General Manager

In Good Company

General Manager Job Overview

  • Establishes the restaurant business plan by surveying restaurant demand, identifying and evaluating competitors, preparing financial, marketing, and sales projections, analyses, and estimates.
  • Meets the restaurant’s financial objectives by preparing strategic and annual forecasts and budgets, analysing variances, initiating corrective actions, establishing and monitoring financial controls.
  • Controls purchases and inventory by meeting with the financial administrator, negotiating prices and contracts, developing preferred supplier lists, reviewing and evaluating usage reports, analysing variances and taking corrective actions.
  • Maintains operations by preparing and enforcing policies and standard operating procedures (SOP), as well as implementing productivity, quality and customer-service standards as well as determining and implementing system improvements.
  • Maintains customer satisfaction by monitoring, food, beverage, and service offerings and initiating improvements.
  • Accomplishes restaurant and bar human resource objectives by recruiting orienting, training, shifting, supporting, and disciplining management staff, as well as communicating job expectations. Planning, monitoring, appraising, planning and reviewing compensation
    actions, enforcing policies and procedures are a significant part of this objective.
  • Maintains a safe, secure, and healthy facility environment by establishing and enforcing sanitation standards and procedures, complying with health and legal regulations, as well as maintaining effective security systems.
  • Maintains sufficient knowledge by tracking emerging trends in the restaurant industry, establishing personal networks
  • Accomplishes company goals by accepting ownership for accomplishing new and different requests, and exploring opportunities.

Skills and Attributes needed include:

Cost Accounting, Developing Budgets, Financial Planning and Strategy, Decision Making, Process
Improvement, Strategic Planning, Verbal and Written Communication, Customer Focus,
Management Proficiency (Planning, Leading, Organising and Controlling), Managing Profitability,
Quality Focus.

Essential Duties and Responsibilities
Leads Restaurant Operations:

The Restaurant General Manager should possess outstanding leadership skills that build, inspire and
motivate all team members. They should also possess the following key performance factors that
influence all aspects of restaurant operations.

  • Provides a positive, along with sincere interest and enthusiasm.
  • Sets the example for team in the areas of maturity, professionalism, punctuality and dress code.
  • Cooperates with supervisor and subordinates in a positive productive manner. Acts as a team player to accomplish goals, and is tolerant of the ideas, interests, and problems of others.
  • Plans and organises restaurant goals and objectives. Sets goals that are specific, measurable, attainable, realistic and time bound, while involving all subordinates in accomplishing these goals and objectives.
  • Uses sound judgment in making decisions and avoids snap judgments based on inadequatefacts and uses common sense. Handles crises by being calm and in control, while following company policies when dealing with crisis situations.
  • Follows up to assigned tasks, responsibilities and objectives, ensuring completion regardless of obstacles and completes tasks in a timely manner
  • Verbal and written communication with others is in a concise and intelligent manner, and has ability to present material effectively.
  • Shows initiative in seeking out work and completes duties with little or no supervision.

Leads with Operational Excellence:

Directs efficient and accurate preparation and sale of products, as well as preventive maintenance of
restaurant facilities.

  • Provides operations direction to team in a clear, concise, and positive way, and coaches others to lead operations. Sets an example for team by working hard to implement shift plans and ensure swift and smooth operations.
  • Identifies and resolves bottlenecks in operations to improve speed of service, along with maintaining the speed of service standards and goals in restaurant. Gets the right people involved to prevent and resolve restaurant equipment problems
  •  Monitors Company and Corporate operational programmes, processes and metrics to identify restaurant issues. Involves management team in resolving operational challenges.
  • Demonstrates patience and a positive attitude with management team and staff members while delegating tasks and giving instructions.
  • Understands and has basic knowledge of equipment troubleshooting, minor repair and adjustment. Has ability to train the team on basic troubleshooting and maintenance. Prepares lists of maintenance items and repairs for their supervisor on a weekly basis.
  • Conducts regular unannounced and documented departmental checks ensuring operational standards.

Leads Customer Experience Delivery:

Motivates and directs the team members to do what it takes to exceed customer expectations with
food and friendly service in clean surroundings.

  • Makes a professional impression on customers and team through having a positive and friendly attitude, and proactive interaction to seek feedback on customer experience. Works with the team to act on customer feedback and resolve customer complaints in a timely, friendly and professional manner.
  • Directs the team to take pride in the details of delivering the Customer Promise and Brand Delivery Standards.
  • Demonstrates flexibility to meet different team needs to ensure Customer Experience.
  • Identifies and implements local strategies to market the restaurant and promote restaurant involvement in the community
  • Understands and can effectively communicate Customer Experience Feedback with the team, and uses the information to improve customer experience.

Builds Team Talent:

Provides support and feedback to staff and managers on products, processes and policies. Leads and
supports the restaurant management team in recruiting, selecting and retaining effective staff
talent.

  • Delegates work to team members in a way that encourages them to work together to ensure the restaurant operates smoothly.
  • Guides the management team members on people leadership skills and management tools for maximum efficiency and promotability, while making them feel that their contributions are valuable. Reviews restaurant’s operational, financial and marketing targets and results to
    set challenging goals for the team, and provides timely performance feedback and ensures accountability.
  • Conducts ongoing written performance reviews of all team members. These reviews should include written performance goals.
  • Makes the management team familiar with knowledge of employment laws and company policies, and delegates new responsibilities in building staff talent. Leads by example by adhering to all company policies and standards at all times. Leads the development and
    implementation of strategies to identify, hire, promote, orientate and retain effective staff talent. Assists the supervisor with management recruitment and selection. Trains using company training methods. Identifies and develops employees with potential for advancement
  • Identifies effective team members who are “at-risk-of-departing” and takes appropriate the action for retention. Maintains order and discipline among employees supervised, including reprimands, suspensions and recommendations of employment termination.

Manages Restaurant Profit and Loss:

Assumes full responsibility for the restaurant profit and loss management by implementing
marketing strategies, following cash control/security procedures, maintaining inventory, managing
labour, and applying financial report analysis to improve restaurant results.

  • Optimises profit and loss by ensuring proper shifting and of staff and management. Prepares restaurant financial plan to include sales, operating expenses and profits.
  • Oversees the forecasting, ordering, accounting and maintaining of the store’s product and supply inventories.
  • Supports the team to effectively implement marketing/sales strategies (i.e., suggestive selling, etc.)
  • Seeks best practices from others to enhance use of restaurant financial controls.
  • Holds team accountable for company cash control policy
  • Helps the management team identify new ways to enhance restaurant profit and loss with marketing, inventory and labour management

Ensures Restaurant Compliance:

Enforces compliance of government regulations, employment law, food safety, security, operations
and Company/Corporate policies and procedures relating to all restaurant activities across shifts.

  •  Directs the team to maintain restaurant and equipment cleanliness and sanitisation standards. Has sufficient OPS knowledge and can answer most, if not all, operational questions.
  • Ensures that all required operational systems and tools are used and documented at all times. Follows up with the team regarding compliance and completion.
  • Takes initiative to immediately take action on violations of safety, sanitation and security policies by reporting violations to supervisor, and performs appropriate damage control, while proactively identifying long-term prevention measures.
  • Maintains all required documentation in restaurant as it relates to employee files, safety, security and sanitation
  • Motivates and educates the restaurant team to comply with loss control procedures and to maintain a safe and secure environment for customers and the team.
  • Shows the supervisor that he/she can be relied upon to maintain restaurant compliance.
  • Works with restaurant management to identify indicators of compliance issues across shifts and leads restaurant audits.
  • Meets all required deadlines and due dates for company paperwork/reports, including daily, weekly and monthly items.

Functional Duties to oversee:

Reporting
The GM is responsible for reporting the following

  • Sales WEEKLY + Monthly
  • Labour Report WEEKLY + Monthly
  • Food Cost + Variances + Voids / Discounts WEEKLY + Monthly
  • Maintenance Feedback MONTHLY
  • Customer Complaints WEEKLY + Monthly

Sales (weekly and Monthly)

  • Through various tools at his / her disposal the General Manager should be able to ensure that the business meets the quarterly sales budgets put forward by the Management Team.
  • The manager is to have good knowledge of required daily, weekly and monthly targets and is required to drive his / her team to achieve these targets.
  • The General Manager is responsible for ensuring that the business is operating within agreed Gross Profit margins. We need to have at least a ________% increase in sales from last year to this year over the same period.

Food Cost: Food Cost, Variances, Voids / Discounts (weekly and monthly)

  • Our food cost should be between ____% and ____% of turn over for us to show a good Gross Profit margin and for the restaurant to show growth.
  • The General Manager is responsible for ensuring that buying is aligned to this and is controlled daily to give you the required output.
  • The food cost management includes discounts and voids to ensure these are kept at an acceptable level.
  • Voids & Discounts
  • Wastage

Labour: Labour Reports (weekly and monthly)
Staff Costs

  • The management of labour is critical in achieving high performance as a General Manager. Each department should be assigned a working budget and actively manage their budget to derive an overall labour budget of _____% of turnover.
  • Driving for this target should however never been at the expense of quality of product or service. It is therefore an ongoing management function within the business.

Training

The General Manager together with his team is to develop an in-house training program that is tailored to his / her specific business. This would include a training manual and tests for ensuring levels of service are upheld at the following levels.

  • Floor Managers
  • Waiters
  •  Bar staff
  •  Cleaners
  •  Kitchen Staff

Uniforms

  • Uniforms are an extension of the company’s brand and a sign of the level of respect we have for our customers. The GM is required to ensure that the highest standards are set and maintained with regards to staff uniform and personal grooming.

Asset Maintenance

  • The GM is required to manage all scheduled and unscheduled maintenance that is required to take place. It is his / her responsibility to ensure that everything is treated with a sense of urgency and that the facilities and ALL equipment is kept at an exceptionally high standard.

Customer Excellence

  • The GM is responsible for ultimate customer satisfaction and for ensuring that as a business we have delivered an exceptional experience for our guests.
  • This will be measured daily by floor managers and recorded on a complaints spreadsheet.
  •  Will employ the services of a market analysis company on an ongoing basis to provide accurate unbiased feedback on the quality of food and service provided to them.

Training needs:

Should you require any further training to meet objectives and deliver the expected results, please bring it to the attention of Top Management, who will then assess and provide feedback on how you will be assisted in the development of certain skills and attributes.

To apply for this job email your details to careers@ingoodcompany.africa

Scroll to Top