Keep a watchful eye on your employees
Nothing says trust more than leaving someone else in charge of your business. Whether it is a manager, supervisor, or just a trusted employee, whoever is in charge is typically a person you trust. Logically, nothing can hurt your business more than when someone you trust, lets you down.
This is certainly the case in this shocking Pizza Hut video below. Not only has this district manager violated several health codes, he has also violated the trust of his boss, as well as his customers. In effect, one man has caused the complete and total shut down of this restaurant, for an indefinite period of time.
Click to view full video on WOWKTV.com
While this happened in Kermit, West Virginia, I would not be surprised if the entire Pizza Hut brand feels the consequences. It is very hard to disassociate one man’s actions from the company. Think about the recent Wendy’s chili incident. It is hard to remember which one it happened at because the word spread so quickly. Fortunately that was a hoax; unfortunately, this one is not.
While the Kermit location is being cleaned and sanitized, it does beg the question: do you trust the people you leave in charge while you are away?
Pizza Hut responds
Pizza Hut issued a written statement expressing their concerns, but what’s done is done, unfortunately.
They stated, “First of all, we are embarrassed by the actions of this individual. Pizza Hut has zero tolerance for violations of our operating standards, and the local owner of the restaurant took immediate action and terminated the employee involved. While the isolated incident occurred during non-business hours and did not involve any food tampering, we follow strict safety and handling procedures and the restaurant has since been closed. We apologize to our customers of Kermit, West Virginia and those in our system who have been let down by this situation.”
I would beg to differ. Call me germaphobic if you will, but in the video, you see the manager reaching up to rearrange pans, utensils, or something else. I call this food tampering because who knows what he touched afterwards since he did not wash his hands. This is not an entry level staffer, no, this is a District Manager who knows better, and while we acknowledge this behavior happens from time to time at eateries, this is a pretty gross violation.
As I said, you cannot unsee this and you have a hard time disassociating the action from the brand. So, be careful who you leave in charge because your whole business’ reputation may lay in their hands.
