Why Accountability Is the Unexpected Key Ingredient for Restaurant Growth

What is it that kills great plans?

Organizations with a lack of accountability.

Restaurateurs often start off with big and exciting ideas, fantastic talent, and a great grasp of what they need to grow their business.

Ideas, plans, and programs become the wish/vision/dream boards of business – creating infinite possibility and the belief in a great future.

By the time they first meet me, however, they look at me wistfully and tell me things seldom happen as planned, or on the original schedule.

What happened? They generated output – things to do – but didn’t have the discipline to hold people accountable for achievement.

Some of my clients run around, move fast, and break stuff while their staff cleans up behind them and makes sure everything is done.

It’s a chaotic relationship, but it works.

Others lack the discipline to follow up – they also lament their unwritten best-selling book.

Accountability, checking on people (when you can even remember to do so) to make sure things got done. It’s probably not the most joyful and inspiring part of their day.

Either It Happened or it Didn’t

When I work with my clients – successful owners of independent multi-unit restaurant companies – we create management protocol systems that force people to report on the results of big game changing things that happen every day, week, period, quarter, and year.

When implemented, those companies suddenly change from a group of sometimes frustrated dreamers to a group with that winning-a-championship feeling.

Instead of talking about a better training program, they build one that gives guests a truly great experience.

Instead of thinking about upgrading management capability, they elevate it – and develop a bench of managers that allows them to build more units.

Instead of wanting to spend more time analyzing their financials, they take action and add an extra point or two to the bottom line, which significantly increases their net worth.

Two Most Important Accountability Points        

1. Make agreements. Everyone reflects expectations back to the people they report to so they share the same page.
2. Follow up on time. Guarantee that supervisors command respect from their reports by never letting a deadline pass without checking on it.

Don’t be fooled by the simplicity of accountability.

It is major.

Accountability is the difference between a restaurant company that chugs along on momentum, and a restaurant company that innovates, grows, and creates opportunity.

It’s the difference between doing the same things year in and year out and getting better every year.

Over to you. When you improve accountability, what will you achieve that has eluded you?