The Interview

I took some time in my tight schedule to interview a very close friend of mine who also runs a very tight shift at Evangeline’s. Evangeline’s general manager David Alexander Simpson and lead server Mike Justice were my co-workers during 2011 where I took the job as bartender. Evangeline’s has been apart of the top 3 Restaurant in Tuscaloosa, according to TuscaloosaRestaurant.com, for the past 6 years. It is 2^nd overall in Tuscaloosa and has many accolades to back it up. A chef I use to work with, Blake Hartley, has moved forward in his career at Chris Hasting’s Hot and Hot (This chef defeated Bobby Flay in Iron Chef back in February 2012). David took some time for me to talk to him about his routine and what made Evangeline’s so successful. “You see,” he said, “Tuscaloosa’s market is generated heavily on the University. The University of Alabama and its patrons cater to the students very heavily, creating a very cut throat market. When Evangeline’s opened, we instinctually decided that we wanted to cater to the more mature generation that still live in Tuscaloosa because the competition and the dollar return.” When I asked about the competition he replied “…Evangeline’s really stands on its own with its cuisine and choice in Spirits but if I had to compare the competitors and imitators, Epiphany’s, DePalmas, Five, Chucks, and Kozy’s are closely relatable to our Restaurant.”  The last thing David talked to me about was what he thinks has keep them as a frontrunner in Tuscaloosa for so long. “Its about service,” he said, “People love being pampered and catered to. I feel that at the end of every meal, with good friends and company, to cling a glass of champagne pro bono in toast is what it’s all about. Making memories.”

Working at Evangeline’s was an experience for me. I had great co-workers and my girlfriend worked with me there. It was a really great experience meeting Tuscaloosa’s tycoons that run the town and having equal co-workers that were very kind and open. The restaurant has a few décor updates since the last time I stepped foot in there, but rest assured, I still felt that “good company” feeling walking through the front door.

So here are their business cards:

So I hope you enjoyed my interview and review of Evangeline’s. I decided to conclude with a good tip for your next interview (Comic):

Personality Type

Peoples personalities are very important in the working world. Its now we communicate and create friends and foes. Discovering your personality type is a test that can be conducted multiple ways. I administered the test to two people and myself. All 3 of of us had different results as to what kind of personality we had. The personality is divided up into 4 categories: Lions, Otters, Golden Retrievers, and Beavers. These animals are represented by the traits people give them. For example, Lions are leaders bold yet arrogant to choices. Otters are talkative and fun, yet flaky and poor decision makers. Golden Retrievers are loyal and always forgiving, yet the blunt end of abuse. Beavers are calculative and precise, yet this can also be a double edge sword. All describe the majority of personalities in the world we surround ourselves in.

When I administered the test to myself, my conclusion left me to being a lion. I feel that this test is accurate, I normally am a leader who wants to be heard but I constantly make rash choices based on a want of an end result. I tied Retriever and Beaver, because I make also very calculative decisions how to correct my errors from my lion side, and I also reflect aspects of wanting to always fix issues and take the blunt end of the blame. My test subjects were also different. Test subject A was a strong otter, very social but very spontaneous which leads to not being there for everyone. She also was a strong Retriever, because she never wants to confront people with issues and also strong to her feelings. However, Test subject B was a very strong Beaver. He always reads the manual no matter what item he has purchased. He is always analytical and strategizing his next move in life.

I feel this test was very accurate in depicting peoples tendencies and guessing at their flaws and strengths. It is also a theory I had taking this test that the results will vary based on the day. Some days I feel more loyal to others than other days, when I want to be left alone. Results will change due to practical and varied changes of how someone will be feeling that day. I think it would stretch the results a little. Other then that, however, it seemed very interesting that I was a Lion. I never felt like a leader until a test actually pointed it out and made me feel like I can lead while knowing I’m leading people.

And here’s a few comics I located for a good laugh about Personality Test.

Executive Summary: Malcolm Baldridge Award

Only a few distinguishing awards exist that are ever given by the President of the United States. The Malcolm Baldridge National Quality Award is given to the individual or group of individuals that is formally recognized for the outstanding of both public and private U.S. organizations. Up to, but only 18, of these awards are given a year and they are divided up into six separate groups: small business, service, education, health care, non-profit, and manufacturing.  As of last year, only 90 have ever been given out. To achieve this award, it is nothing short of a true achievement in excellent performance. In my opinion, this award should only be given to the individuals who truly understands and respect every aspect of business, whether it be non-profit or profitable. This award gives great contribution to the element of competitiveness as well: The central and true aspect of an American Company. The people who are selected for this award clearly understand something about running a smooth business and, at the peak of their success, could teach others how to be just as successful. This award is not just given out to anyone. This award clearly demonstrates effective and productive methods of management while also maintaining a management system that thoroughly ensures continuous improvement.

The other part of this award is the program that it instills into companies: The Malcolm Baldridge Performance Excellence Program. The program is for, like what the award disguises, between, businesses that are both private and public, and also deviate from small business, service, education, health care, non-profit, and manufacturing. The program basically is to direct a company into a proper management system and to show ways of ongoing improvement within the company. The program, not to be mistaken, is the building block to properly run a company, while the award, is to distinguish individuals or a group of individuals for either performing to the programs standards or showing multiple signs of improvement much like to the program. I think this system is very effective in keeping competition within our economy fair and observed, while personally, I also feel like it is a way for Government to “have their hand in the cookie jar” in standardizing competitive practice. I would assume most people would either view this as a win-win situation for our economy to have awards like this, while its also an equal tradeoff that our Government would be always playing a role in the economy and the management practices that are done within businesses of all types.

So the comic I found is quite funny and while it doesn’t speak about THIS award, this photo lightly amuses how some businesses give out meaningless awards to commemorate hard work. So, again, this comic is just a light humor to the ideas of Awards in General, not to the Malcolm Baldridge Award:

Traditional Functions of Management

Traditional functions of management have many steps of preparation and expectations for success. When its all said and done, it comes down to preparation and the intangibles that fix the smaller issues that ultimately, fix the bigger issues. Many businesses refer to this practice as micro managing. A competent manager can perform these task when that manager puts forth the problem in front of the, come up with a practical solution to fix the issue, and execution of the practical solution. Some managers find this to be secondary, like breathing, while others may struggle with this ability.

Lets begin with the preparation that most companies must endure to be a sustainable company. Organizing and coordinating efforts for a company is the first step. You must be organized with documentation, materials needed for daily use, even intangibles like power and running water within a company. Proper facilities are always necessary when it comes to this because you cannot maintain a business without minimum requirements by the state ( plus, it would behoove you to at least look like you care about your employees). Other intangibles, but a big factor, is proper staffing. Staffing people can be done mathematically and correctly if shown the proper technique. To break it down, you need to know how much you can spend ( which will vary per month based on profit), mark hours that staff will not be present for that week (requested time off) and distribute the hours equally so that everyone will have a paycheck based on the hours they expected to work when they applied for the job. This formula essentially this:

P x V = S

S x H = T

P will be the positions determined based on shifts, V will be the vacancy factor ( the amount of days out of 7 usually), S will be the total number of staff, and H will be the hours total that needed to be used during the week, and T will be the hours that you can use to divide up based on the number of employees you have for that month. Easy right?

The last thing I would like to touch up on is the gap that is commonly found between managers and these task. Its almost funny how people do not understand the position of manager fully. The 21st century manager does these task and so many more within a company to keep things running smoothly. And that is what a manager is now: He/She is a problem solver and a task performer. Managers line up the task that need to be accomplished daily and anything else that pops up they essentially smooth it over to the best of their ability. Managers are sometimes looked at as “the go-to” for problems when it occurs in a company, because they are the ones that must micro manage the company. A manager will only fall behind and possibly will be inspected for replacement if a manager cannot identify issues in a timely manner when they occur and come up with a solution quickly. You just have to keep a close eye on everything because if you don’t, the repercussions will follow and, giving this problem a personification, it would be like trying to dig out of a hole: It only gets harder when things are not done promptly and effectively.

As always, some light humor: