Restaurant Owners Suck!

There are a lot of private owned businesses in Cape Town but not all are constantly successful. Looking at the hospitality industry, with specific interest in the restaurants, I have discovered that most restaurant owners come into business with the hunger for money and with no sign whatsoever of being hospitable. As a guest at one of the upmarket restaurants in Green Point, Cape Town, I was saddened to see how the so called “manager” on duty who also happened to be the owner ill treated the waiters. He did not only abuse his employees but also payed little attention to the guests. Most disturbing, he ordered guests on one of the tables to leave because they had not been seated by him. I do not know if he was being reasonable because he was not there to host them as he was busy with other things. I had spent three hours at this particular restaurant but my stay was messed up as the atmosphere was not good. I could see the anxiety mixed with anger in the faces of the waiters. Though, they tried to pretend that all was well; they could not act for more than a minute.

Going back to good business ethics; if businesses are to succeed, employees who are one of the most vital stakeholders have to be treated well. Happy employees give excellent service to customers who later spread a good message about the business which means more sales and high profits. Most companies are overlooking good business principles and their survival is at stake. Businesses working on the principle of happy employee-high returns will at least see themselves succeeding in the post global recession.