Friday's people
If A customer at one of TGI Friday's American Restaurants & Bars asks a waiter to juggle, sing or produce a balloon, their request will be granted without a flicker of astonishment. Staff are recruited and trained on the basis of their personality and their ability to perform as much as on their serving skills. This is why they are "auditioned" rather than interviewed when they apply for a job.
"We want the TGI experience to be one of largesse done through a genuine spirit of service," says Andrew Johnson, human resources director. "This is why we call customers ‘guests', to promote the feeling that anything they want, within reason, we can supply."
Founded in New York in 1965, TGI Friday's opened its first two outlets in the UK when Whitbread signed the franchise in 1986. There are now 29 restaurants in the country, each averaging an annual turnover of £2.5m. A total of 2,100 staff serve five million guests a year. Another three restaurants will open this year, and the company aims to be operating a total of 50 by 2003.
Positioned towards the upper end of the casual dining market, with an average spend per head of £12 (excluding drink), part of the TGI ethos is to create an atmosphere of celebration through service, value for money, portion size and authenticity of food.
"When we started, we identified success as supplying the needs of the customer. This is the basis of our philosophy and all our employees understand it," says Johnson.
"A lot of businesses forget what service is - so if it's a brand, a customer can't have variation. Training our way, the employee feels free and confident enough to address the customer's needs spontaneously, without necessarily having to call the manager. We work on the ‘oyster theory', that one small piece of grit can irritate, and if we can avoid this, like moving a table, we will."
Staff retention at TGI is high, averaging 60% across the UK. Some of its restaurants keep 70% of their staff, and general managers have bonuses linked to staff retention. Johnson refers to "staff stability", rather than staff turnover, and is proud that 40% of management come from an employee base. "The longer staff stay, the more experience they can bring to serving the guests," he says.
To promote stability and contain costs, a "Friday's passport" was introduced late last year. This enables part-timers to work in TGI restaurants across the country without going through the initial recruitment and training procedures each time.
The benefits are clear. It costs £1,000 to recruit and train a waiter, rising to £2,500 for bar people because of the more complex nature of the job: knowledge of hundreds of cocktail recipes, ability to juggle bottles, pour drinks and so on.
Recruits are drawn mainly from the 18-25 age group, although age is no barrier. Johnson is looking for the right attitude - he believes it is possible to train people in serving skills but not personality.
To recruit, he holds open days to present the company philosophy to prospective employees. During the day, interviews are held to assess competence, being a team player, drive and energy. A written personality profile based on psychometric testing is also carried out and, if successful, the applicant moves on to auditions.
Those selected for auditions are given team tasks, tricks and dances, to assess their willingness to perform in a busy, buzzing environment. Budding actors, artists and instrumentalists are encouraged to use these as in-house party pieces.
Having passed this stage, a job offer is made and training begins on site. Staff learn about business values and the philosophy of the diner, and they amass details of more than 100 menu items and 200 ingredients, so that they can answer queries.
They must also be able to demonstrate disposable cameras, juggling balls and light-up yo-yos, all of which customers can buy.
Service training using mock guests is carried out for two weeks to prove that the new recruit is competent in practice.
From then on, training takes place through annual reviews and personal development plans. This ranks high in Johnson's list of how to retain and use staff to their best ability, as does making the most of TGI's presence abroad.
"We can offer the opportunity to advance and travel. We've recently placed trainers in Oslo, Malta and Prague to help open new restaurants," he says.
Although TGI has a strong brand, Johnson says it is not restrictive. For instance, employees are encouraged to wear their own choice of hat - the zanier the better - and embellish the braces on their black trousers with as many badges as they want.
The other key element is communication: keeping staff informed and involved in the planning and development of the business. Johnson believes this gives them the edge over their competitors.
Staff meetings led to a new service strategy being tried out. TGI attracts three customer types - families, business and celebration groups - and to identify the needs of each more accurately, the 2,100 employees came up with 4,000 ideas to "wow" customers. These were edited into a framework for each customer group.
For example, the requirements of a family with children should be established. The member of staff serving the family must identify the reason for the visit and tailor service to their needs. This may include providing colouring books or writing children's names on balloons.
"To some extent, this is done already. We've just formalised it, taking basic service procedure further by identifying first the guest groups and then the occasion," says Johnson.
But TGI is not immune to staff problems. Although 600 people applied for 88 jobs at the recent opening at Edinburgh, Johnson admits that, with higher employment and greater competition, it is getting harder to find good staff.
"This makes training even more important. We've never compromised on our standards of food and service, and we've seen our returns this way. Ultimately, it's our guest who decides." n
