Kitchen Hierarchy: To Be or Not to Be? That is the Question

Way back in the 1800s when Escoffier developed the Kitchen Brigade System (as showcased on Hulu’s popular new television show The Bear), it was a great idea to help establish order and hierarchy in the kitchen of hotels and restaurants. This age-old system has been the foundation in the culinary world that delineates the titles, job responsibilities, and departments in our kitchens today. Or does it?

While we embrace the kitchen brigade system with our titles, we feel strongly that teamwork and culture are a more important “system” to embrace. Our kitchen has a team of 17 full-time and 10 part-time employees. They work in small quarters, often cutting board to cutting board. What’s great about this environment is that it breeds a creative, collaborative approach as there is no way that they can help but work in tandem. It’s like a delicate, thoughtful, and compassionate dance that we’ve seen to be a very successful recipe for our success!

Breaking the rules

When I think about how we “break the rules” of the brigade, I’d say the following things are what keeps the smiles on our teams’ faces and has them excited about coming to work. Additionally, while there are managers that are held accountable for each department, at the end of the day we expect that they will run their departments with a team mentality rather than a hierarchy. Every member of our team contributes to the success of what we do and we need to celebrate and embrace that.

1. We are all about communication.

When you communicate well, set expectations, determine goals, and ask for follow through you empower your team to do their job and feel like you trust them. When they feel trusted to do their jobs, they feel empowered to take ownership and pride in what they do. We encourage this way of managing our team and see that they go way above the call of duty when they feel like they are trusted.

2. Everyone cross-trains in every position in the kitchen.

The importance of understanding what your coworkers do and having the ability to jump in and help when needed is critical to an environment that is structured around the culture of teamwork.

3. Ongoing training that focuses on each person’s strengths and individual interests is a great way to invest in their future.

By investing in your employees, you will see increased morale, lower turnover, and employees that are motivated to do a great job. What’s great about this is that you have less turnover which creates a more stable environment. Stability boosts morale and if you think about it, it also cuts down on the stress of hiring newbies and the time it takes to train them, which is always a stressful and expensive thing.

4. Speaking of expensive, money talks and we pay our team well, but great perks and benefits are the icing on the cake that differentiates our company culture and keeps our team feeling happy and appreciated.

Celebrating birthdays, team holiday celebrations, having team outings, volunteering for local nonprofit organizations as a team building exercise to enforce the importance of giving back to our community as a company, team wellness challenges, cooking competitions, family get-togethers, and investing in their future by taking them to conferences like Catersource + The Special Event and the Art of Catering Food.

5. We encourage them to have a voice and to contribute their creativity to our menus and presentations.

Once again, we are enforcing the empowerment of taking ownership in our company and the importance of their opinions and ideas. It’s our job to take employee ideas and feedback which seriously creates a culture where everyone feels valued and heard. 

6. Three times a week we support local restaurants and provide lunch for our entire team.

It’s important for us to show our appreciation and gratitude for the long days and emotional stress that they are enduring. It also creates a family meal twice a week which really removes a large burden on the team. When you invest in your team and the culture you have, it truly motivates them to work harder as they feel appreciated. 

7. You cannot teach passion so it’s important that from the beginning

They need to be willing to drink your Kool-Aid and be team players for sure. We look for outgoing, personable people that will represent our brand in a confident and enthusiastic way. Additionally, getting the “buy-in” of your current team when hiring someone new is critical as it shows that you value their opinion and care if the new hires will potentially fit into your team.

8. Don’t get the team environment wrong here as we still establish roles and responsibilities of each team member—it’s important to be clear about what expectations are.

Despite the titles and layers that the brigade has established, we want everyone, regardless of title, to be open and willing to jump in and be a team player. There should be no ambiguity here to blur the lines.

One of the best ways to build a strong team is to celebrate their hard work, achievements, and moments when they go above and beyond their roles.

We celebrate our team with “QSB’s” or “Quite Simply the Best” shout outs. These can come from clients, managers, coworkers, and peers. Having formal recognition of their wins is an excellent way to build camaraderie on the team and makes them feel appreciated as team members. When you have a team that’s rewarded for helping one another and being team players, they will work harder, smarter, and celebrate the wins of the team which will impact the success of your company. 

I could go on here for days to count the ways that we celebrate our team. Fostering a positive team environment can have many positive outcomes such as reducing stress and increasing happiness, which at the end of the day is all that we want for ourselves and our team.