Industry leaders took to the stage to discuss the major issues of the moment in front of a roomful of operators. Industry leaders took to the stage to discuss the major issues of the moment in front of a roomful of operators.

CASE STUDY: 3.15PM

Mastering Staff Retention

Everybody at Trader Vic’s feels like they are at their “second home”, which keeps staff and customer retention high, according to the Souk Madinat bar manager.

Anjula Perera, who manages the reigning Caterer Middle East Awards Bar Team of the Year, said that 65% of his guests are regulars. “They say: ‘You’re my family, this is my second home.’ That same feeling have is shared by our staff. We feel we are at home. Trader Vic’s is not just a place to work, not just a bar — it’s a lifestyle. The brand intrigues everyone.”

Perera claimed that teamwork is the key factor to staff retention. “Keep them happy. Push them to work together and communicate with each other,” he said. “At the end of every shift we talk about mistakes and share good comments and bad comments. For good comments there are big hugs and high fives. For bad comments we find a solution not to let it happen again.”

He added that there’s a “wow factor” in a Trader Vic’s bar, stemming from the team’s cocktail and alcohol knowledge and their pouring speed and precision — bartenders often mix three cocktails at a time.

“We raced to see who could make cocktails fastest,” recalled Perera, from his time as a trainee 10 years ago, “and I now see my staff doing the same.”

The employee journey at Trader Vic’s starts for 99% of staff at bar commis level and, said Perera: “Everyone is given an equal chance to rise. For the first three months they’re essentially a bar runner.”

In month four staff are given cocktail recipes to learn and after six months they get their first pouring practice. “Until then it’s only learning, not mixing at all,” revealed Perera. He continued: “After one year you’re promoted to junior bar tender. And after two years you become a barman responsible for your own station and training your staff, or you go to another Trader Vic’s.”

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