Welcome back to another episode of turning the tables. And I am your humble host, Adam Lamb. Typically Jim Taylor of benchmark 60 joins us today. But I think right about this time, him and his wife must be welcoming their very first child. So that's really. We do this hashtag lunchbox live stream every week here on Thursday at noon. For some reason I put in 1205 start time. So I apologize for that.
And I'm happy to announce that turning the table is now officially a podcast and it's available on iTunes, Spotify in everywhere that you get your podcasts on the show. We talk about staff centric solutions to restaurant operat. And it's a short show, 30 minutes. It's meant to give you a big punch in the mouth as something to think about and hopefully take back into your operation and test because we're all about making these solutions live. We don't wanna just talk about 'em.
We wanna make 'em happen in our industry. And today I'm very happy to welcome to the show. Chef Jonathan Ruby. Who's also a, a solutions expert with benchmark 60 morning, Jonathan, how are you? Hey Adam. Thanks for having. Wanted to make sure that before we go any further, I mentioned that this show as always is sponsored by benchmark 60. Jonathan is one of our solutions experts, partners with benchmark 60.
And he brings a wealth of experience, not only as a chef, but also as a restaurant tour operations manager. And my Thomas is excited because. She can see us and Jonathan, let me just start off and ask for the folks in the audience who perhaps don't know you as well as they should. Can you give us kind of a little thumbnail sketch of your background and some of your early influences? Yeah, sure. I like I'm, I'm fortunate. I grew up with restaurant business a little bit.
My grandparents had a couple places when I was, when I was growing up, but they had a pizza place and it was kind of like park pizza place, park, convenience store. And then they also had a seafood restaurant having been from Nova Scotia. So, you know, as before I was even. Probably legally allowed to work. You know, when I was like 10 to 12, I was Boston tables and washing dishes and helping them with prep.
So I kind of began my admiration for the restaurant business, you know, having gotten to see the, the culture, especially the culture in the kitchen. And they're all, you know, a little bit like pirate back there. And I really did and kind of solidified my, my, my passion for that. It just like turned out I loved cooking. So I, at that point, you know, I did work experience, got jobs. In restaurants when I was in high school.
And then at that point I went on to the culinary Institute, Canada and prince over island here in Canada. And that was just a really, that was a great experience. You know, the first year was, it was fantastic. It was really like, kind of edit the curve, having had that past restaurant experience. And so it really did like. It gave me a little bit of an edge.
That's kinda like what I teach a lot of the people, if that school really, I got to really maximize my education with my past restaurant experience because when everybody was still learning to bring law, their first onion, you know, I hammered through that and then blown a pig set kind of thing. So. From there. You know, I, I joined the junior chef's association of Canada. My became an alumni representative for our school. I met Michael Smith.
Who's like a, kind of a local Canadian celebrity chef used to chef at large chef at home. I helped him launch at the very best of chef at home, his cookbook him as well as I helped him at the athletes village for the 2010 Olympics Whistler, which was a really great opportunity from there. I kind of just went on to work at. A few Michelin star restaurants, like notably what bean in, in Manhattan, which kind of pigeonholed me as that poisoner for a little pitch.
But I, I was happy to do it a bit. Love seafood. And I, you know, I moved around from island island. I lived in the Caribbean for a little bit in St marks. And then, you know, I lived in Victoria, like beautiful Vancouver island here in, in Canada. Working at some I am resorts and stuff. And then also, you know, I did some cool TRO.
Trying to, you know, test the waters at different Michelin for restaurants and really like kind of my pursuit to, of that like ingredient, knowledge and technique, like, you know, HKA and glee was one of those places that really was, it kind of transformed my idea, my approach to food and you know, my obsession with bread with that amazing bread cart they have there. So yeah, just little snapshot and throw my life. I ended up here in Edmonton, Alberta.
I actually came here to get shoulder surgery. Next thing you. I'm a restaurant consultant. So , I it's been great. I, I did transition my career at one point, you know, I had a, I had a daughter and I, I realized that like, you know, spending time with her and spending time with family was. Was just as equally, it became just as equally as important as my career and my career was kind of, you know, at the forefront of everything at the beginning.
So I, and at that point I had started meeting some corporate executives for progressional groups and got into food development and kind of big picture thinking when it comes to the restaurant business, which then obviously you had me question a lot of the things that we were doing and, you know, and that, that's what segued me into the, the consulting business or working with benchmark 60 is that I just, the hope is to build a best for better restaurant.
And congratulations on the birth of your daughter. How old is she now? She's sick. She's going on grade two. She's turning seven in October, but yeah, so it's been a little while ILA. Yeah. And previous to the show, we were talking a little bit and we thought we might discuss the demise of the toxic culinary culture, or as we're planning it in her crazy little ways. Do you remember in your career being kind of victimized by a toxic war culture?
I know Canada is a much soft, sweeter place in a lot of ways. I'm married to a Canadian. So it's constant conversation about, you know, how different the cultures are between the United States and Canada. But I'm just curious if you could kinda reflect on culture within the back of the house environment, that didn't necessarily seem so supportive. Yeah. Oh, I mean the restaurant industry is, is not primarily dominated Canadians.
So I think it's like, it's a pretty good mix of, you know, different cultures and different backgrounds when it comes to how we approach culture in business. And so I, I definitely I've experienced it, you know, it's that kind of that old adage where it's, you know, I, back in my day or like I, when I was coming up as a chef, you know, they weren't that nice to us, which. Which was true. Like, I I've seen a mirror of things. People were still throwing stuff around.
This was kind of the, the heyday of Gordon Ramsey, really, where that was the culture, like chefs were, they were hardass and they had a hard line and it was say, yes, Shep and do it and, you know, show up if you're not 15 minutes early or late, some, some of it's not bad. Some of it's, you know, it was character building, but I definitely experienced it, you know, like. I didn't even know what the word meant.
I was called Mamoa for the first, like who I was a teenager and I didn't even know what it, I didn't even know what it meant. That's what they called me in the kitchen, but it, they were calling me asshole the whole time. So I, I, yeah, it's, it's, it's unfortunate. I, it was just all that I ever knew at at the time, but I was coming up. It's definitely been a significant shift, right. Because the, the workforce not willing to put up with that kind of stuff and the way that we kinda suffered.
What do you, where do you think we draw the line between say character building and abuse? Well, just there is no, there is no like line there's it's just one or the other I? Yeah, like it's it's it's not okay. It's I don't, I didn't even really understand why it was okay. Or where that stem from. It came from, you know, just stress, whether it was like money or trying to boost cover count.
Likely, it was just a bunch of people who had their own, you know, struggles or had gone through their own level of abuse and just, it was just the way that, you know, give on to others the same way that they had received it. So, yeah, like there it is a pretty it's it's I think it's clearly define line it's it was, it was abuse and it, and it is, and I think.
For some reason it was, it was just, it like kind of, I don't know, accepted as part of the industry, but I'm happy to say that it's, it's not like that anymore. Right. And I know things have been changing for a while. And also there was, you know, they say that changing culture within an organization takes about a minimum of seven years. And the industry is a big old battleship and nobody ever turns the battleship on a dime. Is there anything that you can point to in your career?
When you decided that you wanted to make the industry a better place. And if you can just help me define what better means. Yeah. Okay. So what, what I was, I was just as equally as subject to that punitive sort of nature that I, I grew up in, right? Like that's what I was taught to do. Like we, you say yes, chef and do it, and it doesn't matter what my demeanor was, or it was all about, you know, food focus.
And I realized as well too, though, that I wasn't, I personally wasn't getting what I wanted out of the business. Like I wasn. You know, I didn't have the worklife balance one. I was saying, I was saying no to all the family events and the wedding. He said, oh, I'd stop. And I was working 80 hour work weeks and I was tired and I was grumpy. You know, I, I didn't like people that didn't do well at their jobs. Like it was just a peanut nature.
And then all of a sudden I realized that all the things that were affecting me in my life and the things that I didn't necessarily like about our industry was something that I could change. Like I could offer that to. The teams that worked for me, you know, I've you, and you likely heard it as well before. I didn't necessarily want my daughter to join the restaurant industry. Like I, I, I I'd met other guys. Like I was a guy I recently hired whose dad is a chef.
He's a pretty notable chef here in this area. And I asked them, I'm like, Hey, do you wanna become a chef? Like your dad and said, well, my dad has one rule to be whatever I want, except for a chef. . And it's, it's one of those moments where I was just like, this isn't this isn't right. Something that I'm so passionate about. So. Fiercely in love with, I didn't want that for my daughter, which I, I was a bit of a disconnect for me. And I said, why does it way?
And that was really that pivotal moment for me was, wanted the world for, and why can't this be right. It's almost limit. And to industry like, like in real terms, what does that mean? Well, I, I think like, you know, Even just looking statistically at, in what, for Canada, you know, the, the vacancy, the job vacancy in our industry is about 14%.
But if you also look like, you know, wages are up, but they're only up about they're up about 12%, which for all us stock restaurant operators, that's, that's significant increase. But if you look at the stats overall, as, as a business, we're the lowest paying industry, one of the lowest paying industries. Out there. Like it's, it's just not attractive anymore.
And I, that's where I wanted, I wanted to try to see if we can, we're not getting not, everybody's getting the same level of education, you know, it's not, there's not always, you know, not every position is transferable to different restaurant groups. I think there's a little bit of disorganization with our industry. And I think that if we work together or be more of these podcasts, reach out and, and, and speak more as a community, I think we, we have an opportunity to make that shift for us.
I agree. I think we're completely aligned in that you're now working for benchmark 60 and just jump off, you know, Jemiah Thomas, just put in a thing that said, you know, we make up most of the co economy. I think the restaurant industry still is the number one employer and the world. So it's kind of weird that the largest single employer or industry in the world does such a poor. At at equity, you know, whether that's equity and pay equity and position.
I often remind folks that my very first executive chef was a woman. My very first sous chef was a woman. So I've had a great deal of appreciation for what women have had to deal with in the industry, people of color. For those of you who don't know I'm of mixed race, my mother's Cuban and my dad's was American or American born. Although I don't necessarily look like it so I can pass on the privilege of my color, but it's still.
You know, one of these things where I've, you know, been the butt of many jokes all the way back to, you know, elementary school and, and back into the profession. But I would often hear, you know, really shitty comments by other people, you know, as they're confiding in me, not necessarily them realizing that, you know, I have this respect for the women in the, in the industry as well as people of color. And for a long time, I would just kind of sit there and go, ha yeah.
Okay. And not really stand up and it took me losing my not losing, but taking a job as an executive sous chef, a huge working under a very good friend of mine who needed some help in this particular organization. I hadn't been in a sous chef for, you know, 20 HES, but not to have that mantle of responsibility as being the executive chef, freed me up to do stuff like run around and have a thousand conversations a day with people. So very often the chef would come in and he'd lay down the law.
And then I would, you know, walk back to these departments and kind of smooth everything over. And that's when I realized that communication.
Job, one of our particular positions and it becomes difficult when you're trying to communicate the same thing to maybe people of, you know, certainly two different sexes or now three or four different sexual orientations all with their own history, all with their own family, because it used to be that all we did was hire a pair of hands, you know, or a position on the schedule. Okay. I need to grow cook for Saturday. Who am I gonna put in there?
And I think now it's turning towards no, we hire. Full functional human beings. And we have to deal with them at that particular way, because to not be aware of what's going on in their personal lives, sets us up to be kind of deaf or tone deaf to same thing that affects us, you know? So how so it being part of benchmark 60, and I guess I just wanted to say that out loud, but being part of benchmark 60, we're bringing a particular different type of.
Changing the perspective of a lot of operators, chefs, managers, DMS, so that they start looking at their staff as assets, rather than as debits to the bottom line. And as someone who is working with this productivity metrics, what have you seen insofar as the way that that starts to shape an operator's view? And how he, he or she starts treating their staff differently. Well, I mean, I know that's a big loaded question. Do that yeah, yeah. Yeah. Where do I begin?
I , you know, the labor model hasn't really changed much. Like it, it really hasn't, it's been decades of, of the same hundred years, the same restaurant really model. And, you know, it started with the ADE system, but like, Where is the, where, where is the innovation then? And, you know, like we, we are Fort bothers lo in the culinary world, like Scopia, you know, creating our brigade system.
And there was a reason that they did that, and it was trying to create a better restaurant environment that everybody knew who was doing what by when. Right. It was the, the big, the first action plan. And I think we're overdue. We're well overdue to create a, a new action plan, a new who does what by when in restaurant business. And I think.
Our, the holistic approach at looking at the people, the number one commodity in your business, focusing on them and, and their, their happiness is just gonna attract a better, a better restaurant world. Like we even selfishly, like let's create a better restaurant worlds. We have better restaurants to go to, you know, since post pandemic, you know, it's the kind of run joke. Like everything's just gotten a little bit worse, you know, like, and it's. Everybody's a little bit shorts staffed.
Everybody's a little tired. Everybody's stressed out. Everybody's worried about money and inflation, all these things. And so the key is really just like remembering that it's, it's not a grilled hook. It's a person, it's the, it's the people that you work with and, and you ask them what they want and find out how to get it and, and just make a better, better space at environment somewhere that's attractive to work.
And I think it's, it's less of like, we're not doing them a favor by coming, getting them to come work for us. It's the other way around. Right. And we. Or else we don't make profit, we don't have the business. And, and so with benchmark 60, taking a holistic approach by looking at it a little bit differently, we think about like focusing on work and, and really focusing on the people also not only make us as, as profitable as we always have been, but create a better work environment.
And, and then, you know what, everybody crying, labor shortage, you don't have to cry labor shortage. You get to keep the people that you have. And then they're out there telling everybody the great of a workspace they've got and then that'll just track more talent. And then everybody. I I know benchmark sixties, famous tagline is retention is the new cool.
And for those who are maybe not necessarily familiar with what that actually means is that retention is actually focusing on retention is step one in creating a great workplace culture and community, but it also becomes a point of attraction for those out on the street that are actually looking for a place to be treated well. Everybody knows what happened during that pandemic. We lost millions and millions of jobs.
Some folks went to other industries, some folks did not come back, but you know, the burnt chef project did a survey, not too long ago that said that, you know, 64% of everybody left the industry planned on coming back within the next 12 to 18 months. So these are people who obviously love the industry, love what they do, but they just couldn't put up with a bullshit any much, any longer. First off.
I think we gotta say a big shout out, thank you to them and for standing for what they believed in, because that has woken up a whole lot of people who perhaps were again, kind of tone, deaf to Ze or the demands of the associates when they're like, you know, things have to get better. Well, that's why I love calling, you know, COVID the great reset, you know, it, wasn't the great resignation. It's the great reset. And it's our respons. If we're wary enough to actually do something about it.
That's what so charged me up about my first conversations with a gym and this productivity metrics, because I realized that this was kind of the back door to showing operators a number one that you're not, you don't have to give up profit. You don't have to give up margins, but actually this is an opportunity for you to realize money. That's just being left on the. Right that you can capture and then reinvest in your people.
So I think that that's probably one of the most revolutionary things that I'd heard in a long time and realize that a lot of the conversation around community culture and all that kind of stuff actually begins with management who are invested in really looking at their staff, managing their workload better. And then communicating that to the staff in such a way that they get it. Holy crap, man, this, you know, this company really care.
Because there are very few metrics for like, oh yeah, we really care about you. Oh yeah, sure. And now I'm just gonna have to put my head down and just keep crunching again. So, because that's the only way to get through it. And I know that there are some folks out there in the industry who are gonna listen to this and think it's all pie in the sky, right? Oh, really? You're gonna give servers benefits, you know, shit like this.
Yes. You. You absolutely can, if you can find that cash, why wouldn't you do that? Like what would be in your mind, an objection from an operator who wouldn't want to take care of their people better? Yeah, the, you know, I think where some of it comes from is that like our own past experience, you know, like when I was a wine cook, I didn't get benefits. I made, you know, $10 an hour at, you know, I worked ridiculous hours and I didn't get paid overtime.
And I think some of that comes some of the decision making from now the, the now restaurant owners is some of that comes from that past shared experience. You know, like why, why shouldn't this person have to fight to the top the same way I did. And, and it, it just, it's, it's just broken really. Like it's, it's not. It's not, that's not the way that the, our new workforce is going. They're not gonna accept those things the same way that we did and unfortunately did. Right.
And we just need to come up with new ways to make them hap make 'em happy really. And in the end, it's just, there's, it's one simple sentence. It's cheaper to keep the people up. Ah, do you know what the average is in Canada right now for having to to. Higher and train staff average. Do you know the average cost kinda thing?
Yeah. Yeah. It's, I would say like anywhere from 1200 to $2,000 an employee, and then as, as an investment to get 'em in train them, you know, depending on the operation that could be, you know, lesser, lesser, depending on also a position as well. But it's, it's always a significant, it's a risk. Like you're now all of a sudden hiring somebody, you don't. And, and you have to try to sauce 'em out and figure them out and find out what makes them tick.
And, you know, although like there's some easy ways or easier ways to do that now, basically asking them what they want, but I it's, you know, it's still, it's, it's an investment to hire and train more people. And I, that revolving door, you're just, you know, it's, it's exponential at that point. So it's, it's always the, the most successful restaurant groups that I've ever with or you know, I've had the pleasure of like chatting with, is that they're. Their pockets are deep with people.
You know, I I've met vice presidents that serve as dishwashers, and those are the companies that typically are the most successful, at least in my experience, you know, they're the ones that are constantly have a, have a rotating door are the ones that are always are struggling. And they're the ones typically have the questions as how do we keep our people or how do we find good people? And I. Often the answer is you already have them. You just need to invest in them.
Can you, can you talk quickly? And, and I know that we're getting short on time, but I don't, I don't wanna rush you because I think this is really important. You mentioned earlier in our conversation that the industry itself is a little bit fractured and wonky on, like, how do you build skill that actually transfer to, to other markets? Can you talk a little bit about that? Yeah. Well, I. Our our industry.
You can have a director of operations, you know, for us, you know, a small two unit business, and then you can have director operations for a 30 unit business or director of operations for a hotel. Although they all fall within the hospitality industry. That's kind of what I was alluding to is that their skill, their education, their background, their ability to transfer those skills to another even hospitality. Is, I think there's like, there's too much of a gap.
It's not enough of a standard there's, you know, one operating system, they become an expert on. So they're good at reading the data and understanding it and being able to communicate that with their teams, once you transfer that. And, you know, I went through a little bit as myself even it's that, you know, once you move into a new group, a new culture, a new mission statement and, and the new operating systems and new appeal or SOPs and all that, it's, there's a learning curve.
That's steep, like extremely. And I think we should be doing, we should be focusing more on the education of the, of those entry level partners. You know, you know, we bring into our business and, and, and spend the same level of investment. They're they're also a higher level of pay. They're expecting benefits. They're expecting what all the other industries are. And, you know, if you look at other, you know, careers that you can take, you have to spend four years in university to do it.
And, and what we're, what I would think is that just there needs to be more education in our business. There needs to be more standardization across like what these I've I've hired people who are general managers, chefs, and directors of operations. And. It's, they're not always the same. It's not it's and which isn't a bad thing. And like new sets of eyes, new ideas is great. Sure. But it's like, will they be able to do the job? And that's the disconnect.
And I think, you know, the restaurant industry to kind of comment on, you know, transferable skills into maybe different businesses. It, it, it, I think. Fresh operators typically are probably some of the best operators in any business, because maybe we we've been grown to be these Jackal trades. You know, like there's not like there's not on office spaces where you gotta come in and fix a dishwasher or, or fix the plumbing or put out a fire or deal with staff shortages.
You know, it's, I think our abilities are skill sets are so broad that it, it, it would be. I think if we continue to invest in education and ization of our industry, then we, we will be able to open up more and more doors for everyone. And to you. That education piece. Are you also referring to training?
Like there's, there's one thing about education, you know, outside of the industry or prior to coming in the industry, but are we doing enough, you know, at the unit level to train the people that we have. I mean, you talked about this retention, you know, taking care of your good people. At what point does training become an it's the, the most imperative thing that, yeah, like we should be EV like often, you know, as operator. We can't see the forest for the trees.
We're in the thing that works always in the weeds really and, and you're always busy and you always have something better to do. And I think if we're not trying to train ourselves outta those things, then we're not gonna grow our community. We're not gonna grow a restaurant or a business. Like it's, that's what I teach everyone is that don't do anything yourself that you can't teach and, and take every moment and every opportunity to teach it.
Also, they want, they wanna wear, they want, want advancement and. You're gonna just kill two birds, one stone there. That's kind of going against the grain of the pride of somebody who's come up through the ranks, gotten their jacket with the embroidery on it. Now I'm the executive chef. Now I'm the apex predator in the, in the, in the fish tank. There are a lot of guys and gals out there that wouldn't necessarily train their people with all their special skills because they think it.
Job security fear. Yeah. Which is a shame because I I've always felt that my job as the executive chef was to train myself out of a job. Yeah. Well, I mean, it's not too much job security, but you know, how else, how else are the people that I work with gonna be able to have the skills to go on, to become chefs in their own rights. Well, I mean, unless you're happy, just be in like having to do everything all the time.
You know, there's, there's a part of it where I think for most leaders, there's a turning point in your career where you realize that you can't do it all, you can't do everything and you're eventually gonna burn. And you're also gonna get more out of the people that work with you than, than you can undo yourself. And I, you know, it. It's just not an option they, that they wanna learn. And, and I encourage everybody to ask why, and you should be trying to work yourself out of a job.
That's that's also the only way that you're gonna get yourself ahead. You have an army of people, all stepping the same direction, as you all believe in the same mission statement, all fighting the same battle for like, or you end with you. That's that's gonna get you further ahead in your career than you'll be by doing it.
So, what I'm hearing you say is it doesn't necessarily always have to back or hip or knee surgery or the birth of a child for you to smarten up and realize that there are better things to do with your time than being, you know, tied to the tied to the stove. A hundred percent. Yeah. Jonathan, we have just a second left and if you had just one little. For our operators who are gonna go back, you know, into their restaurants or their kitchens.
What's a little piece of wisdom that you can leave them with that maybe will cause them to change their perspective. I think, I think the biggest, one of our biggest obstacles in this business is we're afraid of what our, our team members are gonna say. I think what I, what I often coach operators is that just ask them what they want. It's simple. Just go to them, ask them what they're looking. Ask to look like about their, about where they work and what it is that they wanted, where they were.
I think we're just, we're typically just too afraid of what the answer's gonna be and not knowing how to do that. And I think it's, you know, the more we have these conversations and the more that we you know, spend our outreach and connect with more people, the better we are in answering those questions. And the less fearful we have to be about asking though, I think that's an excellent place to stop. And if someone wants to learn more about you and connect with you, how do they do that?
Jonathan? For sure. Yeah. So you can find me on LinkedIn. I'm also part of the benchmark 60 group. So you can reach me at [email protected] or Jonathan Ruby LinkedIn there love to connect sounds perfect, man. Jonathan, thanks so much for joining us on this episode of turning the table. And for those of you who are still with us next week, we're gonna have leadership development coach and mentor. Alison Ann on as our guest. And I think Jim Taylor may or may not be back.
I mean, he, if he's smart, you know, he'll stay home because we at benchmark 60. Yes. We also recognize that the new dads get to have parental leave. we're on the cutting edge. Thanks very much folks. We really appreciate you joining us, please like share and comment and we'll answer every single one. Thank you very much until next week. Thanks for joining us on this episode of turning the table with me, Adam Lamb and Jim Taylor.
This episode was sponsored by benchmark 60 we're on a mission to change the food and beverage industry by focusing on staff, mental health and wellbeing by forecasting and actively managing workload productivity. Over 200 restaurants and food and beverage operations have discovered for themselves how to increased staff retention and become a preferred employer in their market by using our proprietary.
If you'd like to have an operational culture that everybody wants to work for, then check out benchmark 60 on the [email protected]. Thanks for taking the time to be with us and the courage to try new things for the restaurant. Profession's oldest problems. Turning the table is a production of realignment media.