Date: 01/18/12

Trainer: Alexander

Trainee/s: Ryan, Meghan... (Deborah)

Follow:

Today was a very interesting training day. I had three trainees. Deborah was actually a transfer from the Village and therefore mainly was part of the training team to learn the Lamar ropes. For the most part I just gave her a tour and set her free, while remaining available for any questions or concerns she may have had. For this reason, this is the last I will blog about her.

In addition to having a transfer as part of the team I also had a trainee who is in the process of working out his two weeks notice with his current job and will be dealing with a very sporadic availability at the Alamo until he honours his two weeks notice. For this reason he did not arrive for his day one training until 4pm, which WAS pre-approved, and this made for a very different training day on my part. However, this is why we, as trainers, are flexible and it was a fun challenge.

Ryan: Despite arriving later than the rest of the group Ryan came up to speed quickly. He is a GREAT new hire. He has plenty of previous experience in the service industry and, if tonight is any indication of his potential, he should definitely be a candidate for server when the slaughter store opens. Please bring up his ambitions of being a server to the Lake Creek crew so they can develop him towards this goal. He had a great attitude, caught on quickly, was continuously going above and beyond and showed more hustle when running food than I have seen from anyone to date.

Meghan: Meghan was also a great trainee. She showed wonderful adaptability as her training day began with a transfer and ended with someone who joined the group late. She also showed great initiative including jumping on prep when there were no orders in the window and asking someone to train her on bathroom checks when she saw them doing one while she was in the restroom. 

In regards to the day two trainee, please be aware that Meghan was very recently involved in a bicycle accident and badly sprained her left wrist. This is her dominant hand and it would be advised to keep an eye on her and make sure we aren't asking her to do anything that will strain her wrist too much. She did run trays today and when I asked her how her wrist felt, she said it was doing fine with the weight of the trays. 

Please continue to coach and encourage Meghan in being louder when she is vocal. I have already coached her in this area so she is aware she can improve on this, but when asking expos if there is more food for a theatre and saying "corner" around corners she was very quiet. 



What roles do you see the trainee/s attaining in their future with the Alamo Drafthouse family?

Ryan: As mentioned before, as Ryan goes to Lake Creek and eventually transfers to slaughter, I'd definitely recommend he be considered as a server.

Meghan: Meghan has ambitions to become a part of the bar team. I would keep an eye on her as she develops as she has prior bar experience.  

Did you cover all topics on the Follow Card? Yes.

Do you feel that the trainee/s was given enough guidance? Yes. 

What was something you learned from this train?
I learned and was reminded that flexibility and ambition can accomplish great things. 

What feedback do you have to improve our training efforts?
I definitely would not make the staggered arrival times something we do hardly ever. Though it was feasible, it took a lot of extra effort to ensure everyone was trained to the level new hires deserve.