I run a little restaurant and more recently, I decided to do something to make my cooks more comfortable.
I decided to upgrade the HVAC system to a ductless mini split.
With the multiple zone ductless mini split, I was able to have HVAC zone control. The dining area now is able to be set to a customized temperature while the kitchen area and the back office where I work are set to customized temperature control settings as well. The cooks were so happy because they no longer felt entirely overheated while they were cooking. Then one of the cooks took it a step further and asked if they could have a portable TV in the cooking area. I wasn’t really thinking much about it, but I said that would be fine. Suddenly, I was getting numerous complaints about burnt food and dishes that didn’t taste very good. I came to learn that a lot of my cooks were paying too much attention to the TV while they were cooking. They were burning the food and messing up the recipes with too much seasoning and things like that. I finally said the TV could be in the break room because I needed all of my chefs to focus on what they were doing. I guess I was so focused on keeping everybody happy, that I thought a TV wouldn’t be a big issue, turned out that it was a huge problem. There really is a fine line between keeping your workers happy and the customers happy. If your workers aren’t happy, they will leave. If your customers aren’t happy, you won’t make any money.