So let me just start this by saying that I thought Arbor Acres would be my career spot. A place I worked at for the next 30+ years and a place that I could establish myself at. In the 4 years I worked there, I build lasting relationships with so many amazing residents. However, the dining department in Independent Living is a black hole of dreams and ambition and happiness. First, the executive chef. I have never worked for an executive chef who didn’t get on the line and work with us to assure quality and standards were being met. She seems completely uninterested in teaching or coaching. She has years of experience that many people could learn something from her but she sits in her office day in and day out. A 16 year old with a smart phone and access to “Allrecipes.com” could do her job because most of the ideas she has, comes from the internet instead of her own creative mind like a real executive chef. In the time I worked with her, I don’t remember ever seeing her cook anything.
Second, the salaried front of house manager. I have never seen a more blatant case of someone committing HEINOUS time theft from a company. Not sure what the contract for his salary stated the number of hours he is to work weekly but in the years I worked there, he frequently came in late and left early (sometimes only spending 4-5 hours there, all of which were in his office). He gets away with this because he’s close friends with his direct supervisor (the director of dining). She is phenomenal at her job (the director) but I’m not sure if it’s cognitive dissonance or just not paying attention that she lets this particular manager do this.
Third, the independent living kitchen manager. She shows excessive favoritism to the select few she actually likes and treats the other employees like trash and moving pieces she can just do with what she likes. When she wasn’t the kitchen manager, I respected her. Good work ethic, talented cook, and sets a good example. As a kitchen manager, she never separated her friendships from work. Those she was friends with when she wasn’t a kitchen manager are the same ones she gives special treatment to.
Fourth, the HR department (Talent Arts). Besides Holly, I don’t think anyone in that department actually has the slightest idea of what’s going on in dining despite many of the cooks having conversations with them to try to resolve some of the problems. The highly talked about Talent Arts department who are supposedly advocates for the employees only cares about the company and saving face. I had multiple conversations with them and got zero solutions and zero actions taken.
Lastly, I just want to say that all of the above mentioned things, I could have lived with because I enjoyed seeing residents every day and talking to their families when they came to visit. I enjoyed talking with coworkers. However, when my wife became pregnant and I did everything in my power to get my supervisors to understand that the long hours (50+ every single week) that I was working would no longer be possible when my baby is born, they acted as if I was speaking a foreign language. They made no efforts to work with me so that I had a work life balance and could spend time with my son and wife. That salaried front of house manager mentioned above, the reason he leaves early most days is because of his kids. Whether it be picking them up from school or taking them to a game, or something of that nature. The fact that it was okay for him to leave early every day and the reasoning always be his kids yet it wasn’t okay for me to simply ask for the 40-45 hours a week that everyone else works was the nail in the coffin for me handing in my notice of resignation.
Director of dining works 40-45 hours a week. No nights, occasional holidays. No kids. Executive chef works 40 hours a week. No nights or weekends. Works occasional holidays. No kids. Kitchen manager works 40-45 hours a week. Works nights when she needs to, no weekends. No kids. Salaried front of house manager works 30-40 hours a week. No nights but will occasionally come in for 2-5 hours on a Saturday. Works occasional holidays.
All I asked for is to be treated with the same respect and courtesy that they expect to be treated with: a full time job with quality of life so that I could spend time with my family.
