The prospect of banishing the tipping system in a restaurant could seem like a complete and total failure. Most people are horrified if they hear that waiters don’t receive tips. One company learned how to abolish tips and not only make it work, but make it a success.
Restaurant owner of the Linkery, Jay Porter, wrote a piece explaining his thought process behind ridding his restaurant of the tipping process and why it worked so well for him. The reason why he decided to tackle the issue was because he found that waiters, through their tips, could make up or more than three times more than cooks. This made for a strained environment and lack of team playing.
Porter explained:
“In California at that time, it was illegal to distribute any tip money to cooks. (Recent court rulings in the Western U.S. have loosened that restriction somewhat). By replacing tipping with a service charge, we were legally able to redirect about a quarter of that revenue to the kitchen, which reduced the income disparity and helped foster unity on our team.”
This was a pretty big deal. It really lit a fire under the employees at the Linkery, and in no time, they really seemed to be succeeding.
“When we switched from tipping to a service charge, our food improved, probably because our cooks were being paid more and didn’t feel taken for granted. In turn, business improved, and within a couple of months, our server team was making more money than it had under the tipped system.”
The essence of this is story to not be afraid to go against the grain. Sometimes finding new ways to make things work for you can seem like a failure to many at first. But that failure can actually lead to great success!