The responsibilities of a restaurant manager are basically divided into three categories i.e. floor management, kitchen management, and administration. The key responsibility of a restaurant manager is to plan the activities of the hotel staff i.e. chefs, waiters, bartenders, etc. Besides this the manager also has to perform duties like organizing the supply of stock like vegetable, dairy staff, meat, poultry, grocery, and many more. The restaurant manager also conducts training for the new staff, organizing their shifts, brief the staff members about their duties and promote team work in order to deliver the best services as per the standards of the restaurant. The restaurant manager should also oversee that the staff is catering quality services and abiding by the health and safety regulations. In major restaurants the restaurant manager also works with the chefs in order to plan the recipes and their budget. Some restaurant manager job also requires participating in marketing campaigns in order to meet the desired sales target or profit margins set by the management of the eatery. Some of the restaurant managers are also required to manage the accounts and handle the reimbursements of the staff.
The minimum requirement necessary to become a restaurant manager is a Bachelors degree in hotel management. There are many degree courses and diploma courses in hospitality management that are given by various institutes across the United States of America.
Most of the restaurant managers receive on the job training. These training programs comprise managerial coaching pertaining to serving food, handling accounting software, managing and directing the staff, training on public relations, marketing, and many more.
The restaurant manager should be very patient and should have the necessary skills to handle angry customers calmly. He should have great communication skills i.e. oral and written. He should be computer literate and have knowledge about some basics like Power Point, Word and Excel. He should posses the skills of playing host to sophisticated guests. He should have the ability to work with employees of various scales, or be a team player in other words. He must have solid work ethics. He should be able to handle human resource operations. He should possess knowledge about accounting software. He should possess leadership qualities as well as supervisory qualities. He should have good health and stamina as he will, more often than not require working late nights and in weekends as restaurants have no Saturdays and Sundays.
In order to avail a job position as a restaurant manager in a reputable restaurant you need to have a minimum of 3 to 5 years of experience. The manager should also have enough experience in maintaining accounts. Experience is a must in order to climb the ladder of promotion in this job sector.
As per the bureau of labor statistics, the graduate of hospitality management with the needed skill set and experience has a good scope to be employed as a restaurant manager. As there is a continuous increase in the number of food chains around the world, it is expected that the opportunities for jobs as a restaurant manager jobs will also increase. If the restaurant manager is dedicated towards his work and impresses the management with his work he may even be promoted to a general manager's position or beyond. It is also expected that 368,000 job openings will be created as restaurant managers by 2016.
According to the US department of Labor's Bureau a food service manager or restaurant manager can make around $50,000 annually whereas the restaurant managers at reputed restaurants make around $75,000 annually with experience. The salary of a restaurant manager is totally dependent on the experience, location, and type of restaurant he is employed with.
Serving as a restaurant manager is not bad career option as the employment and career prospects are very good. So if you are looking forward to succeeding as a restaurant manager then go for it!
