Food Service Management Course: Is it Right for Me?

No one enjoys the kitchen excitement more than a food service manager. On a daily basis, these managers estimate the amount of food to be consumed, place orders, schedule food, and beverage delivery, receive and check the delivered contents, and check the quality of food. They are also responsible for monitoring health and safety codes, and other local regulations.

Another important task of food service managers is choosing successful menu items, estimating the number of customers and the most popular dishes. These professionals are in charge of everything that happens in the kitchen.

Working as a food service manager isn’t an easy task. The long hours and constant interaction are suited for individuals with specific qualities. Therefore, if you’re planning to become a food service manager, look out for these must-have qualities.

Strong Leadership

Most people in the restaurant business often don’t know how to manage people. You might have heard of the old adage “lead by example.” Strong leadership is the cornerstone of every successful foodservice business. You don’t have to rule with an iron fist, but you also don’t want to be wishy-washy either.

Ensure that you define your employees’ roles, and always hold them responsible. While its human nature to ridicule employees who are lagging in their tasks, by practicing true leadership, you’ll see that as an opportunity to teach and not to put down.

Patience

Restaurants are one of the most hectic places to manage. Therefore, for you to succeed as a manager in this industry, you need to have a high level of patience. Preparing quality food to customers efficiently requires precise operations.

As a manager, you’ll oversee that employees do their jobs to ensure that the entire process runs smoothly. You’ll also have to motivate in case of hiccups occur to always maintain staff morale. Food service managers have to exercise patience when listening to complaints from customers and ensure that they leave satisfied.

Upbeat Attitude

One important attribute for food service managers is a positive attitude. Your appearance will set the tone for staff behavior and affect diner happiness. This means that if you won’t love working as a food service manager, or you aren’t passionate about food or customer service, then running a successful business will be a difficult endeavor. Because chefs and food service managers work in a tough business that has long hours, there is a need for a combination of hard and soft skills.

Soft and Hard Skills that Food Service Managers Need to do their Work

According to a survey by Consumer Reports National Research Center, what most customers complain about after visiting a restaurant is the lack of soft skills. Some of the most common complaints include:

• Slow services
• Impolite workers
• Being rushed to leave
• Being served with dishes they didn’t order

What are Soft Skills?

Soft skills are personality-driven skills, such as:

• Initiative
• Communication
• Organization
• Willingness to learn

Most restaurants provide technical training such as preparing and serving meals. However, soft skills are most of the time neglected during training. This is because they’re intangible and many managers assume their staff already know them. Although these traits sometimes depend on a person’s personality, you can acquire them as you pursue your food service management degree.

Hard Skills

Like hard sciences, hard skills deal with things that can be demonstrated, quantified or trained, and they are important for the success of any restaurant. Some of the hard skills you’ll need include:

Managing the Business

For a restaurant to succeed, it requires food service managers that understand the importance of hard business skills such as budgeting, accounting, and ensuring compliance among many other functions. The profit margins of a restaurant are thin and it’s important to closely monitor the bottom line which can make the difference between success and failure.

Monitoring the Supply Chain

Controlling a restaurant's supply chain involves the combination of an important set of hard skills. As the manager, you should maintain accurate records of inventory, order fresh ingredients as required to support sales.

Running out of stock can be frustrating for both cooks and diners, and it can taint the image of a restaurant. On the other hand, you shouldn’t stock too much because you may tie up capital that may be needed elsewhere and cause waste.

Importance of Education in this Field

While a bachelor’s degree isn’t always required, most upscale restaurants and hotels recruit management professionals with a food service degree. This is because most degree programs provide instruction on sanitation, nutrition, food preparation, and courses in business law, accounting, and management. Helping businesses spend less time on training and more time on managing the restaurant.

Are you interested in becoming a food service manager? If you want to earn a Bachelor of Science in Food Service Management, ECPI University's Culinary Institute of Virginia offers this program at an accelerated pace. For more information, connect with a helpful admissions counselor today.

It could be the Best Decision You Ever Make!

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Gainful Employment Information – Food Service Management - Bachelor’s

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