With however many thousands of people currently in a service focused job, and with only one Operations role to for every 20-30 GM roles, how can you get there?
Great piece Lauren. In terms of advice, I would add "build up your skillset." Like you say, the ops manager has to be the fount of all knowledge for absolutely everything. That could be wine (go get WSET L3), Excel (buy a Dummies type book) or the latest clever tech (go to trade shows like Casual Dining and see what all the different staff scheduling apps are like). Plus of course eat out a lot and form some opinions about why successful restaurant groups work. Being a self-starter is essential in an ops role so it's helpful to be able to prove it.
Great piece Lauren. In terms of advice, I would add "build up your skillset." Like you say, the ops manager has to be the fount of all knowledge for absolutely everything. That could be wine (go get WSET L3), Excel (buy a Dummies type book) or the latest clever tech (go to trade shows like Casual Dining and see what all the different staff scheduling apps are like). Plus of course eat out a lot and form some opinions about why successful restaurant groups work. Being a self-starter is essential in an ops role so it's helpful to be able to prove it.