theft

The most important thing one must think about in restructuring your staff is theft. if theft starts occurring early on, it is only going to get worse. it will spread like wildfire- from the barbacks to the servers to the kitchen; it is a never-ending circular process. bartenders are supposed to be the most trusted and the best 'customer based' employees in an establishment. Even if someone has been there for a long time, the only way to control theft is to stop it as soon as it starts.

if you have trainees coming behind the bar and they see the bartender trainer not ringing in drinks, drinking himself without record, stealing bottles from the liquor room, etc., the new employee is going to think that it is 'socially acceptable' and it is going to duplicate itself a 100 times over. note to self: no matter how veteran or new the employee is, stand strong with your beliefs. if you begin to be iffy on a decision no one is going to take you seriously and the specific actions will continue without hesitation.

do what you think is right-whether you do it slowly with suspensions or quickly by just firing them, you have to do what you say you are going to do. once someone is fired, they are fired. if you do not have adequate staff to fire them and you do only to rehire them at a later time in the near future, you will be taken as a joke and the actions will come back quicker than you can snap your fingers. if you are going to suspend them, make it clear. come up with a system for write ups so you and other management can keep drank of how many offenses are truly committed. All i can say is stick with your grounds and people will respect you much more for it. If you do it behind their back, you will then be dealing with a disgruntled employee, and NOONE wants to deal with anyone of that.