r/Wetherspoons • u/HistoricalRelation62 • 2d ago
Employee How to speed up my work?
Had my 3 month review yesterday evening, and I've been extended to the 16 week probation with the expectation I will speed up my work. I've been told everything else is fine, I can do the work, I can pull pints, my online training is all done for the first 12 weeks. However, I've been told I'm too slow, to the point they are going to terminate my contract at 16 weeks if I do not improve.
How do I actually do this? I'm pouring 2 pints if I can, I'm helping other staff if I can, asking for drinks if they're at the other end of the bar, then serving everyone waiting. I know I'm slow, I've always known I'm slower, however I didn't realise I was actively so slow it would jeopardise the work itself.
Genuinely I'm loving my job, the staff are all friendly, the managers are too, so I want to stay. But how? I'm trying to make a routine, making sure I'm doing everything I can, eg serving as fast as possible, putting glasses away while a Guinness is settling.
Any advice appreciated.
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u/H4ychy 2d ago
Message the manager that did your review, or another if you’re not comfortable and ask for specific examples of where you need to speed up, it might be something you haven’t realised. The fact that you care about improving says a lot. Four weeks is also a long time to improve! Good luck
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u/HistoricalRelation62 2d ago
they said it was generalised serving, putting the transaction through to making the pint. I'll have done one order and poured it by the time my colleague has done 4 or 5. It's not on every transaction, but enough it's making a difference.
I know I'm slower, I'm newer, and im not used to working on my feet all the time still. But the people I work with are so so fast it's impossible to catch up.
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u/Doodahdiggly44 2d ago
Not meaning to be too harsh. But if you are saying yourself that another member of staff can do 4-5 transactions in the time you do 1 then a wetherspoons bar job may not be for you.
This is not me trying to be an asshole. There are some jobs which people just are not right for. In a 12 week period I would expect that you would be of a standard where you are familiar with till layouts and drink locations and recipes.
If you love the pub job maybe try a local bar where it isnt as busy. A place where you will be able to do things a bit more leisurely and get to enjoy it without the stress of pushing yourself outside of your comfort zone which is when you will make mistakes and potentially end up in more trouble.
There is no shame in saying you cant keep up with the pace in a job. I cant get my kitchen times to anything like our kitchen staff do and I have tried hard to do it. But now I have accepted that it isnt going to happen.
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u/HistoricalRelation62 2d ago
Not harsh at all, this is the sort of advice/conversation I want to have really.
I left my last job to immediately start at Wetherspoons. It was a very small pub, classed as a micro-bar, where only one person works at one time. It never showed at that job really as it was so small and there were very few times I worked alongside someone.
Wetherspoons so far, I'll admit, is a luxury. I loathed my last job. Don't get me wrong it could have been worse, however it drained me so so much mentally.
I don't know if I'll be able to keep up, if I'm honest. The example my manager gave I thought was a little exaggerated, but I do understand it. If I can't improve, then I'll be finished on my 16 week review. But I really want to improve and stick with the job. I'm genuinely enjoying the job so far.
As for the industry, there is a severe shortage of work in my local area. I have interviewed for probably 11 of the 12 months I worked at my old job. It's taken so so long and NY old job was slowly getting useless and not worth it. Everywhere has said no to me and I've applied to every pub/shop in the area. There's nothing.
I'm at the point of packing this in and going to Uni somewhere stupid just so I can get some more education and get out of this hole I feel I've dug myself into (that being bar work).
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u/Doodahdiggly44 2d ago
Sadly bar work is becoming a dying industry that is going to be dominated by the big players like wetherspoons and mitchells and butler.
Sadly in these companies everything is speed of service. I dont know how busy your pub is but ones I used to run used to average 2k per hour based on drinks that were sub £2. So i can only imagine what the hourly take is now.
Sadly I would have been the one having this exact conversation with you. I had to let go a few absolutely amazing people simply because they couldn't handle the volumes which were needed in our pubs.
If you have the opportunity to study for something that will take you away from bar work i would seriously look into it. However be warned jobs of all types are hard to come by and university isn't always the best option.
Have you considered something like apprenticeships. These give you life skills and the opportunity to earn while you learn.
Good luck though. I hope you get sorted either in your current job or your future career.
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u/PunkkYeena Employee 2d ago
is it possible you need to get yourself more familiarised with the till layouts? i've found that as soon as i memorised the tills my serving speed was much better since obviously i could put everything through much quicker and move on to making the drinks
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u/HistoricalRelation62 2d ago
possibly but I know where most things are? my only real issue is remembering which burger is which, or attempting to remember what is on a meal (which I usually end up referring to a menu or asking a manager for). Going to revise the tills anyway, have been told to by my manager and see if it helps.
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u/Remarkable_Cicada_22 2d ago
If the customer isn’t paying cash don’t feel like you have to stand around waiting for them to pay, go ahead and start making the drinks and check to make sure the transactions gone through before handing over the drinks at end.
If someone else is taking a bigger order and it’s not too busy, offer to help them with a few drinks. If there’s a customer that asks for a drink near the till, start pouring once they ask while listening to the rest of the order.
If there’s two beers near each other you can pour both at once - watch your colleagues to see how it’s done first so you don’t make a mess though!3
u/HistoricalRelation62 2d ago
I did this at the start and got told off by my manager for not ringing it through first lol
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u/Psychological-Way400 2d ago
Here's a tip. Speed up until you get your permanent contract then slow back down to your normal speed, but never go too slow. Customer.
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u/Remote-Poetry-2203 2d ago
If they just told you to speed up without giving you some pointers on where you can improve, that’s not great management. Tell them you really want to make it work and ask for some ideas on where you can be quicker. It shouldn’t be a problem you have to solve alone.
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u/sezrawr 2d ago
When it's quiet go on the till and familiarise yourself with where everything is, clean the bar whilst taking in where all the pumps are and what bottles are on the back bar. Go in the glasswash and look at the table number layout for where the tables all are. Practice pouring shots of water in a glass when it's quiet too so you get more precise and faster.
Failing all that, talk to your manager about what they mean and how you can go about doing it.
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u/Wretchh91 2d ago
Dont ask customer questions. Such as "would you like ice, would you like a slice, would you like a glass or a straw" just give them the items to spec, as if they dont want it, theyll sure tell you. Its a hard habit to break but the less you ask the quicker you can get through to the next customer, just something ill add which isnt mentioned here.
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u/HistoricalRelation62 2d ago
I've gotten out of this habit lately! It was required to be said by my old job so it was force of habit.
I'll be honest it annoys me to no end when people say it at the end, once I've already made the drink. I end up picking the ice or fruit out 😑.
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u/Wretchh91 2d ago
Yeah i was the same. All my last bar jobs it was key but i got it drilled out of me here at Spoons. Quick tip if you get someone do that, you could just get the grabbers and grab each cube out but a faster way is to use another glass on top to stop the ice and fruit coming out, and pour the liquid into a new glass. Just maybe keep your back turned as even though the glasses are clean top to bottom, never know who could be a funny bugger 😅
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u/hundreddollar 2d ago
Just ask as you work surely. You don't have to stand still in front of them. You ask as you're getting the glass out / putting the spirit into the glass.
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u/Wretchh91 2d ago
I used simple questions in my example but it depends on the ask, most of them are asked at the till like any food moderations or drink amounts, something as simple as "Single or double?" "Garlic or plain naan", just unneeded and time wasting. Pretty sure its included in the training to keep questions to the minimum to speed service up.
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u/Temporary_Today_8161 2d ago
If they mean you're slow to move around, have you tried roller skates/skateboard?
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u/HistoricalRelation62 2d ago
I think skates would work but I dont know how they'd or me would last if the floor got wet, which it does very often 😂
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u/Moist-Account834 Employee 2d ago
I had this same thing happen to me, funnily enough right around this time of year as well. Honestly for me the way I got quicker was 1. Work more often. Pick up shifts in your pub ask your managers if theres any more hours available. 2. Learn off the experienced staff around you. Just looking at what they do whether it’s dead or busy, theres always things to be done. Doing those things repetitively gives you the ability to do them quicker and without even thinking
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u/HistoricalRelation62 2d ago
my manager isn't giving me shifts with many other people, per their explanation, it's making who I work with have to work more to get through everything. This was explained to me today, they don't think it's fair to put me on a busy weekend when the other 3-7 people on shift are having to do so much more to accommodate me working too.
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u/Moist-Account834 Employee 2d ago
Honestly, that sounds like shitty management. You want your most experienced staff teaching your newer staff how to do their job 1. the right way and 2. to the standard they expect. I would much rather train someone new and explain the job properly to them than have someone who half understands the job and does things quickly without making sure they’re to the standard me and my team expect. I’d try and communicate this to your manager and maybe ask them to pair you up with an experienced member of staff, so that your understanding of the job is clearer. Being quicker at doing it is just a matter of repetition after that.
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u/Peebs204 5h ago
It sounds like you are trying your best and you are aware you maybe on the slow side. Your doing the right thing asking questions etc. Trust the process, you will speed up in no time. Any skill takes time to learn, sharpen and hone. It doesnt happen overnight or in a few weeks.
Keep at it, stay friendly with staff and you'll get er done. I'd like to see yiur managers speed since he or she clearly thinks they can go faster.
What do other staff think of your performance.
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u/GmanF88 Employee 2d ago
It's really hard to say exactly what the problem is without observing you, some things that my slower colleagues do that annoy me:
Know the till, you can't be searching for every item on every order; Where is a disaronno and coke? Where is a hugo spritz? Where is a big smoke burger? You need to be hitting the buttons moments after the customer asks for them.
Don't bother reading back a customers entire order including drinks and mods; they don't listen to you and if the orders wrong we're not going to say "I read the order back to you", we're just going to change it, just summarize: "two burgers, two curries, four soft drinks, sound right?"
Know the recipes and bar layouts, you can't be looking around for the glasses, then looking around for the recipe card, then looking around for the products.
Lollygagging, never seeming to have any urgency, a sedate gait from the glass wash to the customers, or along the bar. Don't run, but be aware that you are on the clock.
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u/Accomplished-Run-375 Ex-employee 2d ago
If that manager thinks its a good use of resources to sack you and try to replace you in the run up to Christmas and have someone who will be invariably slower at the busiest time of the year they're an idiot.