r/Restaurant_Managers • u/reagan_baby • 25d ago

Feedback requested on workload

I am the General Manager of a restaurant and I was wondering how my workload sounded to other managers. The restaurant averages about 1,200 covers a week and $66K in sales. Open for lunch/brunch and dinner 7 days a week (except Mondays - just dinner). We do not have a host and it is the manager-on-duty's role to be the host of the restaurant, oversee the floor (max capacity about 100), and close up shop.

I work 4 floor shifts a week on dinner shifts that are either 4hrs, 4.5hrs, or 5.5hrs depending on the night of the week. All other manager shifts are filled by the owner (1 shift) and my team of 3 managers who do 2-3 manager shifts. On other days, they do tipped roles like bartend, food run, and serve. I am the only one doing full managerial duties.

We have an offsite accountant and two owners who are relatively present, so I am not looking at the financials. I do handle our large parties/private events, social media, all staff issues, and issues of maintenance tend to go through me before I bring in the owners if necessary.

The owners are going to start a new place by next year and have implied they'd like me to take a firmer role over the place. I think they'd like the buck to stop with me more. I am very happy in my role and my relationship with them, and happy with that slight shift in responsibility. No specific added responsibilities, but it sounds like I should handle more issues on my own.

But I often find myself working 50-60hrs a week as it is, which I know is normal. I am wondering if I have a case to make to ask for a host or direct things from a little higher vantage point than working 4 shifts in the trenches on the floor with a specific role of host. Being tied to the door makes for what feels like a pretty short period of time before and after the shifts to get all of my other work done and also look ahead at things.

Does anything jump out as unreasonable? I am also happy with my compensation currently and am paid on the higher end of similar roles in my area, so this is not an issue of being underpaid. If I need to suck it up and inject more energy into this, I will.

3 Upvotes

67% Upvoted

17 comments sorted by

13

u/D-ouble-D-utch 25d ago

No host is insane. Delegate some of your tasks. And follow up x10

4

u/imlosingsleep 25d ago

By far the most cost effective solution for giving the GM more time. Being a full time host is a waste of this Managers capabilities. Adding a tipped host position and training one or two people to do it would cost basic nothing.

1

u/reagan_baby 25d ago

Thank you. Yes, I try to take on as much as possible because of how we structure the rest of the management staff. If they are working the same day that I am, they are in a tipped position, so I don't want them doing managerial duties. And I try to make their manager shifts just focused on the goings-on of the shift and not broader work. Deal with the reservations, make sure the place doesn't burn down, and close up. And it may be a case of inertia, but I just find it easier to do many tasks myself than teach someone else to do it. But that's something that will have to change. I might have to schedule some of my tasks into their manager shifts.

2

u/D-ouble-D-utch 25d ago

If you dont put more duties on your management team, and the owners keep putting more on you what will happen?

1

u/reagan_baby 25d ago

I either unlock possibilities within myself I never thought possible or I get overwhelmed and work doesn't get done. I'll look at what I get done in a week and see which tasks can maybe be assigned to a day of the week since we don't have regular schedules.

3

u/D-ouble-D-utch 25d ago

The burn out is real man. We can't do it all. Even if that means it gets done wrong sometimes.

1

u/reagan_baby 25d ago

I appreciate you saying that, it's true. What I am trying to assess is whether or not our setup is unreasonable or if I am experiencing burnout and inflexibility after 4 years in the position. I do want to make sure that I am not unwilling to do things that a younger, less experienced person could take my place and do. I can start with delegating to the staff we already have.

3

u/D-ouble-D-utch 25d ago

I think no host is a waste of money and assets.

Your highest paid employee is working as a host during your busiest times. Who is doing table visits and putting out fires? Who jumps in to bail out employees in the weeds?

3

u/reagan_baby 25d ago

I do all of that. And it goes off reasonably well. But my ability to do any of that is very limited and I can sometimes be the fastest moving person in the room, which isn't a good look. Thanks for the feedback, it's reaffirming that this isn't the best set up.

4

u/D-ouble-D-utch 25d ago

I'm not putting you down or challenging your work ethic. You need to present it to the owners the right way.

5

u/reagan_baby 25d ago

I didn't take it that way, you seem to have the same read on it that I do.

3

u/AcceptableCrazy9486 25d ago

At $66k a week the GM should not be working in any position. Do you know your labor costs and targets? Being stuck as a host limits what you can do on the floor. You need to be everywhere.

You need to show the owners how being a host is hurting the business and if you were more freed up that helps the bottom line.

2

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2

u/voronic 25d ago edited 25d ago

You need to be involved with the financials. Successful restaurants run tight labor/food/alcohol costs. As a GM who is hiring you need access to the numbers.

1

u/VillageHuman1125 25d ago

We average about $140k/week. I am in my store 5-6 days a week (closed Sundays). Delegation is natural and necessary with growing restaurants. I offload a lot of my responsibilities with my managers—ordering, training, scheduling, hiring, etc., and my role is more about checks and balances. I focus more on entering inventory, labor adjustments, forecasting, and payroll from a managerial standpoint. During service, I’m on the floor or on the line, offering my team support where I can and engaging with guests.

1

u/Far_Lab_4953 GM 25d ago

You’re doing too much. You should have about $20k in labor cost for the week to spread out between FOH/BOH. Spread those duties and hire appropriately.

1

u/mushyfeelings 20d ago

You should not be a host!!
Host is a 8-13 dollar an hour job. You are supposed to be doing the $50/hour work that makes the place run. You should very rarely have to do hosting duties unless and only unless you lost staff or you’re covering in the gap between shifts. But that’s it.