What Bartenders Don’t Like About Bar Managers

What Bartenders Don’t Like About Bar Managers

In the May 2010 issue of Bar Business Magazine, industry veteran Bob Johnson offers readers a list of gripes that managers tend to have about their bartenders. Here, he responds to his own article with a list of things bartenders don’t like about managers.

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I got into a conversation about bar managers with eight hard-core, experienced bartenders; what they like, or didn’t like, about the managers they work for. It was interesting to note how negative these bartenders felt about their managers. I began to wonder, “Is this the way it is at most bars? Do most bartenders put up a good ‘front’ for their managers, yet really despise having to work for them? Why?

Since most bartenders would rather not speak up and “rock the boat” at their place of work, I jotted down several of their examples of poor management to pass along. Perhaps this exposé will help management understand bartenders better. If the shoe fits, wear it – and do something about it!

1. Managers give you direction about a beverage law and don’t know what they are talking about. They never check with the Liquor Commission. They ASS-U-ME.
2. Many Managers got their job due to nepotism; they’re the owner’s son or daughter, cousin, niece, etc. They didn’t come up through the ranks, or earn their position.
3. Many got the job because they completed college – yet they’ve never worked in a bar or been a bar-tender. Then they flaunt their authority.
4. They’re never around when you need them.
5. Sometimes my bank will have mostly $20’s in it from the night before. So, how do I make change?
6. They don’t divide the shifts evenly enough so ALL of us have a chance to make money. I get stuck working mostly the “slow” times, or seldom get a good station.
7. My manager plays “favorites”. Most of his time is spent flirting with the cocktail servers.
8. They never help out during a heavy rush. They just sit back and watch you work “out of control”. Most bar managers don’t know how to tend a bar, anyway.
9. We’re always out of something, yet I’m the one who has to face the customer and look stupid!. This affects my tips! Most bar managers don’t understand PAR STOCK – for everything, not just liquor.
10. Why do bar managers get to drink while they work and I don’t?
11. They don’t back me up in my decision to cut someone off. This really upsets me!
12. Sometimes I am told not to put any liquor in the Pina Coladas, Strawberry Daiquiris, Bloody Marys, etc. Or maybe they want me to add water to the vodka, gin or rum bottles to help out on pouring cost. Or maybe they want me to pour bar Scotch into an empty Chivas bottle after work when no one is around. All of this helps a bar manager lower his pouring cost considerable, at MY EXPENSE! The bar manager looks good to the owner. He uses me to cover up his incompetence. He makes me violate my professional integrity and cheat the customer as a condition of employment. I have to violate the sacred trust that is supposed to exist between the bartender and the customer. I know I’m good enough to make plenty of money in this business without cheating a single person. Owners or bar managers who do this to me might one day have to explain their actions to someone from the Liquor Commission. Don’t they understand “former disgruntled employee?”
13. Why am I the one who has to take liquor inventory every time? I thought that was the bar manager’s job? Aren’t they “short cutting” one of their most important functions? Are they just plain lazy?
14. Why does my bar manager date the help? Isn’t that pretty stupid? I thought sexual harassment was a big deal these days?
15. They take a percentage of my tips. I don’t take a percentage of their salary when I do the “extras” that make his job easier, do I?
16. My manager plays “favorites” and doesn’t understand, or promote, the value of a “team” concept, so important for us to succeed at our job and feel good about working there. You know, helping each other out…..working together.
17. When I was hired, the manager just turned me over to some-one else for orientation and training. Most everything I found out about the new place was not because of a bar manager’s outlined training procedure for new employees, but because of my never ending questions.
18. We don’t have standardized recipes for our drinks. My Zombie recipe isn’t anything like the day bartender’s recipe.
19. I don’t understand my bar manager putting in so many ours a week – and complaining all the while about how overworked he is. The best bar manager I ever worked for put in about 10 administrative hours a week during the day, then worked 5 shifts at night when the majority of the business was there. He was organized. He took off two days a week and didn’t suffer from burn out.
20. Why does my bar manager demand My respect? Is it generally an insecure profession? Shouldn’t they earn my respect? If they have the know-ledge, experience and the capability, and they’re fair, decent people, then the word “respect” is understood – it’s there! No one owes respect to anyone simply because it’s demanded
21. Why do bar managers SIT on all the articles found in trade magazines that pertain to bartenders? I’d sure like to get copies of articles that pertain to my profession. One place I worked made copies of bartender articles and included them every week with my paycheck. I really appreciated that. I respect managers who help me improve, and further my education.

Be sure to read “What Bar Managers Don’t Like About Bartenders”
in the May Digital Edition of Bar Business Magazine.

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Bob Johnson is presently looking for clubs wanting to install his SYSTEM© – an inventory control system and accompanying bar management program that reduces costs and improves gross profit 5-8% – guaranteed! Call 800-447-4384 or visit BobTheBarGuy.com