bartender payment schemes

[pilli]

does anybody have any good ideas on a good payment scheme for a bartender?
something thats too good to pass up but also makes sure that he is increasing the business/takings?

[SuperBoy]

maybe first you can use one of the wireless liquor monitor like Barvision,so you will know each that have made and then you can ask the bartenders to pay the cost price of the drink that way they could drink alot without stealing and also pay for what they drink a fair amount of money..by the way do you use in your bar any liqour monitor?

[rkerdza]

Ummm...the more you sell, the more tips you can make?

[pilli]

liquor monitor has nothing to do with a payment scheme?
Tipping in austria is not so hot about 5% so more drinks more tips is not really an incentive?

does anybody have any payment schemes in place working on say a pecentage of what you sell etc.

[David]

How do you track your sell through now?

How do you know who sells what?

[Bell Ringer]

Well nothing yet of relevence for replies here to a simple issue. That's not like the forum.

Having a low tip expectancy tells me that bars pay bartenders a solid wage per hour. If you were in the states I would recommend something entirely different but I have an idea for you.

Figure out your product mix and also the liquour, beer and wine sales percentages. You may even do a check average. Then establish an incentive plan (bonus plan) for increases in your "P-mix" (liq. to food sales ratio), sustained increases in check averages and most importantly you should reward inventory control. Set up a pool using a fixed amount, or be creative about it, then as the goals are reached and other criteria you may want to set up then you can pay out "bonus" checks based on hours worked throughout the month.

Two things happen here. One, you establish a way to increase the potential profitability for your staff and also increase accountability. Secondly you will probably notice that everyone wants to work as mch as they can and will prove to lower turn over rates for you in the long run. I would imagine you would be a trend setter in the area and quickly become an employer of choice amongst veteran bartenders that know how to be efficient and how to build sales. Best of luck in whatever you decide to do.

[David]

Bell Ringer, have you used this method? I see a few loop holes that we can discuss if you like.

[Michael Black]

What size is the bar and do you have more than one bartender working at one time? Do you have other income from cover charges , food, retail, etc?

[rachael24]

Its extremely difficult to track what and how many drinks you sell...even with one bartender. Although I am sure you can use a computer as the register, but it may take up too much time during the busy rushes.

[pilli]

the bar is very small about 80m². we have 1 bartender and me and 2 waitresses.
we also have a kitchen which sells finger food. no cover charge, no dj.




What size is the bar and do you have more than one bartender working at one time? Do you have other income from cover charges , food, retail, etc?

[alchemybar]

We tend to offer incentives based on total $$$ through the bar based on day of the week. e.g. if the bar does $2,000 during the week we offer a cash bonus to the staff working

[Havensloft]

You could give them a percentage of the sales. Say for instance, you want to sell X$ in a night. If they exceed that amount, give them a percentage of whatever you may think will get them to bring more people in or upsell drinks increasing your sales. I have a simple register and I have set it up so whoever uses the register can put in their name. At the end of the night, you total each person's total sales and see what they did and base it on that. Just a thought.