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Restaurant Service Improvement: Create An Efficient Waitstaff Tip-Out System

The "Tip-Out System" is an important part of a restaurant's dining room staff success for many different reasons. Tips are the basic salary for most restaurant service employees, and must be divided with utmost respect and care. The staff's reputation, morale and income depend on a proper and fair tip-out system.

There are certain factors that must be taken into consideration, before deciding on a correct and fair tip- out system. The most important concept of the system is that it must always reflect the work load and responsibilities of each staffer in a delicately balanced manner.

If this concept is strictly adhered to, then one can't go wrong in devising the most efficient tip-out system for a restaurant. It must remembered that an improper system can make or break a dining room service staff to the point where employees may deliver poor service or actually quit the job.

A standard base system to work from is for the waiter to tip out 15% to the bussers, 10% to the runners, and 5% to the bar. Now, this is only a general guideline as the system needs to be customized according to each individual restaurant and tweaked evenly according to the workload distribution.

For example, if the runners are doing some busser work (clearing plates, replacing dining wares etc.), then another 2.5% can possibly go to the runners while subtracting 2.5% to the bussers. It all depends on the restaurant dining room service system, and on the "desired level of customer service" ---so crucial for success.

One must understand that just because the bussers are being tipped out less of a percentage, doesn't necessarily mean they are not making less money overall than the runners for that shift. It all depends on how many waiters/runners/bussers are working for that shift. Less employees available for the tip-out split means more revenue for each employee.

In some of my restaurant service consulting jobs, I have actually seen where runners made more money than the waiters on average. Surely, they worked for it running giant food plates up 2 long flights of stairs. And, the runner shift was almost as many hours long as the waiter shift. It all comes down to responsibilities and workload distribution.

There are even different types of tip-out systems that exist in the restaurant world such as the point system. For example, if $100 in tips is produced by the waiter, it gets spread out in a point system amongst all staffers. The breakdown might be $50 to the waiter, $30 to the busser, $15 to the runner, $5 to the bar, and so on. Every restaurant is an enigma, so the tip-out system must fit the restaurant's personality.

To physically perform the tip-out revenue split, the waiters can place the tip-out revenue percentages for the receiving dining room service employees into envelopes. The waiter name, date and particular shift should be included on the outside of the envelopes. Then, this split for each receiving dining room service employee can be put back together in separate envelopes with his/her name on the outside of the envelope to be distributed. The double-check system works best here to have 2 trusted people witnessing all of the money envelopes that are opened.

The restaurant service tip-out system must always be fair and balanced with very few complaints from the staff. In fact, some feedback may actually help for the understanding of the situation as the dining room service staff carries many solutions to restaurant problems. Of course, there will not always be 100% agreement amongst each and every employee.

The tip-out system really works out beautifully if done correctly using the concepts above. Again, most importantly, the balance of the restaurant service labor and responsibilities must be in proportion to the balance of all the employee tip-outs.

 

 

 

About the Author

Richard Saporito has been a restaurant consultant for over 15 years in many
diverse and profitable establishments. He helps owners, managers, and dining
room staffs achieve that outstanding service reputation which always sets a
restaurant apart from its fierce competition. Discover how to improve dining room service and increase your restaurant's business by visiting:http://www.howtoimprovediningroomservice.com

Gray Johnson plaques associated with Wolfgang Puck Bistro & Food Express

Irvine, CA March 9, 2010 -. Johnson Gray Advertising was hired by Wolfgang Puck Bistro Express to promote and restaurants. This five-star culinary journey begins with the supervision of their public relations efforts, web development and the presence of social marketing. JGA has already served an appearance on Good Day LA, the morning qualifying Fox appears on a free kick to celebrate the start of the weekend Oscar.

Wolfgang Puck is composed of three distinct brands with services ranging from restaurants, casual, catering and event planning, a variety of product lines, including cookware, cookbooks and food. Wolfgang unprecedented culinary philosophy and exceptional standards of cooking fresh ingredients appetite has fueled wide National since its first opening in 1982. Wolfgang Puck Bistro is a concept of rapid growth, with locations in Southern California, and Charlotte, North Carolina. Wolfgang Puck Express has over 80 locations in the United States, Canada and Japan. Both restaurants are looking to grow exponentially with several openings scheduled for 2010.

"Given our experience in the hospitality industry and restaurant is a perfect fit," Account Services Director, Randy Lopez said. "It's an honor to develop a successful partnership with a large and influential brand."

Gray Johnson is a medium-sized agency offering a full range of advertising services. The agency is a leader in advertising for the hospitality, healthcare, financial services, automotive and construction industries. Headquartered in Irvine, California, Gray Johnson also currently operates in Boston, MA. For more information, visit www.johnsongray.com.

CONTACT:

Will Johnson

949-955-3781

will@johnsongray.com

About the Author

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Johnson Gray is a full-service marketing company with over 17 years of experience in both traditional and not-so-traditional media.

For strategic planning, advertising, graphic design or web development and new media options, we're a trusted partner for all your marketing needs. Whether working with our clients to develop innovative branding and positioning or creating a unique online presence, we offer a creative edge that gets your message noticed.

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