LEON FOUNDER MUCKS IN WITH THE “CRAP JOBS” AT HIS OWN RESTAURANTS
More bosses should do the “crap jobs” at the organisations they run to show staff they’re prepared to muck in, says the CEO and co-founder of healthy fast food chain Leon – who even cleans the toilets at his restaurants (yes, really). This will also improve their understanding of what daily life is like for junior employees, he claims.
Graduates often report feeling under-valued when they’re asked to carry out menial tasks, which undermines their confidence and can jeopardise their feelings towards their employer. In a recent interview, Leon boss John Vincent said he happily cleans the bathrooms and takes out the bins at his own restaurants, to foster a feeling of teamwork and help boost morale among more junior employees. He told The Times:
“I wouldn’t ask a team member to do anything I don’t do myself. So I clean the toilets, I get on my hands and knees and scrub. I take the rubbish out. I do all of the crap jobs.”
A common complaint of graduates is that they are asked to do ‘menial’ work – like making tea, tidying cupboards, or sweeping floors.
They say it can feel as though this is being set for them as test or rite of passage, for them to prove their commitment to their chosen career by ‘paying their dues’.
Some graduates are alarmed to be asked to do this type of work, when they have studied hard to get a good degree. Others will turn down jobs that they feel are beneath them, leading critics to accuse them of being ‘job snobs‘.
But most managers deny graduates are being deliberately humiliated, insisting that these are tasks that need to be done, and the responsibility falls to the most junior person in the team.
So, today we’re asking Graduate Foggers: Would you be happier to do ‘menial’ tasks if you saw bosses doing them too sometimes – or are graduates just ‘job snobs’ who should get used to saying yes to whatever tasks are asked of them? Have you ever been asked to do something you felt was beneath you, because you have a degree?
* DOES YOUR BOSS EVER MAKE THE TEA?
Or do the menial jobs in your workplace fall to the junior members of the team? Is this the way it should be – or would you like to see senior managers mucking in a bit more?
The bigger the organisation gets, the more head office/senior management seem to get ‘Ivory Tower Syndrome’ and forget what it’s like to work on the floor/have a complete common sense lobotomy and don’t listen to the people who actually run the day to day things and interact with customers.
Definitely think this is a good idea/attitude. Some of my friends work at various supermarkets’ head offices, and they’re all required to pitch in at ground level in store a few days a year to help out/experience life on the front line.
@JC – Thanks for your comment. I agree it’s good business practice for bosses and senior people no be aware of what life is like on the shop floor (or equivalent).
But I’m interested in whether you think it’s also good for the junior employees? I know there is a school of thought that says that today’s graduates are less accepting of imposed hierarchies (ie ‘I’m the boss, so what I say, goes’ doesn’t go down well now – whereas that sort of attitude was always accepted previously). From anecdotal evidence, I would definitely say that graduates expect to see more of a flat structure, or at least a company culture where everybody gets a say, even if the final decision is made by the bosses.
So I wonder whether the flip-side of this attitude means they / you also expect to see senior people doing more ‘humble’ tasks sometimes too. ie If junior people get to act a bit like senior people sometimes, does this mean senior people should act a bit like junior people sometimes? In other words, take the bin out, make the tea, etc? Just thinking out loud, but I have heard managers say that the new generation of graduates ‘have a problem with hierarchies’. In your experience, would you say that’s true or fair?
I don’t think most people would mind doing those duties if everyone took turns/there was a rota, especially in a smaller organisation with less staff.
Graduates want to be stimulated, learn and think for themselves though. Being expected do menial tasks for prolonged periods would be demotivating- especially if its to reinforce how ‘junior’ and ‘useless’ you are
For instance, at McDonald’s- everyone was expected to pitch in with cleaning/cooking/moving stock, even the managers. Even regional managers when they visited helped if things got busy.
If a company has no Managerial Structure, then it would be logical for everyone to be on a rota for each and every jobs…otherwise the issue of which candidate should be assigned to even a menial task may be down to the type of game that a supervisor wishes to play. And if they wanted to take someone down a peg or two, then they may well instruct them (in threat of any sacking) to simply wash out the lavatory each and every occasion rather than recruit Lavatory Attendants.
I just finished a (paid) internship with a small company and I was pleasantly surprised to see my boss making the tea and emptying the office compost bin – even when I offered to! I think this is quite unusual, I was bracing myself to be doing coffee runs and sweep the floors etc. If I was asked to do those kind of jobs I would do them without complaint but I wouldn’t be particularly happy. It might not be an efficient use of time for highly skilled people to do menial work but it is good for team cohesion.