CASE STUDY: MENTORING - A KEY EMPLOYEE TUMBLES

After nearly 14 months as a server at the Meridian Cafe, Tom Lurvey was getting his "big break." Carlos Gonzalez, Midwestern regional manager of the upscale chain, had decided that the time had come to elevate Torn to key employee, and Melissa Wilson, the general manager, agreed. "You've demonstrated excellent performance," Carlos told Tom. "And I think you're ready to take on some additional responsibility."

As a key employee, Tom would act as the second manager on duty two days per week, during the operation's 11 A.M. to 8 P.M. shift. The unit was one of the larger ones in the chain, with a capacity to seat 225 guests in the dining room, 50 in the banquet hall, and 40 in the bar area. Torn' s new responsibilities included designating station assignments, signing invoices, restocking liquor inventories-in short, performing many managerial functions. As a symbol of his new position, Tom was given the keys to the Meridian -keys to the front door, the back door, the liquor room, the pointof-sale system, the coolers, the manager's office -all of which gave him full access to the building once it was open. He had earned the keys; now he needed to prove that he had what it took to keep them.

Promoting Tom to a key employee was a win-win situation for everyone involved. The move gave Tom opportunities to see beyond his job as server, bringing the big picture into sharp focus and highlighting the importance of being a team player. Meridian managers would mentor Torn, setting the stage for him to succeed. Becoming a key employee was no guarantee of promotion to a management position. During the mentoring process, managers could evaluate Torn' s progress and Tom could assess his aspirations and capabilities. If, for some reason, the move into the management ranks was not the right one for Tom, he, would be retained as a server.

For Tom, being a key employee was just the kind of opportunity he had been working for. Only 25 years old, he had a flair with customers, many of whom specifically requested him as a server. Sporting a "playful" personality, Tom appealed to guests and fellow, employees alike. His showmanship and outgoing style often resulted in high check totals and satisfied customers. And his ability to make light of trivial situations frequently smoothed over otherwise intense situations between other employees.

"If you have any immediate problems or questions," Carlos said to Tom, "you can talk to Melissa about them." Melissa and Tom had started at the Meridian at about the same time, but, being older, more experienced, and very determined, Melissa had climbed the ladder more quickly, going from server, to trainer, to key employee, to assistant manager, to restaurant manager, and now to general manager in just under a year and a half.

Melissa's managerial style was the opposite of Tom's. She went by the book, no matter what the situation. During the pre-shift lineup, for example, all servers had to have three pens, one lighter, and a wine opener in their heavily starched, clean white aprons. If not, Melissa wouldn't allow them to work their shift. As her mentor, Carlos had been working with Melissa to help her learn to be more adaptable and, as a result, better able to handle the variety of challenges she would encounter as general manager. Nevertheless, Melissa still tended to see nothing but black and white, and Tom often found himself trying to make her see the gray areas, joking around in an attempt to lighten things up.

"We' re expecting full capacity tonight, and I really need you to help me out," Melissa told Tom one afternoon, wringing her hands and looking rather panicked. Everything that could have gone wrong that day already had -two of her best servers had called in sick, a number of deliveries had yet to arrive, and the sink was stopped up. "On top of all that, I just don't know where I put my keys," Melissa said, anxiously.

"Have you checked the freezer?" Tom asked devilishly.

Minutes later, Melissa came back from the walk-in carrying a pan of half-frozen water, at the bottom of which lay her keys.

"Tom, " Melissa began, 'I am not in the mood to play now, and, I repeat, I really need your help." Although she looked as if she was close to tears, Tom didn't notice. "I'm going to resolve this sink problem so that none of the food becomes contaminated," she went on. "Why don't you take care of everything else?"

"There's nothing to take care of right now," Tom said nonchalantly. "It's only three o'clock in the afternoon."

"There's plenty to do," Melissa said, appearing noticeably shaken now. "I want you to update the specials board and check the reservation book. Oh, and you may want to make some call-backs for second interviews. We need to fill those positions for server and dishwasher right away."

"I'll get to it. I'll get to it. Don' t worry. All of that will take me just five or ten minutes. Lighten up, MEL You take things way too seriously."

Tim and Stuart, cooks at the Meridian, stopped setting up the dinner shift line and looked up, waiting to see who would throw the next barb.

"Tom, I've had it up to here with you and your attitude," Melissa said sternly. "You're not helping the situation."

"If I'm causing that many problems," Tom said with a smile, "here, take my keys." He pulled the ring of keys from his pocket.

"Tom, you don't want to do this," Mellissa said, looking a bit alarmed. "No, really, take my keys," he said, still smiling.

Melissa paused. Then, slowly, she reached for the keys as Tom headed out the back to take a cigarette break. Shaken, Melissa knew that she had to jump into action. She redefined the shift and began to attend to the stopped-up sink. About 10 minutes later, Tom came back for his keys.

"Tom, I think you better clock out," Melissa said with uncertainty. "Clock out?" Tom said, his voice rising. ''But...... "

Melissa didn't respond. She headed out to the banquet hall to check that everything had been set up. "I didn't handle that well," she muttered to herself.

Tom was doing some muttering of his own. As he headed to his car, he said aloud, "She shouldn't have taken my keys, but maybe I went over the line. How did this get so out of hand?"

"How did this get so out of hand," Carlos asked Melissa. The regional manager had stopped by the operation on his way home and noticed Tom's absence the minute he walked through the door.

"He just kept pushing and pushing me." Melissa said, handing Tom's keys over to Carlos. "He finally just pushed me too far."

"We need to talk about what happened,' Carlos said. "I want to talk to Tom too, and I think that the two of you need to meet alone as well." Then he paused.

The dining room buzzed, and the banquet hall hummed. A bartender called out to Melissa, "that wine shipment finally came in."

"Let's finish this shift together," said Carlos. "We'll all talk first thing in the morning."

Outline two issues that Carlos should talk to Melissa about when the two of them meet the next morning.

Outline two issues that Carlos should talk to Tom about when the two of them meet the next morning.

• Determine if Tom should get his keys back and receive a second chance? Why or why not?

Describe what Carlos needs to do now to ensure that his management team will work effectively together in the future. Note any areas Carlos can improve.