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Guidelines for Supervising a Chef |
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Home > Staff > Staff Resources > Row Student Management > Resource Guide for Student-Managed Residences > Guidelines for Supervising a Chef
Guidelines for Supervising a Chef
Setting and Clarifying Expectations
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Setting expectations should begin in your contract
negations and be spelled out in your contract. However, just because
it is not written in your contract does not mean that you can not
expect your chef to perform specific tasks, prepare food in a given
way, accommodate vegetarians or vegans or stop inappropriate behaviors.
Be careful that your expectations do not contradict his/her contract
or are in any way illegal. If you have questions, please contact
the Assistant Director for Student Management. |
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Take notes about the types of things you would like your next
contract to be more specific about. (All contracts are available
in the Row Office and you may review them for ideas on improving
your own). … Be specific about what time you expect them to
arrive at work and how late you expect them to say ("until
food is served" etc.). |
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Be specific about what you want them to do if they are going to
be late or unable to attend work. i.e. "please call the day
before if you can, if you call the day of and do not reach the KM,
then please leave messages for both the RA and HM too." |
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Be specific about their food budget, how much it is and what it
covers. i.e. "You have $2000 a week and that is to cover all
items purchased from SYSCO, Ledyard's, all meat and dairy
ordered, and special Safeway runs. All open-kitchen food and soda
comes from the open kitchen budget and is not included in your food
budget." |
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Be specific about what type of equipment they can purchase for
the house. i.e. "If you need any utensils or pots for the house,
you have a $50 per quarter to purchase those types of items. Anything
over that must be approved by the staff prior to purchase or we
reserve the right not to reimburse you." |
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If a specific problem arises (tardiness, missed meals, spending
over budget, rude or inappropriate behavior toward residents) address
it immediately. |
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The first warning should always be verbal (unless the behavior
is egregious violent outburst, sexual harassment, intoxication etc.).
Let the chef know:
| 1. |
What specifically did they do wrong |
| 2. |
What is the preferred behavior you would like to see instead
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What will be the possible consequences if they repeat the
behavior Example: "Joe, I noticed that you did not arrive
at work until 11:15 today and that did not leave you enough
time to prepare lunch by Noon. The food was set out at 12:15pm
and you only prepared one side dish instead of two. We had
agreed that you would arrive by 10:30am. If you are late again,
without prior notice, it may result in a formal warning." |
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With a first time offense that seems out of character for your
chef, please ask if there is anything wrong or if there is anything
you can do to help the situation. If they are having personal problems,
express your sympathy and support. However, they still have a job
to do and you are responsible for serving food to your entire house.
You can be flexible and arrange time off if that is necessary, but
general flaky behavior only gets worse if it is not addressed. Good
employees will realize that. |
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The corrective discipline described above will stop the majority
of the problems you have. However, if it does not, you may need
to write a formal letter, put your chef on probation or ultimately
terminate their employment (see sections below) |
Chef Performance Notes (or Supervision Log)
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KMs should keep a running Supervision Log or notes
about the chef's performance. There is a section in your KM binder
for this. This log should contain notes about verbal warnings you
have given your chef (and what their response was). It should contain
notes about the wonderful things they have done or areas they have
made improvement in. The purpose of this log is documentation. That
documentation backs up your bonus decision, it provides back up
in case disciplinary action is needed, and overall gives you a good
sense of the chef's performance over the course of the year. This
information will also be very useful to the new KM who has to work
with that chef. |
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Make entries when specific incidents occur and you want to remember
exactly what you said to the chef, and what the chef said back.
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Document discussions about budgets. |
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Document brainstorming ideas you had with the chef for their continued
improvement or things they would like to implement. |
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Document commitments you made to the chef (we will buy you X appliance,
we agreed that you could leave at 5:45pm on Tuesdays, but would
stay until 6:00pm every other work day) |
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Documents complaints the chef has made and what your response
and/or action was |
Proper Use of Bonuses
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* Bonuses should be earned and it should be clear
to the chef ahead of time what they need to do to earn their bonus.
Bonuses should not be a big surprise to a chef nor be used to send
a message that you have not already clearly sent to them before
bonus time. |
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A large or full bonus is a great way to tell a chef you are happy
with their work. Likewise, a small bonus or no bonus at all, is
a very clear message when you are not happy with certain aspects
of their performance. |
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I hope that your contract outlines how they can earn their bonus.
If not, you can always make an agreement now (and put it in writing).
Please get that written agreement approved by the Assistant Director
for Student Management and give a copy to SOS so they can leave
it in the employee's file and add it to your contract for the following
year. |
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A bonus agreement should specifically say the range of the bonus
(i.e. between 0 and $1000). |
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A bonus agreement should outline what percentage of the bonus
will be based on what performance criteria, i.e.:
| 1. |
40% of your bonus will be based on resident
survey's numerical responses (1-5) to the various questions
will be added together and averaged a perfect 5 will result
in a full bonus in this area, |
| 2. |
20% of your bonus will be based on the KM and staff's evaluation
of your work and willingness to work with them, |
| 3. |
30% of your bonus is based on your ability to stay within
the weekly food budget (if you are under budget you will receive
the full bonus, if you are over 5% or less you will receive
half bonus, and if you are over budget more than 5% you will
not receive any of this portion of the bonus), |
| 4. |
10% of your bonus will be based on meeting your EA goal
of $1000 in EA revenue (this part of the bonus is all or nothing).
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Other criteria you may wish to use: attendance record (tardiness
and missed meals), bonus for preparing specific specialty foods
(soups, deserts, bread, salad bars, Vegas entrées), menu
variations (introduction of at least 2 new entrées each week),
anything else you want to set forth as an expectation/goal for your
chef. |
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If you are unhappy with your chef's performance in any area, you
MUST talk to them about, if the behavior continues it should be
reflected in a lower bonus. Do not give a full bonus all year and
then say you do not want to rehire them next year because they did
not meet your expectations. |
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Again a full bonus should be earned, not expected. |
Affirmations and Incentives
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There are other ways to give kudos and incentives
to your chef besides a bonus. Here are a few ideas: |
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Praise them! Let them know you appreciate the extra effort they
put into Friday's dinner. Thank them for remembering to hold the
meat out of one of the lasagnas. (write these in your supervision
log too) |
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Have the house show their appreciation. The co-ops have a wonderful
tradition of clapping for the chefs at every meal. Put up signs
or a banner that everyone signs. Give them a house T-shirt with
a card signed by everyone. |
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Surprise them with a cake on their birthday (or for no reason
at all!) |
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Give them a meal or a day off with pay. |
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Be flexible in your schedule (IF YOU CAN) to accommodate doctor's
appointments or child care conflicts |
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Increase your house contribution to their health benefits if they
use more than you cover. (remember this is a "permanent"
bonus) |
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If they are participating in the new 401K plan through SOS, increase
your house contribution. (remember this is a "permanent"
bonus) Notes: Regarding Social Events and Special Dinners |
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Please make it clear ahead of time, what you expect of your chef
for a special dinner and what extra (if any) compensation they will
receive for this. (note the agreement in your supervision log) |
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Make it clear what social role you expect the chef to play that
evening. Some houses like to encourage their chef to participate
in the dinner and that is OK. |
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Please be cautious of the fact that they are still your employee
and this is their work environment. It is not appropriate for a
chef to drink alcohol and certainly not to become intoxicated in
your house. Likewise, it is also not appropriate for them to "hit
on" residents, or in any other way socialize in a way that
could make any member of your house feel uncomfortable. These types
of incidents need to be addressed immediately and very clearly with
your chef (even if they apologize and say they did not mean it or
know that it was unacceptable). |
University Policies
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Even though your chef is not a University employee
their contract specifically states that they are subject to all
University policies (including the Sexual Harassment Policy, the
prohibition of smoking within any Stanford buildings, the use or
distribution of illegal substances and disorderly conduct). |
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Make sure your chef understands that. You may want to give them
copies of the policies (found in the Stanford Bulletin or on the
web at:
http://portfolio-www.stanford.edu/100167
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Please remember that even if you don not agree with a certain
policy, or the behavior does not bother you, it may bother a resident
of your house and university policy clearly allows them the right
to expect that the behavior does not continue. Corrective Discipline
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Note: The Row Office has a great handout from the University Employee
Relations Office about Corrective Action and Line of Consequences.
You should have a copy in your black KM binder as well. |
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The goal of correction discipline is to communicate the chef the
specific area of performance or conduct that are problematic or
below your expectations. You should regularly be discussing concerns
with your chef. However, before you take "corrective"
action, please speak to the Assistant Director for Student Management.
There are many federal and state laws protecting the rights of employees
and you do not want to mistakenly violate any of them. |
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Here is a simple 7 stop corrective action outline:
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Consult with the Assistant Director for Student Management
prior to applying corrective discipline |
| 2. |
Conduct initial problem solving/coaching session with the employee (what
is the problem, how might it be solved, this should be a positive
opportunity for the chef to change their behavior) |
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Conduct follow-up coaching session(s) if previous step does not result
in improvement |
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Give "verbal warning" if previous steps do not result in improvement |
| 5. |
Give written warning if previous steps do not result in improvement (must
get letter approved by Assistant Director for Student Management) |
| 6. |
Give final written warning if previous steps do not result in improvement
(must get letter approved by Assistant Director for Student
Management) |
| 7. |
Termination (must get action/letter approved by Assistant Director for
Student Management) |
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Check your contract to see what the required number of verbal
and written warnings are before you can consider terminating your
chef. |
Writing Formal Letters of Warning
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All formal written communication with your chef MUST
be approved by the Assistant Director for Student Management prior
to giving it to the chef. |
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Sample letters are available in the Row Office. |
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The Assistant Director for Student Management is available to
help you draft that letter if you need assistance. |
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Letters must be contain specific information about dates of unacceptable
behavior and notes and notes about the verbal and written warnings
they had received about that specific behavior. The letter must
also state specifically what you do not want them to do, what you
DO want them to do, and the possible consequences of not changing
their behavior. |
Probation
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Please check your contract for the steps that must be taken
prior to placing your chef on probation. |
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Probation can be a very useful tool, usually after a verbal and written
warning, to let your chef know that they are close to termination.
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In writing, make clear the length of the probation (i.e. one quarter)
and what the chef needs to do to successfully complete his/her probation
period |
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If your chef is new, and their first quarter is considered a probationary
quarter, then you have a responsibility to let your chef know how
they are doing, what behavior needs to be changed, if any. If you
choose not to continue their employment at the end of the probationary
period, it should not be a surprise to them. |
Termination
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Termination is often a difficult decision to make
and certainly to communicate to your chef. Do not do this alone.
The Assistant Director for Student Management must approve termination.
S/he will honor your wishes but must insure that all Federal and
State laws are being followed. |
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The Assistant Director for Student Management must approve your
letter of termination. |
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The Assistant Director for Student Management will go with you,
if you wish, when you actual inform your chef that they have been
terminated. |
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Remember to ask for your chef's keys, and request that they remove
all of their personal belongings from the kitchen and house. |
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Ask that they do not return to the house. (This may make members
of the house or your staff feels very uncomfortable and perhaps
even unsafe). |
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You MUST have the chef's final paycheck in your hand when you
terminate them. Prior arrangements must be made with SOS to have
them cut a hand check. |
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Discuss with the Assistant Director for Student Management ways
to inform your house of the decision and what is appropriate (and
legal) for you to tell them. |
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Figure out a short and long-term plan to provide meals for the
house until you hire a new chef. |
Communication
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Communication is the key to success in your role as
a supervisor. Communicate often and openly and then document those
conversations and you should be fine! |
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Communicate with your chef - stop in the kitchen daily and ask
them how they are doing. Do they have concerns? Is there anything
you can do to make their job easier? Tell them what you like and
do not like. Tell them about the feedback (good and bad) that you
have received from the staff and residents. |
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Communicate with your staff - talk about the chef and his/her
performance at staff meetings. Let you staff know what types of
corrective action you have taken, or would like to take. If your
staff is upset about something that does not bother you it is still
your responsibility to make sure that gets communicated to the chef
(by another person is OK). |
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Communicate with your residents - get regular feedback from your
residents on the chef's performance. Use surveys, white-boards,
informal talks etc. Share feedback (especially written feedback)
with the chef. Do not assume your residents are satisfied just because
they do not complain to you. They may feel ackward telling you for
some reason and it is your responsibility to give them an opportunity
to express their feelings/needs. |
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Communicate with the Row Office giving short updates does not
mean that anyone will come in and tell you what you have to do.
It just helps eliminate surprises or unintentional mistakes that
could cause legal problems later. Ask for help ¹ that is what the
Row Office is there for. |
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Communicate with SOS - respond in a timely fashion to payroll
requests, inform them vacation and sick leave used, give bonus amounts
and calculations to them in time for the chef to get it on the correct
paycheck (check your contract), make sure you make your quarterly
deposits on time to avoid late fees. |
Have fun! Supervising a chef is a big responsibility but can also be a lot of fun and great experience!
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