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Analysis Paper #3 1
Kenyon Stanley
Dr. White
COMM 604
28 Feb 2011
Analysis Paper #3
When I was in my early twenties, I worked as a bartender at The Keg restaurant
steakhouse and bar. The Keg is a Canadian company and operated differently than other
organizations whose mission it is to serve food to the public. The managers of The Keg put a lot
of effort into building cohesion amongst the entire staff, while in other restaurants managers
would use competitive motivation tools to rally workers into action. By examining the rituals,
stories, performances and values of The Keg this paper will attempt to explain how and why The
Kegs nontraditional workplace culture has contributed to the success of The Keg.
According to E.M. Eisenberg & H.L. Goodall Jr. (2010), rituals dramatize a cultures
basic valuesfor accomplishing tasks (p.105). The Keg had many rituals, some formal, some
informal. One of the formal rituals was our pre-shift team meeting. During the meeting,
management would assign sections to the servers and quiz the front of house staff about the
specials and other menu items. Additionally, the manager would inform the staff about any
overstock of items and encourage the team to suggestively sell such items. Interestingly, in other
restaurants, management would hold competitions for the highest guest check average or offer
monetary compensation for the individual who sold the most of a particular item (e.g. bottles of
overstocked wine). The Keg differed from other restaurants in that the entire team was rewarded
goal achievement. On one occasion, management erroneously ordered 10 cases of an expensive
wine instead of one. Management encourage the food servers and bar staff to push the high
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dollar Merlot. Normally, 10 cases of this expensive wine would last a year. The staff rallied
and we sold the wine out in one month. Although the bar staff sold the most of the wine, every
employee from dishwasher to bartender was rewarded with a paid ski trip to a local ski resort.
One of the informal rituals at The Keg was the after shift socializing at the bar. Although other
restaurants forbid employees to drink after shift in the establishment, The Keg encouraged its
employees to do so. The management believed that the socialization would build cohesion
amongst the different work groups. It worked. The informal and formal rituals at The Keg
helped bond the workers together to create a reality that was collective instead of competitive.
There were many rituals at The Keg and in addition to the creating the reality, the rituals also
provided the plots for the many stories told between the workers.
According to Eisenberg et al (2010), stories communicate to employees the culture,
values, expectations and consequences for violating written and unwritten rules and norms. In
the restaurant business, there is usually a high turnover rate. Surprisingly, The Keg had a low
turnover rate. Employees generally liked the different environment and enjoyed the many perks
that the company provided. However, as with any job, sometimes people quit or got fired.
Although management tried to keep the details of a terminated employee from the staff, the staff
usually found out by discerning the events through storytelling. On one occasion, it was
conveyed to us that a long-term employee had been terminated. We were all very surprised
because the employee was a high performing and liked by everyone. The management was tight
lipped about the whole ordeal and refused to answer questions about the employeehe was just
gone. Soon after he was fired, the employees were socializing at the bar after the restaurant
closed and we were telling stories about our recently departed colleague. The terminated
employee liked to play practical jokes on us. Although the jokes were generally tactful,
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sometimes his jokes teetered on the inappropriate. When we began recounting his jokes, one of
the employees recalled a practical joke he played out on his last night of work. The worker
pretended to be gay at one of his tables. His flamboyant change of character amused his fellow
workers and even one of the managers thought it was funny as well. However, one customer
who observed the servers behavior didnt find it so amusing. Three days after our colleague
was terminated, a corporate memo came down to all stores dictating a no tolerance policy
regarding discrimination in the workplace. An emphasis was placed on sexual orientation and
the drafter of the memo even included a (supposedly) hypothetical situation that mirrored the
actions of our former worker. The departure of a long term employee, the story behind his
termination and corporates response recreated the culture of our work environment.
Specifically, this event served to change the performances of the organization.
According to Eisenberg et al (2010), performances are the creative communication
behaviors used to construct cultures. The Keg used many different performances in creating its
culture. Perhaps the most interesting performance utilized at The Keg was the method they
employed of training and indoctrinating new employees into the Keg family. The Keg
intentionally used the term sponsor as opposed to trainer. A sponsor is responsible for
communicating the rules, monitoring and evaluating growth. Regardless of how long or short it
takes for a new hire to learn the menu, a sponsor stays with the new hire for thirty days. As my
sponsor said, some things about The Keg culture cant be taught and have to be experienced.
After 90 days, the sponsor meets with management staff and they collectively determine whether
or not the employee is a good fit. Its during this initial phase that a new hire must intentionally
adopt the cultural norms and build a connection with fellow teammates. For me, I made sure to
attend the after shift cocktail hours and help others around me who may be struggling with
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keeping up. There were servers who were initially hired that were competent servers but clearly
not willing to help out. The people who didnt look out for the interest of the team were let go
on or prior to the 90 day evaluation period. Although management refused to disclose the
reasons behind any employees dismissal, our conversations usually contained the phrase, not a
good fit. The Kegs method of evaluation was a great tool in creating a culture that rewarded
employees who displayed a collective mindset and punished individualism. The collectivist
culture was embodied in the entire organizations value structure.
According to Eisenberg et al (2010), Values represent a (more or less) shared set of
beliefs about appropriate organizational behaviors (p.106). On the Kegs website there is a
section called The Keg Story. In the story, the organization boasts that they encourage their
employees to have fun and be themselves. My experience at the Keg is consistent with the
websites claim. Although The Keg did reward collectivism and punish individualism, the
organization valued the contributions that diversity brings to the company. Although our
location was centered in a predominantly white upper class community, the staff and
management differed in age and race. Because the organization demanded each store to be
producing cohesive units, as cultural differences came to light the team identified and embraced
the differences as part of our dynamic team. Embracing these differences allowed us to operate
as an open system, flexible and ready to meet the challenges of an ever changing environment.
As with any close team, conflict does arise. At The Keg, whenever any team member had a
disagreement with another, it was agreed that the disagreement would be settled after work
during the employee cocktail hour. Most of the conflicts occurred between servers and cooks.
In most cases, the conflicts were resolved over a couple of drinks and the team grew from the
experience.
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In conclusion, exploring the rituals, stories, performances and values of The Keg has
given me a better perspective about my experience working at The Keg and other restaurants.
The Keg was a wonderful place to work and if I was in my early twenties, I would work there
again. I made lifelong friendships there and look always stop by for a visit when I am in the
Seattle area. Because of their low turnover rate, some of my former colleagues are still working
at The Keg. This is highly unusual for the restaurant industry. The rituals, stories and
performances The Keg employs all contribute to the collective value structure of the
organizational whole and individual restaurants. The Kegs work hard/play hard attitude ensures
that management receive the highest level of effort from their employees while providing an
opportunity to build meaningful connections between management and staff.
References
Eisenberg, E.M., Goodall, H.L., Jr., & Trethewey, A. (2010). Organizational
communication: Balancing creativity and constraint (6th
Edition). Boston: Bedford/St.
Martins.