Final

Placement Report

Prepared for : Ms L. Vink

Block : 1819AB
Campus : The Hague
Date submitted : 8 February 2019

Petya Kalendzhieva

671068

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Table of Contents
1. Tasks in the second part of placement 3
2. Creating memorable events 4
3. Leadership 5
4. Interview 6
5. Eye opener 7
6. Inquisitive powers 8
7. Reflection and Personal development 9
Appendices 10
Appendix 1: Examples of 5-star classification 10
Appendix 2: Target market and Customer profile 11
Appendix 3: Final evaluation form 12
Appendix 4: Selected parts of learning journal 14
References 17

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 FINAL PLACEMENT REPORT
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

1. Tasks in the second part of

placement
Throughout my whole placement I have stayed in the same department – The Strathearn
restaurant. During the second part of my placement however, I was promoted from a
Commis waiter to a Demi-Chef de rang. My tasks in result had changed and I was given
more responsibility.

In order for people from the team to be able to get promotions, our managers came up
with several written tests, followed by a final exam to get us to a high level of detailed
knowledge in the restaurant’s operations and be awarded the ‘Certificate of Excellence’.
After my second meeting with my manager I set a goal to successfully pass the test and
obtain the certificate – and so I did. Aside from that, I got extra training and feedback in
how to do some of the technical work, such as salmon carving and flambéing and I spent
some time studying the menu in detail.

The holiday experience was the biggest challenge I have ever faced in my life regarding
F&B service, since all the steps of service were altered due to the large numbers of
guests. The real struggle for me and my colleague on the station was to manage to have
all the tables served, the bills signed and to have them with glasses full of champagne by
eleven o’clock on New Year’s Eve. We successfully managed to do so and it was one of
the most hectic yet fun and exciting dinner services I have ever done, and all our guests
were extremely happy. It taught me that no matter how hard the work is, I should
always believe in myself and my abilities.

Compared to the activities we had to do in Practical Education in school, The Strathearn

was way more of a challenge to me. The experience I had in PE was more relaxed and
casual, since I only worked in Zinq and not in Le Debut. However, it still prepared me
well enough for my placement and I did not struggle with the tasks I had to perform or
with the authority I had.

The Strathearn, being the main restaurant in the hotel has a great contribution to the
overall guest experience in the hotel, since they have their breakfast with us. Most of
them book tables for dinner as well, expecting to indulge in an excellent fine-dining
experience. In January however, the restaurant closed for refurbishment alongside some
of the hotel rooms. The team was then divided in two and breakfast was moved to
another restaurant, which is where I worked. It was a challenge for the whole team to
get used to the new place and work with people from another department, but after only
a week, the service was already smooth, and we managed to get back on track.

Being a Demi-chef de rang has a lot of responsibility since it is one of the main points of
contact for all guests coming to dine in the restaurant and as such, we need to make
sure that everything goes smooth and we communicate their requests with the kitchen
correctly. The second part of my internship proved to me that F&B is my passion and I
want to further develop in this department of the hotel business.

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2. Creating memorable events
Hotel classification
The Gleneagles Hotel is a five-star luxury hotel and golf resort in the heart of Scotland.
Within an hour’s drive from both Edinburgh and Glasgow airports, the glorious
playground offers 3 golf courses, luxurios hotel and an award-winning spa (Gleneagles,
2018). The attention of detail in the hotel is of highest level and guest service is
personilised to the maximum, providing them with an unforgettable experience. After
doing some research on star classification in the UK I decided that the hotel fully lives up
to its 5-star classification. Underpinning of my research can be found in Appendix 1.

Target market
According to Glenealges’ sales and marketing department, the largest amout of guests
coming to the hotel are from the USA during summer (about 60%) and from England
during the winter season (about 70%). Guests from Europe such as Germans and French
take second place (about 30%) and guests from Asia such as Indians and Chinese are on
third place (about 10%). Most of the guests (about 80%) travel with their families and
stay for about a week. We often have business guests booking the whole hotel for
meetings and celebrations and we sometimes have single travellers from Europe that
have come to explore Scotland and its beauty. (Appendix 2)

Guest satisfaction
The Gleneagles Hotel uses various methods to measure guest satisfaction. The main one
is face to face feedback given by guests throughout their stay and at check out. Next to
that, the hotel has short questionnaires in each guest room to measure the satisfaction
and possibly give remarks on their stay. Aside from that, the managers regularly check
the online platforms for reviews. Most of the reviews and feedback given about
Gleneagles is positive, but when it is negative, the management makes sure they follow
up with the guests to find out more and prevent such mistakes happening in the future.

During several Private Dining functions, we have had for evening celebrations, guests
from the rooms upstairs have complained about the loud noise. No real action had ever
been taken apart from apologizing to guests. I believe ways to minimize the noise could
be found or at least it could stop after 10pm.
Waiting time during busy breakfast service could be minimized by having more staff on
the floor to clear and relay tables. This will also help with waiters feeling more at ease
and providing better service which is sometimes a problem during busy times.
When reading guest profiles two very common complaints were – problems during check-
in or poor service in the Brasserie. In my opinion, all these problems were due to the lack
of (well-) trained staff, which can easily be solved with providing more training
opportunities and bringing understaffing to minimum.

Complaint handling
In the Strathearn restaurant most of the employees do not receive any training on
complaint handling – it is mostly the Head waiters and managers the ones who deal with
complaints. Other employees are also allowed to deal with complaints but prefer to leave
it to higher personnel to discuss. This is to ensure that the problems are dealt with as
promptly as possible and miscomminucation, which could occur with a big team, is
minimized. It has proven to be a very effective strategy.

Creating memorable events

1. Personal gifts and notes in rooms.
2. Complimentary champagne on arrival and/or in the restaurant when there is a
special event.
3. Friendly and accommodating staff at guests’ service 24/7.
4. Attractive outdoor activites for people of all ages.
5. Locally sourced and seasonal menus throughout all F&B outlets, keeping any
dietary requests in mind.

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3. Leadership
The leadership style that my mentor displayed was mostly the Transformational one
but sometimes became slightly Pacesetting (BridgewaterUK, 2015) (Becker, 2018).

The transformational style is common with today’s leaders and is ‘transforming’ with the
company’s needs. Employees have a basic set of tasks and goals that they need to
achieve, but the leader is constantly pushing them outside of their comfort zone (Becker,
2018). This can be seen with my mentor Lewis, as he always tries to push us to reach
next levels of the restaurant’s hierarchy even when we do not believe in our abilities. He
points out our mistakes and tells us how we could improve or tries to give us more tasks
which are not included in our daily jobs in order to challenge us. For example, giving one
of the headwaiters more responsibility and asking him to perform some of his tasks,
giving him criticism afterwards and pushing him to do better until he was finally prepared
to be a Senior headwaiter. Lewis however can sometimes lose sight of everyone's
individual learning curves if direct reports do not receive the right coaching to guide them
through new responsibilities (Becker, 2018). This is when he tends to become a bit
pacesetting – someone who expects excellence and self-direction (BridgewaterUK, 2015).
He often times, especially during busy periods, shows us how something is done by doing
it himself, thinking he is the only one who could do it in such a way and deprives us of
the learning moment, which is important when aquiring new skills. This sometimes made
me question my abilities and feel insecure, but overall his leadership helped me achieve
more than I thought I could.

In the Strathearn, the most commonly used way of motivation was by giving different
types of incentives. Some of them included our performance on the floor, e.g receiving
vouchers for the hotel’s cafe after having our names mentioned by guests on a review or
to someone from the team. Others were given to whoever managed to upsell the most
items of some kind e.g commis waiters got an incentive for selling the most coffees, teas
and sweet wines during dinner service.

When it is my turn to be a manager in the MO block, I believe i will be leading my team

slightly differently. I will strive to create trust within my team, so they will not feel
intimidated by me or scared to ask for feedback, but I will also guide them on how they
could perform better and push them out of their comfort zone. I will include my whole
team in decisions I need to make as much as possible, which will help everyone feel like
they have as equal amount of input in the decision-making process as their colleagues.
This way I will not only help my team grow, but I will also challenge myself since I
sometimes tend to be like Lewis and do things on my own, thinking I am the only one
that knows best. However that is not always the case and could lead to your team losing
their trust in you.

Regarding the motivational side of my leadership experience, in my opinon incentives

definitely help an employee strive for more, but there is something missing – the social
factor. For me personally, I prefer to feel like I belong in the team and that my work is
being appreciated. Motivation works differently with every person – if one is happy with
an incentive for the completed work, another one prefers to have a goal set in mind in
order to perform at their best (Franzen, 2015). I will discuss with my team what gets
each of them motivated to perform and adjust my styles accordingly.

Working with such a big team as the Strathearn one makes it difficult to know every
employee’s factors for motivation. However, if the managers notice that some of the
employees are having harder time than others being motivated to work, they should
spend some time to help them figure out what works best, so they could achieve more.

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4. Interview
I did an interview with Strathearn restaurant manager, Daniel Greenock. The reason I
decided to interview him was because he is the one manager I look up to and aspire to
be as on a personal and professional level. He is a perfect example of how to lead a
team and I believe he has the suitable qualities to be the manager of such a highly-
renowed restaurant with an old history like the Strathearn.

Daniel was born in Scotland and started working in hospitality from young age,
working at his parents’ pub after school. He then got another job as a waiter in
Glasgow and decided he wanted to go and study hospitality at a hotelschool.
He tried to combine work with studying but ended up with working too many hours, so
he failed his studies. That is when he decided to move to London and after a few years
built his way up to an assistant-manager position in a fine-dining restaurant.

He wanted to take his career the next level, so he applied in the two-Michelin Andrew
Fairlie at Gleneagles but got rejected because of a lack of experience. He then moved
to New York to help in the re-opening of a Michelin-star restaurant and re-earn their
Michelin stars back. He built his way from a commis to a manager again, but he felt
like something was missing in his experience – being a sommelier. So, he moved to
London again where he started again as a commis and became a Head sommelier and
obtained most of the WSET levels. He worked in a few various places afterwards and
then, after visiting Gleneagles for his honeymoon, he was convinced this was the place
he wanted to continue building his career at and he has been working there since.

He started as a Deputy Manager in the Strathearn but quickly got promoted to a

Restaurant manager. He is now responsible for the smooth running of breakfast and
dinner services, the guest and employee satisfaction in the restaurant and alongside
the head Strathearn chef for the menus served.

What motivated Daniel to work at Gleneagles was the potential he saw the place had.
With all the experience he had, he thought he had much to contribute to its
development. His plans are to continue his career in Gleneagles for now as his family
and he is settled around there and he is looking for the reopening of the Strathearn
with greatest excitement. He has his own business on the side which his wife mostly
manages, and he said he is always open for new experience but for now he still sees
more potential for personal development at Gleneagles.

What was really interesting for me about Daniel, which I also discussed with him, was
that he kept on going from an operational level to a managerial one over and over
again in order to gain experience in every aspect of F&B service. In his words, that is
the thing that keeps him humble still and I believe it is crucial for a manager to never
forget how he felt in the shoes of his employees in order to help them grow better.
Furthermore, Daniel is a very much people’s person, very open-minded and sociable,
which are qualities I personally am still working on. I believe Daniel could at times be
more approachable which is a learning point for me for my future MO experience.
What I like about his style of leading is that he always knows how to motivate his
employees, even with his word only, he likes to joke sometimes, like more Scottish
people do, but could also be firm when needed.

When I asked Daniel what advice he could give me he said to me ‘You and I are the
same’. He explained that we are both good looking people that know what they want
from life and could often be a threat to their other colleagues if we walk in to work
with their heads up high. His secret to not being hated by others was to not take
oneself too seriously – after all, we are only serving guests food, not saving lives, so if
I feel like sometimes things are not working out or if guests are demanding too much,
I should put a smile on and try my best to work things out. In his opinion, the way to
never get stuck in what you do is to set goals for yourself everyday – big or small,
they are what keeps one going and what gives one a vision for where they want to go.
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5. Eye opener
During the second part of my internship I encountered several situations which served
me as Eye openers. One I vividly remember happened around Christmas during dinner
service. There was a family of 8 coming for dinner, who were regular guests staying for 2
weeks during the holidays. They were all very important guests, with a lot of dietary
requirements and allergies and every single guest had different preferences about their
food. One of the evenings a colleague of mine who was a Headwaiter and I were serving
this table. It was an extremely busy night so it was important I gave her all the support
that I could with serving tables. After she had taken their order, she decided to go and
carve smoked salmon at another big table of 14, because there were a few allergens on
the table. The restaurant’s policy is that only the person running the station a.k.a taking
the orders and checking for satisfaction, should be serving the dishes for people with
allergies. That is why she decided to go and do the smoked salmon even though I am
completely capable of doing so as well. In the meantime, the starters for the VIP table
had come out of the kitchen, ready to be served. The headwaiter could not leave what
she was doing so I had to serve the whole table with the help of one of the runners. I
was getting really stressed out because I knew how important it was for everything to go
smooth and at that moment there was no other headwaiter or a manager around to help
so I had to do everything on my own. I served the table, but I was not sure if all the
allergens were correct because one plate was supposed to be with goat cheese and one
with some type of diary-free one. They both looked the same and there was no note from
the chef about which one is which. I was starting to panic that I had served them the
other way around when the manager came up to me with 2 plates of the goat cheese
salad and said I need to order new ones because these were served the other way
around. The girl with the allergy got quite upset about the mistake I did, and the
headwaiter saw that from the other table. She asked me to explain to her what
happened, and I quickly told her about the situation.
After she was done with the carving, she was furious with me, went to talk to the table,
then had a conversation with one of the managers, but I could not hear what had
happened. Later, during dinner she was still not talking to me, but the guests seemed to
be fine. When it was her time to go home, she asked me to go outside so we can have a
chat. We discussed the whole situation and agreed that it was both our fault for switching
our roles and not being vigilant enough.
This evening taught me a few things. The first one was that I should always ask for help
if I feel like I need it, no matter how good I think I am or how up in the hierarchy of the
company I am – even my manager asks others for help sometimes. In order to be a good
leader, one should know what they are capable of and not be afraid to admit that
sometimes things are not in their own power only to be done.
The second one was that if I was in the headwaiter’s position, I should have managed my
time better or made sure that there was someone to help the person I am leaving alone
with serving if it is a table with a lot of requirements and special service. Being a leader
means helping your team grow by showing them ‘how it is done’, not by letting them
deal with problems on their own and make a lot of mistakes, some of which may be
crucial.
Lastly, communication is key. If we had both made sure that I was fully aware of the
table’s requirements, that mistake might have been avoided. These lessons served me
well for the next month and I believe they will help me in my future as a manager.

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6. Inquisitive powers
6.1 Identify a problem and formulate a question
The Pastry kitchen in the Strathearn restaurant oftentimes has problems with expediting
food on time or makes small mistakes with the orders. This is because they are usually
understaffed or do not manage their time correctly and end up with more workload than
they could deal with. This ends up with desserts taking longer to be served than they
should and leads to guest dissatisfaction which affects the employee satisfaction. So how
can the chefs find a way to optimize the efficiency of the Pastry kitchen?

6.2 Collect information

In order to get more insight on the problem I decided to interview one of my colleagues,
a headwaiter, and the head pastry chef. That way I could enquire about the guest’s
experience from the headwaiter and about the managerial side of it by the chef.

My colleague Hannah, who is the headwaiter, thought that this was a big problem that
needed solving as soon as possible. She felt quite unhappy that she must constantly take
the negative side of the guests’ complaints for something that is neither her fault or in
her power to change. Hannah shared that it is frustrating to work all evening to achieve
maximum guest satisfaction and then have it all ruined by the dessert. Guests often
thought that it was her fault and had expressed their feeling of service drastically slowing
down after the main course. Since it is the last course, it is the last impression they will
get of the whole evening, one that is most likely to stay with them if something went
wrong. In her opinion, the way to fix the problem was by having more chefs on shift so
they could do the work faster.

When I interviewed the head pastry chef, he shared that he was aware of the problem
and was very concerned about it. He told me that it was caused due to the lack of staff
and because the skills required to be a pastry chef were on a very high level which not
too many people had. At that point especially, there was about seven or eight pastry
chefs working for the whole hotel, which has four F&B outlets. This is nowhere near
enough to fulfil the needs of the resort, so they were in the process of looking for new
staff to join. In his opinion, he needs to first have more people applying for the job and
second, to provide training for them so they could become more skilled and advanced.

6.3 Give advice

In my opinion, the problem should be solved while waiting for new staff to be hired and
trained. There should be a way to maximize the efficiency of the kitchen with the people
they have for now. For example, if they exercise their focus more and prioritize their
tasks the chefs could already be a few steps forward and less confused. Even if it means
writing on a board what needs to be done before service begins with a time schedule in
order to have a clear overview of their tasks, group the most relevant ones together and
be better prepared for it (Falconer, 2008). If that does not still work there is another
solution – to compensate for the staff working longer, stressful days, the managers could
offer them additional time off such as half-days or longer lunches which will help the
employees recover mentally and reduce the chance of fatigue (Higuera, 2019).
I really enjoyed doing the research and helping with the solving of one of the most
frustrating issues in the hotel. I believe my findings could help improve the situation and
I hope the managers take my research into consideration.

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7. Reflection and Personal development
7.1 Performance
On 14 January I had my final performance interview with the assistant manager. I was
very surprised and pleased with the grades he gave me, because they were all very
high, compared to the previous ones. He further explained to me that I really have
improved greatly in my performance and the intermediate grades he had given were
so I would strive to work harder and achieve more. Lewis was very happy with me
obtaining my goals and so was I. I believe I worked hard enough, and I was glad he
appreciated that and gave me good feedback.
Regarding the learning golas set for us in the syllabus, I believe I have achieved all of
them since they were quite feasible. The five personal goals I had set previously were:
1. I will learn the full menu, including allergens until 1 Novemeber.
2. Every time I have an issue, I will talk about it with my manager, to solve it easier.
3. Every time I communicate with a guest, I will ask about their background and why
they came to Gleneagles to get more cultural insights.
4. I will make sure I do not give in to stress and behave rudely to my colleagues when
I am under pressure.
5. When writing about my experience in my journal, I will focus on my feelings and
write about them in depth.

I have successfully achieved all five of my personal goals. I believe they were all very
good and feasible. However, the fifth one was quite hard to achieve since I did not
have much time to write in my journal, but I did my best and improved after the
feedback from the Intermediate report. I am particularly proud of achieving the forth
one, because I used to get overly stressed in the beginning of my placement, which
led to me being unable to control my behaviour towards my colleagues. Achieving
goals one and two helped with achieving this one, because once I was more
experienced and had solved any problems I had with my manager, I was calmer at
work and I could improve my teamwork.

7.2 Personal development

During the six months I spent in Scotland working for Gleneagles, I have definitely
changed and grown as a person. I used to be more shy, insecure of myself and my
abilities and I had a few moments when I was not sure if this is the right path for me.
I learned that sometimes following my instinct and not overthinking situations works
best for me and that life is not always as hard as I thought it was – you can always
find time for a drink with friends, no matter how much you work. My knowledge in F&B
has increased drastically since I have never had to work in such a fine-dining
restaurant in a prestigious hotel like Gleneagles. In the beginning it was tough to deal
with complicated situations and solve problems, but as I gained more experience and
knowledge, the work became a lot easier and I could enjoy my time being there. I am
grateful that I had the opportunity to grow at this place, learn new things about myself
and I am happy I chose Gleneagles as my placement destination.

7.3 Self-reflection
During the second half of my placement I did not have as much time for my learning
journal as I had hoped. The feedback I received from Daantje was that I need to
reflect on my feeling a little more in depth, so I tried to do so. It helped me realize
that I am enjoying my work now and I could see how much I have grown during the
placement. The grade from my placement tutor gave me confidence to trust in my
abilities and that I am going in the right direction with my learning process.
After the time I spent in the Strathearn I realized that F&B is my passion and I am
motivated and excited more than ever to be a leader. I would like to be a manager
in Wing service, so I could practice what I have learnt and observed regarding
leadership. I want to be able to finally be on the other side and face all the
challenges of leading a team, which will show me if I am on the right path for my
second placement and future career.

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Appendices

Appendix 1: Examples of 5-star classification

Excellent staffing levels with well-structured and dedicated teams with depth in
management levels (Standout, 2013)
The Strathearn, being the main restaurant in the hotel, has a very big team of young
professionals and a strong hierarchal structure. That helps with managing the staff and
provides the smooth running of service.

Enhanced services offered such as valet parking, escort to bedrooms,

‘concierge’ service, 24-hour reception, 24-hour room service, full afternoon tea
(Standout, 2013)
The Gleneagles hotel prides itself in having one of the best award-winning afternoon tea
experiences in the UK and provides its guests with a 24-hour multilingual reception, a
wide-menu-range 24-hour room service and has a great concierge team that is always
ready to help guests with any enquiries they might have (Gleneagles Hotel, 2018d).

Exceptional levels of proactive service and customer care (Standout, 2013)

All the afore metioned services are provided in Gleneagles, and not only – they are all
extremely personalised and make the guests feel at ease and at home. As waiters in the
Strathearn restaurant we were given several tranings on how to do so. In addition, each
person that stayed in Gleneagles had their own guest profile, including their status,
preferences etc., which we constantly updated, so everyone in the hotel would be aware
of their requests at any time.

Additional facilities such as a second dining area, spa, leisure, business centre
etc. (Which.co.uk, 2019)
The Gleneagles hotel boasts 3 main restaurants (The Strathearn, The Birnam brasserie
and Dormy clubhouse) and 4 bars (The Century bar, The American bar, The Blue bar and
A70) and one afternoon tea room – The Glendevon. A perfect addition to all that is
Scotland’s only 2-Michelin star restaurant - Andrew Fairlie (Gleneagles Hotel, 2018a).
The Spa at Gleneagles is one of a highly select group of destinations in the world
designated a Luxury Spa Resort – an honour awarded after rigorous evaluation by the
Leading Hotels of the World group (LHW, 2018; Gleneagles Hotel, 2018c) .

At least one permanent luxury suite available (Standout, 2013)

Furthermore, the hotel has 27 luxury suites. Each is unique in design, layout and spirit,
suitable for every taste. What they all share is a feeling of space and grandeur
(Gleneagles Hotel, 2018b).

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Appendix 2: Target market and Customer profile
Characteristics of the Target Markets
Family Travelers
Aged 35+
Look for hotels outside of
big cities
Like hotels that provide
activities for people of all
ages, including a children’s
club
Prefer hotels that have
various dining options for all
tastes and preferences
Like to go on outdoor
adventures with the whole
family during the day and
relax in the evening
Likes to stay in big family
apartments that provide
enterntainment for both
children and the adults
Guest profile
Name: Ben Hunter
Age: 40
Country: England
Job: Car company
owner
Income: 70k a year
Marital status:
Married
Corporate Travelers The Lone travelers
Aged 30-40 Aged 20-30
Often look for large resorts Look for hotels as close to
outside of big cities nature as possible
Like to spend time outdoors Likes to be close to nature
on team-building activities but also have quick
Like hotels that can provide connections to local towns
them with big dining areas and attractions
for the whole company
Like hotels that can provide Prefers a small, healthy
them with big dining areas breakfast early in the
for the whole company morning before going out
Prefer to stay at hotels that Likes the privacy of their
offer them leisure such as own room but also
spa and/or health club socializing and networking
in the bars in the hotel
Like hotels that offer them Likes to be connected to
spacious and modern WiFi at all times to update
meeting rooms and WiFi social media profiles
throught the stay
Likes:
Spending time with his 2 daughters,
aged 5 and 11
Luxury lifestyle
Long holidays with the whole family
Golfing with his friends
Dinner nights with his wife in fine-dining
restaurants
Values personalized service for his children
Dislikes:
Losing face
Overcrowded places
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Appendix 3: Final evaluation form

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13
Appendix 4: Selected parts of learning journal
Date Observations
10 November 2018 During today’s dinner
service I had to be on a
station with Bidesh, one
of the headwaiters. Even
though he was supposed
to be running the station,
I was doing all the work
that night and he was
only taking orders. At the
end of the evening he got
quite frustrated with
some guests and just left
me alone on the station.
21 November 2018 Today I had to do my
final exam to obtain the
Certificate of excellence. I
studied hard all week for
Reflections
I was very happy and
motivated to go to work
for dinner service. I was
quite disappointed to be
put on a station with
Bidesh becauase he tends
to be lazy and always
gets annoyed with
something. The whole
night I had to do most of
his job while he was
taking his time with
everything and was
slowing our service down.
At the end of the evening
I asked him to do a
cheese plate instead of
me because I was very
busy. Even though he
agreed, he took to long to
do it and the guests got
really furious with him. It
was a table that I was
making sure were having
a great time all evening
and then he ruined it for
me. I was really upset
and apologised to the
guests but they were
really disappointed in
him. After he left because
of that situation, the
guests told me that they
were really happy with
my service but because of
him they did not give any
gratuity. They were very
regular guests so I was
feeling really bad that I
did not try harder to
make sure the situation
went smooth. The other
tables were not that
happy with his service
either which got me really
frustrated. Working hard
all evening just to have
someone ruin it for me is
just unfair.
The Certificate of
excellence for the
Strathearn is a very
important exam to pass
14
 it and I passed with an
excellent score of 91 out
of 100. My parents are
coming to visit tonight so
I will share the good news
with them and celebrate
with champagne.
26 December 2018 It was the first Christmas
I had to spend without
my family. Not only that –
I worked for 14 hours
with only one 30- and one
15-minute break. It was
an exciting day overall,
but I did not enjoy it that
much overall.
15
because it gives the
employees the chance to
be further promoted once
they have obtained it. The
exam is very detailed
which made me feel a
little insecure if I would
pass it at all. I did my
best to study for it and
then it was all worth it! It
was on my first day off
when I had to go to the
restaurant and find out if
I had passed it or not.
After briefeing the
manager congratulated us
all who passed and gave
us a bottle of champagne
each! I was very excited
and happy with myself
but then another surprise
came – he announced
that I was being
promoted as a Demi Chef
de rang which meant I
could finally run stations
on my own! It felt great
having all your hard work
being rewarded and it
motivated me to continue
to work hard so I could
achieve more and more in
the future!
I am used to spending all
Christmases with my
family and friends and
being away from home
for the first time in my
life was really depressing.
I am also doing split
shifts almost every day
(8-12; 18-00) and I only
have one day off in ten
days. I understand that it
is the holiday season and
we are very busy, but
sometimes I feel like I
cannot deal with that
much work. I need some
time for myself, to call
my friends and family and
wish them happy holidays
etc. When I first saw my
schedule for the festive
season I almost cried
because it was honestly
the busiest one out of
everyone’s. I spoke to my
manager about it and he
gave me less split shifts
but I still had no time to
go out with my boyfriend
or my friends from work.
I do not think I will work
on Christmas again in the
next few years, because
for me, being at home
with my loved ones is
more important than
earning money. These are
the little moments in life
we need to spend
together and appreciate
what we have.

16
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