for hosting team meetings and boosting team morale. Having regular meetings and team activities is a great way to improve teamwork and letting them know their manager cares about them.
When you’re listening to your team regularly and building friendships, you’ll see the benefits in the restaurant which will positively impact customers.
6. Handle Complaints
Hopefully, customers don’t complain about your restaurant or your team. If you do receive a complaint, it’s your job to intervene and solve the situation quickly and appropriately. Stay calm and professional. You never know what type of customer you’re dealing with, so try and stay cool and meet their needs.
Solving a complaint successfully can turn a potentially negative situation into a positive one.
7. Manage Campaigns
To encourage people to visit, it’s your duty to manage promotional campaigns, especially during the holiday season. To do this successfully, plan your campaigns in advance so you have time to decorate the restaurant and teach employees about any new menu additions. By the time the campaign begins, it’s important everyone knows what’s going on and what you expect from them.
8. Offer Training
Training is one of the biggest duties you’ll have. Whether it’s waitstaff or kitchen staff, it’s your responsibility to ensure everyone receives appropriate and up-to-date training. A lack of training is dangerous, especially if it involves handling food, but it can also impact the customer experience.
For example, if staff don’t know how to greet guests, they might not want to return. Identify the training needs and book them in regularly for each staff member.
9. Manage Budget Control
Profitability is also a big part of your role. You’ll have a budget to work with, which includes staff salary, employee perks, training needs, equipment, promotional campaigns and more. Make sure you regularly check the budget to ensure you never spend more than you can effort.
The restaurant needs to make a profit. It’s your responsibility to make this happen.
10. Promote Excellent Customer Service
Customer service also starts with you. If you’re enthusiastic, energetic and happy around customers, the team will act in the same way. If you’re negative, lazy and have a bad attitude, your team will also pick this up and it’ll affect the customer experience.
Encourage positive energy at work to increase staff morale. This will benefit how they interact with customers and create a much better atmosphere and one that customers want to return to. It isn’t just how they act, their body language and their facial expressions either — it also includes dressing appropriately.
Be An Example for Your Team and Dress Appropriately
As a manager, you need to lead by example. To maintain safety in the fast food restaurant and also look smart, you need appropriate footwear. Our slip-resistant shoes are designed for managers, they combine safety and style so you look professional and feel safe at work.
To view the range you and your staff should wear so you’re all safe in the restaurant, view our latest catalogue below.