After two years of work at a Japanese in Restaurant in Miami, filling multiple

positions, from delivery to management, I now resigned, and that is for multiple
reasons. This report will take us through the various ups and downs that I
encountered during my experience focusing on the key moments that lead me to
quit my job.
My bosses, Alban and Ago were acquaintances of mine; the rest of the staff was
international (France, Russia, Malaysia). All the employees were on part time jobs.
My first position was as delivery guy and my last was managing the two restaurants
of the chain. Throughout my two years experience, I learned to be a busser then a
waiter and finally a manager. I dealt with customers, suppliers and administrations.
I enjoyed great feedback and comments from customers on social media and great
success with money in the registrar.
However, it all ended with a loss-loss situation, where I quit a job that I got attached
to and they lost, and I quote, the only manager that ever cared.
When I started delivering, everything in the restaurant seemed fine to me since I
only had a superficial look on operations. At that moment, it was fine with me as I
was making good money and enjoying the sunny weather of South Beach.
Thomas:
Things started to change after two weeks of being a busser for one of the waiters.
As I learned the job and started interacting with customers, my coworker and
superior, Thomas, a 30 years old Frenchman, felt the urge to remind me that I was
just supposed to bring and takeout food. No talk necessary.
That kind of power he exerted on me, even though it worked, created an unspoken
animosity between us. I kept on learning and working silently, building strong ties
with all the kitchen staff and getting valuable advices from Alban who was always at
the restaurant. This lasted two months and then Alban designated me server at a
second restaurant in a different neighborhood. The fast pace on which I was
promoted was the result of my hard work, my continuous seeking of answers and
my acceptance of critics.
However, I never let go of what Thomas said to me, especially how he said it.
So before leaving, I vividly confronted him in front of other members of the staff and
told him that he was a handicap for the expansion of the chain. When he tried to
answer I simply cut him off and left. My manner to show him that it was my opinion
and he cannot change it.
Ago:
In six months as a waiter in the second restaurant, I only saw Ago at the beginning of
each month. The restaurant was smaller than the previous so no busser was
necessary they said. I had five shifts a week of six hours each. This lasted only one
month as one of the waiters left and since I just graduated school I decided to take
his shifts. All the kitchen staff was really happy with my decision as we got along
really well. The restaurant was not doing as well as the previous and there were
times when we were struggling to break even. This never made Ago stress or come
visit more often to check. My responsibilities grew quickly as of my freedom of
decisions when I had a chat with Alban that gave me liberty to manage the happy
hours, the delivery part and the restaurants atmosphere.
So I did. I delayed the happy hour, I made lunch boxes ready for pick up and delivery
and I started playing music and showing NBA finals on our large screens that used
to show mute videos.
In less than a month, the restaurant gained a fresh reputation. We were full every
evening and night and the lunch box was highlighted in a local journal after two
weeks of launching. My hours became insane, working everyday for eight hours.
I was waiting for the monthly visit of Ago to show him what I realized: the numbers
and the reputation. I always thought that his absence was because he trusted the
chef and I to do a good job and that he was checking up on us through Alban. I was
preparing myself to ask for a raise and a bonus for the cooking staff. I thought we
deserved it.
Imagine my surprise when Ago walks in on a busy evening holding the article of the
local newspapers praising our lunch box and shouting in front of the customers:
What the heck is that? Where is Marouen?.
From the little I knew that time and what I learned in this course about
Organizational Behavior, I am certain that this contradicts all theories. In a second,
his action destroyed the moral of everyone, dusted our reputation, erased all kinds
of possible communications and swiped any kind of motivation to do better.
Having all that in mind, I took him upstairs to his office and a conversation that no
employee should have with his boss. For fifteen minutes, we fought. He blamed for
making decisions without advising him first, for the changing atmosphere and for
the extra hours that I am working. In return, I blamed him for his absence, for his
lack of control and his violent reaction. It ended by me leaving the restaurant with
the intention of never coming back.
Alban:
When Alban called me that night, I did not really understand how he managed to
persuade me to go to work the day after. However, I am able today to see how he
used multiple OB theories in order to change my mind in a blink of an eye. First
thing he did was calling me as soon as he got the news. That made me feels valued
and important. He then asked me questions and allowed me to speak. He again
asked me what I wanted to do next and what can he do to help. This is a perfect
example of how communication should be. I felt confortable sharing with him how I
felt and even how imagine the future of the restaurants. On his side, he complained
about his partner and promised me that he will take care of him. He used two of the
most powerful principles of persuasion to assure that I will stay within the
company:
-The authority principle, as he was a successful self made man, he assured me
that these were mandatory situations that each worker should go through and that
this will be a lesson to remember for me.
-The scarcity principle by reminding me that I was the only one considered
for a manager position to both restaurants and that if I keep working with the same
tenacity and creativity, the position would be mine. In almost four years of
existence, the restaurants never had an appointed manager as both owners were
playing that role, mostly Alban.

Before hanging up, he played his last card to be certain to keep me, the money
incentive. Knowing that I just hired a lawyer for my immigration papers, he offered
to keep my salary and my tips and added 4% of the daily turnover. That was exactly
the number I had in mind. And so, I returned to work.
Alban and Ago:
My last year as a manager went smoothly. I kept shifts as a waiter in both
restaurants in order to keep a close eye on operations. The tight relationships that I
have built during the first year made my work easy as the majority of the staff
respected me and listened to me. Even Thomas seemed to have put away our early
disagreement and moved on to a neutral relation. This being said, Alban, whom I
saw as the perfect boss, started acting more and more like Ago. His presence was
decreasing, coming only during busy nights and giving orders and critics to almost
everyone including myself, in front of customers. However, what is called Halo effect
blinded me from seeing things the way they truly were and almost systematically
found excuses to Albans behavior. With Ago on the other hand, what OB theories
name as confirmatory bias played a significant role in keeping a cold relation
between us. Even when he tried to get closer or to play his role of boss, I only saw
moves that confirmed to me his incompetence. This was the primary effect that was
almost impossible to overcome.
This shaky equilibrium was promised to crack one day and it did. Almost two years
after my first delivery, the two owners called me to go have diner in a fancy
restaurant. Appetizers were not finished when I stood up and never saw them again.
They announced me that they were selling the small restaurant that I managed to
grow turnover from $1200 to $2400 in around year and that the lasting restaurant
will become part of a famous chain that only hires Japanese girls. I asked twice if
they were serious and twice they answered that they did. So I left.
Marouen: (this is to conclude)
This part of the report will show that in each one of the situations, a simple and
quick change in my behavior could have lead to completely different situation.
Starting from Thomas, his violent reaction can be explained by the fact that I
threatened his job. If I have been more careful and relied on communication skills
that I learned for this course, I would have certainly managed to make him an ally.
With Ago, I am still convinced that the majority of change should come from his side.
However, I now see that I should have been insisting on his presence, that I should
have asked him more feedback about my work, that I should have alarmed with the
low numbers when I took over the restaurant.
My mistake with Alban was the contrary of the one with his partner: I saw him as
perfect and I never questioned his actions ever since.