{"id":51283,"date":"2024-12-19T10:59:55","date_gmt":"2024-12-19T00:59:55","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.bidfood.com.au\/blog\/meat-the-expert-pork-belly-copy\/"},"modified":"2024-12-19T14:12:48","modified_gmt":"2024-12-19T04:12:48","slug":"spread-some-christmas-cheer","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.bidfood.com.au\/blog\/spread-some-christmas-cheer\/","title":{"rendered":"Spread some Christmas cheer!"},"content":{"rendered":"\t\t
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It was 1982 and I had just finished working my first Christmas Day service \u2013 a fully booked 240-pax lunch. I hadn\u2019t been at the job long and all the staff were asked to wait a few minutes longer. We were all tired and keen as mustard to get home to our families. The two owners \u2013 the chef and the manager \u2013 proceeded to thank each of us individually for our contribution to the restaurant over the past year, handing each of us an envelope. Nothing unusual here, you might say.<\/p>\n

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When I opened it, there was one week\u2019s extra pay in cash. All the staff had received their normal week\u2019s salary as a bonus. Everyone was pleased, except me. I was confused. I\u2019d only been at the restaurant for a few weeks and this seemed like a huge bonus for such a short time working.<\/p>\n

\u2018You\u2019re worth it,\u2019 the owner said when I questioned him. \u2018And we appreciate your efforts so far!\u2019<\/p>\n

At that moment, I learned a huge lesson \u2013 how you treat your staff at Christmas is how they\u2019ll treat you all year. It is, after all, the time we\u2019d all prefer to be at home. That kind gesture made me want to hang around for the next 10 years. I started as the vegetable chef, worked my way to dessert chef, then sous chef \u2013 and finally executive chef.<\/p>\n

Every year on the Sunday before Christmas, that same restaurant would also serve a complimentary Christmas lunch for the most vulnerable in their community. The restaurant was always packed and it was good practice for the big day when high-paying customers took their place, as the menu was exactly the same!<\/p>\n

This was my second lesson \u2013 your community will support you if you support the vulnerable in your local area. It\u2019s something so many businesses do very well.<\/p>\n

For the next 30 years, working as an executive chef at multiple venues, I treated my staff every Christmas exactly as I\u2019d been treated that first year. It is, after all, the most stressful time of year for many, especially those with no family nearby.<\/p>\n

Everyone who worked for me received a present. Sometimes it was a pen, other times a cookbook or knives, gift vouchers \u2013 whatever I could afford or arrange throughout the year with the support of our suppliers and manufacturers.<\/p>\n

Over the years, my teams grew from 10 to over 100. My time management had to be committed to the process, as the work demands were intense. I made time. I focused and stayed true to the task I\u2019d set.<\/p>\n

One year, I won a competition from a manufacturer with a substantial cash prize. I was able to take six of my leadership team \u2013 head chefs and sous chefs \u2013 away for a few days on a food tour. I even hired a hatted chef for a half-day to teach the team some new skills.<\/p>\n

That team stayed with me for the next 10 years. Having the same staff who knew my standards made my job so much easier. Perhaps these acts were the secret?<\/p>\n

At another venue where a friend of mine worked, the owner would write a long Christmas card to all their staff. And there were a lot of them \u2013 two 250-seat restaurants requiring over 20 chefs plus waitstaff. In it, they\u2019d thank the staff member for their efforts during the year and personalise it with their attributes and what they liked about their work ethic. I was blown away!<\/p>\n

I decided to up my game and copy his example, adding a card to my gift.<\/p>\n

Unknown to me at the time, this would become the most important part of my Christmas routine \u2013 to take the time to write a personal Christmas card to each of my staff. Not just a \u201cMerry Christmas,\u201d but something pertaining only to them and their journey with me over the past year. Something to make them feel special.<\/p>\n

My time commitment to this task increased exponentially and required real mental focus and energy \u2013 in the final year, there were over 100 staff! To manage this, I started writing the cards as early as possible to ensure I completed them on time and the words were genuine and motivational.<\/p>\n

Once, when I was asked to sign cards for all 450 staff in the club, I wrote a personalised message on every card. At the busiest time of the year! The other managers mostly just signed their names. I made the time to make a difference, even though I was exhausted and time-poor from the Christmas season trade.<\/p>\n

I love the vibe and challenge of the hospitality industry. For it to grow stronger, we need to focus more on the people who make it happen \u2013 their welfare, mental health and work-life balance. Attracting young people back into the industry starts with how we treat those already working in it.<\/p>\n

And, for me, that starts with Christmas.<\/p>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t

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\"paul_rifkin_headshot\"<\/figure>

Paul Rifkin<\/h3>

Guest Contributor
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Paul Rifkin has been a chef for over 45 years, with a career spanning restaurants, fine dining, hotels and clubs. For the past six years, Paul has been a consulting chef, working with more than seventy venues and mentoring countless head chefs. His passion for the hospitality industry \u2013 and its people \u2013 drives his work as a Head Chef Mentoring and Fine Tuning Specialist.<\/p>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Chef and hospitality mentor Paul Rifkin shares how small gestures \u2013 from personalised cards to thoughtful gifts \u2013 can inspire loyalty and build stronger hospitality teams<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":51300,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"cybocfi_hide_featured_image":"yes","footnotes":""},"categories":[12],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-51283","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-inspiration-trends"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.bidfood.com.au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/51283","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.bidfood.com.au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.bidfood.com.au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.bidfood.com.au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.bidfood.com.au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=51283"}],"version-history":[{"count":10,"href":"https:\/\/www.bidfood.com.au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/51283\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":51305,"href":"https:\/\/www.bidfood.com.au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/51283\/revisions\/51305"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.bidfood.com.au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/51300"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.bidfood.com.au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=51283"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.bidfood.com.au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=51283"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.bidfood.com.au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=51283"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}