Whether inspecting a restaurant’s place settings, or crunching the numbers in the back office, food service managers find their passion in keeping restaurant and food service operations smooth and profitable. As the head of sometimes large and diverse teams, these managers coordinate staff, schedule their hours, order and store supplies, and oversee food production. And when it comes to meeting health and safety standards, the buck stops with food service managers. All this while they maintain a balanced budget. To keep so many plates spinning, managers must be detail-oriented leaders with the stamina to stay organized even when the pace is fast and doesn’t let up. In food service — communication and problem-solving skills are essential— since customers’ experiences rely on them. Dealing with dissatisfied customers is part of the territory, and can be challenging. Food service managers work full time in restaurants from fast-food to fine dining, and depending on the establishment, evening, weekend, and holiday work can be common. Managers of food service in institutions such as schools, factories or office buildings, usually work traditional hours. Most managers work their way up from entry-level food service positions. A bachelor’s degree is not required, but some postsecondary education is increasingly preferred. When customers leave their dining experience satisfied, you can be sure a capable food service manager set the scene to make it possible.
Sources: Minnesota CAREERwise & CareerOneStop
Typical Work Tasks
People who work in this career often:
- Resolve customer complaints or problems.
- Monitor activities of individuals to ensure safety or compliance with rules.
- Monitor organizational compliance with regulations.
- Monitor organizational procedures to ensure proper functioning.
- Collect payments for goods or services.
- Manage inventories of products or organizational resources.
- Purchase materials, equipment, or other resources.
- Evaluate employee performance.
- Evaluate quality of materials or products.
- Negotiate sales or lease agreements for products or services.
Typical Working Conditions
- Frequent contact with others.
- Responsibility for others’ health and safety.
- Working with a group or team.
- Frequent decision-making.
- Working indoors in environmentally controlled conditions.
- Standing.
- The importance of being accurate or exact.
- Wearing common protective or safety equipment such as safety shoes, glasses, gloves, hearing protection, hard hats, or life jackets.
- Dealing with unpleasant or angry people.
- Meeting strict deadlines.
- Exposure to minor burns, cuts, bites, or stings.
Tools & Technology used by Food Service Manager
Source: Minnesota CAREERwise
M0st Important Skills for Food Service Managers
- Monitoring Performance—Monitoring/Assessing performance of yourself, other individuals, or organizations to make improvements or take corrective action.
- Being Aware of Others—Being aware of others’ reactions and understanding why they react as they do.
- Coordinating with Others—Adjusting actions in relation to others’ actions.
- Learning New Things—Understanding the implications of new information for both current and future problem-solving and decision-making.
- Managing People—Motivating, developing, and directing people as they work, identifying the best people for the job.
- Managing Time—Managing one’s own time and the time of others.
- Thinking Critically—Using logic and reasoning to identify the strengths and weaknesses of alternative solutions, conclusions or approaches to problems.
- Helping Others—Actively looking for ways to help people.
- Reading—Understanding written sentences and paragraphs in work related documents.
Speaking—Talking to others to convey information effectively.
Most Important Knowledge Areas for Food Service Manager
- Customer and Personal Service—Knowledge of principles and processes for providing customer and personal services. This includes customer needs assessment, meeting quality standards for services, and evaluation of customer satisfaction.
- Education and Training—Knowledge of principles and methods for curriculum and training design, teaching and instruction for individuals and groups, and the measurement of training effects.
- Administration and Management—Knowledge of business and management principles involved in strategic planning, resource allocation, human resources modeling, leadership technique, production methods, and coordination of people and resources.
- Production and Processing—Knowledge of raw materials, production processes, quality control, costs, and other techniques for maximizing the effective manufacture and distribution of goods.
- Food Production—Knowledge of techniques and equipment for planting, growing, and harvesting food products (both plant and animal) for consumption, including storage/handling techniques.
- Sales and Marketing—Knowledge of principles and methods for showing, promoting, and selling products or services. This includes marketing strategy and tactics, product demonstration, sales techniques, and sales control systems.
- Clerical—Knowledge of administrative and clerical procedures and systems such as word processing, managing files and records, stenography and transcription, designing forms, and other office procedures and terminology.
- Personnel and Human Resources—Knowledge of principles and procedures for personnel recruitment, selection, training, compensation and benefits, labor relations and negotiation, and personnel information systems.
- English Language—Knowledge of the structure and content of the English language including the meaning and spelling of words, rules of composition, and grammar.
- Mathematics—Knowledge of arithmetic, algebra, geometry, calculus, statistics, and their applications.
Interests
Different careers may be a good fit for your personality or interests. This career is:
- Enterprising—Enterprising occupations frequently involve starting up and carrying out projects. These occupations can involve leading people and making many decisions. Sometimes they require risk taking and often deal with business.
- Conventional—Conventional occupations frequently involve following set procedures and routines. These occupations can include working with data and details more than with ideas. Usually there is a clear line of authority to follow.
Source: Minnesota CAREERwise
| Wages Per Hour For Food Service Managers (MN) | ||
Low$23.95 |
Median$29.44 |
High$36.70 |
Low indicates 25% of workers earn less and 75% earn more. Median indicates 50% of workers earn less and 50% earn more. High indicates 75% of workers earn less and 25% earn more.
Demand
This career is seeing moderate compared to other careers. There will be a .8% growth for Food Service Managers to meet market demand between 2018-2028. This includes the demand due to replacement (workers leaving the occupation or retiring) as well as growth.
Source: Minnesota CAREERwise
This career requires at least a high school degree, and some professionals have some college. Depending on the business, this career may require a license and there are certifications are helpful for growth.
View the local post-secondary education options for this career from Central Lakes College.
Spotlight on Central Lakes College
- Why consider CLC?
- Virtual Campus Tours: Brainerd Campus, Staples Campus
- Learn more about the CLC Honors Program.
- Attend CLC, and you may never need to buy a textbook.
If you have a physical, mental, developmental, or cognitive condition that requires educational support, learn about support options at CLC.
Helpful High School Courses
Examples of helpful classes that help you prepare for this career:
- Accounting
- Business Management
- Culinary Arts
- Economics
- Foods and Nutrition
- Health and Wellness
- Marketing
- Public Speaking
- Sociology
- Team Sports
- World Geography
- World Language
Source: Minnesota CAREERwise
Learn how important a restaurant’s location is to its success in this simulation by Knowledge Matters, Inc.
Explore this 360 degree view behind the scene of a commercial kitchen (Grand View Lodge‘s main dinning room kitchen)
Videos
Food Service Manager (GadBaller)
Food & Beverage Manager (Nexus Canada)
Food Service Management
“Day in the Life” Videos
Food Service Supervisor (Morrison Healthcare)