Posted on 06/28/2014 9:20:47 AM PDT by BulletBobCo
Edited on 06/28/2014 9:28:34 AM PDT by Admin Moderator. [history]
VENICE, FL (CNN) " A 73-year-old veteran says he was fired from a Cracker Barrel restaurant for giving a needy man a few condiment packets and a corn muffin.
He admits it was against the restaurants rules, but says he thinks it was the right thing to do.
(Excerpt) Read more at fox17.com ...
I mention that only to establish the fact that service employees can and should be empowered to make decisions that might involve giving away something for free from time to time. If you don't give your employees the power to think for themselves and resolve customer-facing situations and force them to work in an environment where they might be fired for handing out a complimentary cup of coffee or slipping a couple extra ketchup packets into an order, you end up with a robotic, uninspired workforce who come across as indifferent and uncaring for the needs of the customers coming through the door.
The phrase pennywise and pound foolish comes to mind here. So they canned this 73-year-old man for occasionally handing out a free corn muffin or a cup of coffee. They are well within their rights to do so as the man obviously was breaking their rules. But at what cost? Right or wrong, there are probably thousands of people who will never darken the door of Cracker Barrel again because of this story that is now going viral across the country.
As a manager for many years, I have had to "bend the rules" here and there to accommodate some rather unique situations. I've had a few employees over the years who were a bit on the odd side. For example, I had a male employee who insisted on wearing earrings to work despite company policy stating that it was not appropriate for men to wear jewelry other than a wedding band and watch. But I relaxed the dress code for this employee because he showed up every day with a smile and provided an excellent experience for our customer base - in fact, many customers requested him only. I decided that this employee was a net asset to our operation and that I could therefore overlook the relatively minor dress code violation. That's the difference between a true manager and a "hallway monitor". Managers weigh pros and cons and adapt the rules to the situation as necessary that will benefit their business.
The more I think about this, the more I think Cracker Barrel management blundered on this one.
Perfect summary of events.
Which all could have been avoided if they had been a bit more media savvy, like just about everyone is now-like I said, I don’t care what they do-I boycott them because I like my food natural and nicely spiced, and on the rare occasion I can afford to go out, a server with a good attitude-neither were in evidence the one time I went to CB.
I waited tables and served drinks the whole time I was in college, so I do know what customer service is...
And I'm the King of Autopia.
How were they supposed to know it was going to hit the media? Thousands of people were fired from the food service world last week and nobody gave a crap about them, they didn’t go crying to CNN he. He did. What are they supposed to do, issue a press release every time they fire some idiot who can’t follow simple rules? They did the right thing, this jerk realized he’d get all the sympathy, so he turned it into a “news” story, now they’re taking heat for doing exactly the right thing. Good news for them, it’s a weekend story, won’t get that big an audience, and by Monday it will blow over as part of the natural “news” cycle.
However these are the times we live in and we must adapt to them. Many companies (mine included) are hiring "social media" directors who will assemble a team to monitor and respond to anything that pops up on the Internet that might be detrimental to the company's reputation.
Accordingly, many personnel matters now need to be handled in a manner that would minimize the chances of a disgruntled employee going to the media or internet to "tell their story." In fact, employees who are separating from us are now asked to sign an agreement not to say anything detrimental about the company in the media - before receiving their full separation package. Can't be too careful these days.
Is that what they did, or was it the last straw? Because if his post-employment behavior is any indication, this guy might have been a total PITA screw-up. Did he steal food for himself, too? Was he unsanitary? We don't know anything about the situation apart from his own self-serving pity party.
He got fired. The manly thing to do is to move on, not make a public spectacle of himself. Big crybaby.
They had already gotten a taste of the koolaid the internet/social media drinks with the Duck Dynasty incident. Maybe it is just me, but I hope I’d have sense enough to see when I was about to step in s*** again, and so soon, too.
I am distrustful of mob mentality in general. It’s the same emotional trigger reaction, even if in complete context it is evident that wrath is deserved.
Too many stupid, self-centered business operators and government thugs don’t think first or have any respect for others, so it’s no wonder people knee-jerk in kind. That said, social media enables the creation of mountains out of molehills, aiding in the degradation of civil society.
There are enough fake hate crimes that “go viral” and are subsequently exposed, that you’d think people would learn to be more reserved and cautious in judgment. Unfortunately there are those who simply do not wish to reason like adults, would rather emote.
All these generous people saying "But it was only a biscuit" have obviously never been in a retail business dealing with shrinkage. The biggest danger to your bottom line is product that disappears. Somebody who is dishonest in small things can be dishonest a LOT in small things.
True.
5.56mm
Fine. Maybe they’re all liars. Of course, we could all be liars here at FR.
I just don’t understand the complete venom of so many freepers towards some guy who gave away 5 muffins. It just seems so weirdly over the top to me. It’s a kind of puritanism, not conservatism that is being expressed. I guess I do like a little nuance in my life after all.
You are now sliming this guy with no evidence. All that’s been reported is he gave out five muffins and some tartar sauce packets. And he was written up about it. No evidence that he was unsanitary or stealing food for himself. Sheesh, get a little distance.
But our local Cracker Barrel still has Duckies' products for sale (the merchandise which profits the Ducks personally, not the rip-offs).
I love the manager there!
Leni
Everybody knows that these days the internet can blow up in your face, but how are they supposed to know THIS is the time. Like I said, thousands of people got fired last week and nobody cared, this restaurant has probably fired half a dozen people this year and nobody cared. How were they supposed to know to have a press release for this firing? Really they responded to CNN with all the info they needed to, not his first offense, time for him to go.
That’s sounds great in theory but in practice it’s another matter. Some people need to be fired. Some of those people might be in a demo that gets sympathy. Are they supposed to keep this guy because 72 year old vets feeding the homeless are a sympathy spawning demo? Severance agreements are largely un-enforcable, you’ve got no leverage on them anymore, they can opt not to sign. More so in low rent land like this, there probably was no separation package.
Sometimes a company just has to take their lumps and trust the American public has the attention span of a gnat and this will all blow over in a couple weeks.
In the current atmosphere, any time can be THE time it all blows up and out of proportion-just look at some of the wilder things being said-you’d think the guy was an international jewel thief or an industrial spy instead of giving a few muffins and mayo/tartar sauce to a homeless person.
Some people have always blown things out of proportion-the internet just makes it easier to see that distortion, and for people to react one way or another to it...
You have it backwards. We are reacting to the public venom being shown towards a company who fired a thief.
Be sure to make the company policies more reasonable when you start your restaurant chain.
Be sure to make the company policies more reasonable when you start your restaurant chain.
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