» Professional Practice

Management style? It’s sink or swim at Rocco’s

Employees bore the brunt of poor management skills on the recent reality TV show The Restaurant.

BY DORIS TOOVEY

The challenge: to open Rocco’s, a trendy, upscale Italian restaurant in New York City. The venue: NBC Television’s staged “reality” show, The Restaurant, featuring chef and owner Rocco DiSpirito and his eclectic, hoping-to-be-discovered-and-get-famous staff.

My assignment: to assess the show from an HR perspective; after all, I work in human resources for a restaurant company. This show had all the ingredients of high drama: co-worker spats, tearful and/or irate employees, staff threatening to quit, staff who did quit, boss-inspired strategies that proved unworkable, insanely long hours and stress, stress, stress.
In simple terms, the show conveyed two things: the lack of good HR in

Charming and ambitious, Rocco demonstrated far greater skills in the art of schmoozing than as a boss. He seemed slow to realize that when it comes to managing people, you can’t get by on personality and attitude alone.
In the hectic, exciting pace of restaurants, HR has to be easy, streamlined and user friendly to stay effective: more like a diet meal than a five-course feast. Rocco unwittingly demonstrated what happens when no good HR practices are in place: disaster. 

In the first episode, his recruitment practices set the stage for his HR woes. He held an open “casting call” and hired people on the spot because of one or two key words. One woman said she wanted to work for Rocco because she heard he sought people whose “heart smiled.” (Gag.) Rocco’s response? “Fantastic. I love you. You’re hired.” 

Another woman characterized herself with one word: “positive.” Rocco responded, “That’s enough. You’re hired.” While I appreciate his passion, we all know where hiring people on the spot because of buzz words can get you; it usually doesn’t lead to long-term employees. Like in any organization, Rocco could have benefited from tighter hiring policies.
In another episode, classic workplace dysfunction resulted when a newly hired, gorgeous female server received no introduction, orientation or training. Since no one on staff knew who she was, they concocted imaginative gossip about how she got her job.

Without proper communication, the poor woman didn’t know what suitable uniform footwear was. This left her victimized by co-workers’ ridicule: “What is she doing wearing heels while serving?” A proper orientation could have integrated this new employee, got her up to speed, and left her feeling much more comfortable and settled, rather than fending off the smirks of co-workers.

I watched the show with my colleague Hans Klaekken, Elephant & Castle’s director of culinary services. He thought the show was staged, but realistically portrayed the high-pressure environment of the restaurant world. In such a milieu, those in command can get highly emotional with little time to explain things in a “nice” way. “When you open a restaurant, the only thing that some people care about is opening as soon as possible to get the cash flow happening,” he says. At such times, profit motive can override good management practice.

The Restaurant conveyed a simple management style: sink or swim. While Rocco used an aggressive approach but still played it cool, his sink-or-swim attitude left some employees drowning. While I respect the needed sense of urgency and resulting lack of time for well-thought-out feedback, some of Rocco’s strategy aggravated his staff more than necessary.

For example, one of his managers told a line cook: “Do it right or bye, bye” while the camera zeroed in on the employee’s angry take-this-job-and-shove-it face. Rocco sent a male waiter to the dishwashing area as

In the final episode, Rocco did what many managers do to improve morale: he hosted a party (albeit, his was in the Hamptons). Several staff commented that they thought he was just trying to make up for being so difficult for the last few weeks. Yet, the event did bring the team together, thanks to drink-carrying contests, lobster, Coors Light and a heart-warming speech by Rocco about teamwork.

Since the restaurant business is all about food, drink and having a good time, this approach was probably the best thing Rocco could have done in his situation. However, like everyone who has a feel-good party to motivate staff, the effects don’t always last long; a good party is fun, but it cannot replace good management. 

Rocco’s party probably won’t be enough to keep his people engaged another week down the road when they still face improper training and are embarrassed into submission. Meanwhile, his restaurant has received citations for six health code violations.

Doris Toovey works in corporate training and human resources with Elephant & Castle Group Inc. Contact: doris.toovey@telus.net

Photo caption
Restaurant owner Rocco DiSpirito and his staff

Photography disclaimer
Copyright © 2003 NBC, Inc. All rights reserved. Permission is hereby granted for photo depicting the program herein to be used solely for promotional purposes in newspapers and periodicals only and for no other purpose.

Reprinted from PeopleTalk Magazine Winter 2003 (V6, N4)

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