Tuesday, October 27, 2015

To Tip or Not to Tip, That is the (HR Policy) Question

I often think that us Americans know how to take a good thing and push it too far (e.g., youth sports, St Patrick’s Day, the size of burritos). Maybe tipping is next? Just as tipping seems to be expanding, a leading New York City restauranteur has announced an end to tipping in his restaurants. Why? With larger tips being given to servers and front-of-the-house workers but not shared with cooks, dishwashers, and other back-of-the-house workers, income differentials have widened. Ending tipping and raising menu prices is seen as a way to raise the pay of the back-of-the-house workers.

From an academic perspective, this could be seen as a contest of economic versus psychological approaches to human resources (HR). A system of tipping is consistent with an economics mindset—that is, the prospect of receiving a larger tip is believed to provide an incentive for providing better service to the customer. This is because economics assumes that workers are motivated by money, and need money to be motivated. As with many incentives, there can be additional effects. Some servers might expect that certain customers will be stingy tippers (like economists at a conference!), and provide weaker service from the start. And the prospect of tips provides an incentive for servers to turn over tables, which can also be good for the business but not necessarily for the diners. And if tipping prevents higher wages for back-of-the-house staff, then this makes those jobs less attractive, which can be a challenge for restaurants (to be frank, it’s not clear to me why tipping prevents raising back-of-the-house pay, but that’s the story the restaurant industry seems to believe, or wants us to believe).

Economic theory predicts that replacing tips with a higher charge that can be distributed to all employees will weaken these incentives and reduce customer service. From a different perspective, however, this shift is seen as creating greater levels of workplace fairness. Consistent with simple psychological theorizing (which is also taking hold in behavioral economics), greater levels of fairness should promote cooperation among employees. A manager at a Twin Cities restaurant with a no-tipping policy was quoted in the paper as saying “Without that giant pay disparity, the front-of-the-house/back-of-the-house dynamic is definitely different here” (StarTribune, October 22, 2015) And if employees are motivated intrinsically and value fairness, then customer service shouldn’t suffer. Tipped workers also bear the psychological burden of variability and unpredictability (e.g., some shifts are slower, and thus tips lower, than others) so eliminating tips can have other benefits for workers which can, in turn, benefit customers.

As an aside, traditional economic theory also suggests that pooling tips to share and replacing tips with higher menu prices distributed to all workers are essentially the same, and incentives will be weakened in either case. But psychological and behavioral economics thinking suggests that these are not the same if there is a psychological process involved with a server earning the tip and then being forced to share it. So there are many layers to this issue.

So what will happen in practice? Time will tell, and the responses and outcomes will probably vary—after all, workers are heterogeneous and bring different values, goals, and outlooks to their work. But I think this is a good example of the issues that HR professionals need to wrestle with, and it illustrates how critically important it is for HR professionals to have a deep understanding of the complex drivers of human behavior. It should also serve (no pun intended) as a reminder that managing people is not just about leadership (which is all the rage these days), but is also about wise policy design and implementation. Bon appétit!  

198 comments:

  1. It's really a good thing,..
    Thanks for the share about Tip,
    "Online Tipping Service"

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  2. I worked as a waitress during my time at university to make some extra money for living ... And I can tell you I was glad about the tips because the money I got paid was not very much. But as this happened some time ago I'm not sure how the situation has changed in the meantime. Nowadays I would try crowdworking I think because I would be much more independent with this kind of work ...

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    1. Most times, customers tip their favourite waiters or waitress. Sometimes, servers are nice and friendly, not just for the money, but because it is their nature to be so. And customers end up rewarding them to show appreciation. I don't think such tips should've cut or shared with the workers at the back. Some waiters can be so rude and they deserve no tip.

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    2. i disagree with you with out the back of the house staff any water will have nothing to give to the customers therefore, i belive the tips should be shared and in the end every one after this tips will relize the important of provide excellent service to increase thier earning, by doing that every one will benfit the resturant, the staff and the customers.

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    3. Most of the time people who have an opinion about tipping have never work in a restaurant. Most of the times, if no all the time, servers get pay $2 to $5 per hour, while the back of the house staff get pay at least the minimum wage, when you put together the tips from the day, you make almost maybe a little more than them. Servers in my restaurant have to do the drinks, tip the busser and the runner, so a big part of my money was gone. The restaurant that I used to work was under staff all the time and it was a two floor restaurant. However, I always treated people with respect no matter that situation. Just next time I see you coming and you did not tip I will not put too much attention to you.

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  3. I think Professor Budd pretty much sums it up at the end of paragraph two:

    "to be frank, it’s not clear to me why tipping prevents raising back-of-the-house pay, but that’s the story the restaurant industry seems to believe, or wants us to believe."

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    1. Exactly! If the back of the house is not making a wage that is sustainable, why take the waiters tips to augment the cooks salaries? Why doesn't the restaurant management raise their rate? Having been a server, I would never work in a house that does this practice.

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    2. I believe I saw the same interview with the NYC restauranteur and I think what he was saying is that everyone's base pay would raise. When I was server, the base pay was small (under minimum wage) and you needed the tips not just to make extra, but to at least get your pay to a minimum wage. I also think there was an assumption that customers would enjoy their experience more knowing that what they were paying was completely covered and wouldn't mind paying higher menu prices because they wouldn't have to tip.

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    3. I agree 100%. They are choosing to not invest in a solution but to recreate the culture where the only ones who have skin in the game are the workers.

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  4. It's a very interesting topic. In the past I worked for a time as a waiter. I was in different restaurants and had the opportunity to learn about different policies on tips. In one, the tip was charged in the account and the customer could choose to pay or not. At the end of the week, the tip was distributed, according to the position and time intensity of each worker. The vast majority warmly welcomed policy.

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    1. The case note you mentioned here is very interesting. I think it is better that customers were given the choice to choose between tipping or not tipping and also that the restaurant management is made aware of how much tip is given (though I don't know how the information about the amount tipped gets to the management. I guess the customers fill in that information somewhere). This way, the tips are collectively distributed among both the back-of-house workers and Front-of-house workers. And since it was a longstanding policy of the restaurant the workers welcomed it. If you look at it the other way too, the restaurant does not increase the cost of their service and gets to keep their customers feeling satisfied. Good one.

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  5. I lived in Japan for three years during my time in the Navy. In the first week of arriving into the country I was given many different briefings about living in Japan. One of the interesting points was that there was no tipping in the culture. The workers there considered it insulting to tip, and it was a way for the patron to tell the worker that they don't make enough money, and they are not good enough to get a good enough paying job. I spoke with a few of the Japanese nationals about this and they all were consistent in saying that there was an expectation of work first, even before the idea of pay or wages. They were proud of their work and found it to be a civil duty and a matter or personal pride in doing a job well. Working harder to get a tip was "foreign" to them. They believe it's a duty to work hard period.

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    1. Great culture! Looking forward to experience it this Sep on my trip there.

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    2. I think that is a great idea! We could learn something from their concept of tipping.

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    3. really lovely culture...other country should learn from this.

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    4. I like that culture. Its good

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    5. this culture should be inculcated in every citizen of every country

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    6. It is the same in China: there is no tipping culture and the waiters receive reasonable and predictable salary upon employment. This provides stability for the employees.
      There are other rewarding systems to acknowledge employees who do an outstanding job, which may be in the form of salary increase, end-of-year bonus, promotion opportunities, or social rewards.
      From my observation, tipping culture treats employees as disposable commodity and transfers employers' responsibilities to the customer.
      It is an outdated and inhuman practice.

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    7. i have gain a lot idea in this course

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    8. Tipping is not a culture in Malaysia either. Though there are some industries practicing it. Without tips, the workers are still of various behaviors, some are nice & pleasant, some are rude and just couldn't care less. This is just human behavior.

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  6. I have experienced several times that culture of tipping can actually ruin the experience of dining in a restaurant where the waiter pester for tips regardless of the services rendered.

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    1. this is so true.to the point where the waiter wants to serve certain customer.

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  7. Well, it can become annoying at times. I personally don't like when a waitress/waiter hang around myself while having my meal. But the culture is that they do so expectantly and if we don't tip , it is almost a crime. For the back & front staff problem the solution might be placing a collection box or something and distribute it at the end of the week.

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  8. When the waitress smiled in front of the rich man, he asked her why you are smiling ? To this, she replied - you tipped me 5 dollars whereas your daughter tipped 300 dollars. The rich man replied that she is the daughter of rich man and I am the son of a carpenter. Now the thing is, if there is so much variation in tipping, then certainly the back office staff would like to share. To overcome this problem, a certain amount needs to be fixed by the HR for waiter / waitress. In case the amount of tip is in excess, this should be kept in reserve. On the other hand if less, then they are to be compensated from this reserved amount. Though I do not support Tip, but definitely, sometimes the customers feel ashamed / shy when they do not have sufficient amount in their pocket to tip whereas others are tipping.

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  9. Very good reflection about policy of tip in a workplace like restaurant. This article gives us the right example of strategic HR management that tend to satisfy the work force.

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    1. why again from the customer ,once the service is paid the job of the customer gets over its the duty or humanitarian of the boss to raise the pay of the workers or sales persons or the person who works for the customers on behalf of the company ,need not ask for it nor expect any thing much beyond it from the customers.Its ridiculous.

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  10. The NPR Radio show This American Life did an experiment on what servers get the better tips - and it's not necessarily what you'd think!

    You can listen to the story here: http://www.thisamericanlife.org/radio-archives/episode/245/allure-of-the-mean-friend?act=2

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  11. Interesting story! In korea there is no tip culture. The price on the menu contains taxes and tips. So I think... For me this system is better for both workers and customers. Works feel fare and customers just can pay the price on the menu no extra tips.

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  12. I think the tips offset that fact that waiters and waitresses do not get paid as much as a cook. What I do not agree with is forced gratuity charged for large group. This force me to break up my family member on separate table when we go out. Additionally, I do not like the suggested tip when tipping is not an obligation.

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  13. I think in that case the industry will lose prospective employee who have the natural talent of service. Waiters are sales people and no tipping will drive them to other commission based paying jobs. Restaurants will lose the extra effort of their servers.

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  14. Such a great point to emphasize that a vast majority of people are motivated by money, and money when taken away (such as tips), can lead to shirking, lack of interest and a curse, once the motivation is taken away and the new motivation becomes working for a living.

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  15. I believe that servers earn their tips with outstanding smiles and service and turn a meal into a true dining experience. For this i believe they deserve to be intrinsically motivated and rewarded.

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  16. I have read a similar article about this happening in New York where restaurant owners actually find it difficult to find quality cooks even though many are graduating from cook schools. Supposedly many cooks are deciding to work in the front half of the restaurant so they can make more money due to this wage difference issue discussed in the article.

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  17. Thanks Prof for this topical issue of tip or not to tip. I personally do not like the word tipping or to tip workers as it encourages eye service and pretences. I like people to first do their work pleasantly and promote the organisation or restaurant as a place to get good service with good food.
    Then more people will patronise the restaurant and make enough money to pay all the workers well and give incentives.
    If only the front office workers get all the tips and the back office workers do not, then the back office workers may not deliver quality cooking that can entice the customers, therefore nobody gets tipping for just serving, while others do the hard work at the back.

    So tipping should be discouraged. Regina Ujomu.

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  18. Thanks Prof for this topical issue of tip or not to tip. I personally do not like the word tipping or to tip workers as it encourages eye service and pretences. I like people to first do their work pleasantly and promote the organisation or restaurant as a place to get good service with good food.
    Then more people will patronise the restaurant and make enough money to pay all the workers well and give incentives.
    If only the front office workers get all the tips and the back office workers do not, then the back office workers may not deliver quality cooking that can entice the customers, therefore nobody gets tipping for just serving, while others do the hard work at the back.

    So tipping should be discouraged. Regina Ujomu

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  19. Typically, servers only make around $2.13 an hour so they depend on these tips to make a decent living wage. The Back-of-House staff generally make minimum wage or higher, so in theory, they're already being paid a fair living wage. Getting rid of the tipping system would guarantee that a server working an 8 hours shift actually gets paid a fair amount of money instead of it being a gamble. Maybe restaurant owners can offer servers a commission based off of their sales.

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    1. That is absolutely crazy! In BC (Canada) Part 4 of the Regulation sets out the minimum hourly and daily wages wherein the general minimum wage rate in British Columbia is set at $10.85 and Liquor servers are subject to a special minimum wage that is set at a lower rate of $9.60

      We still tip if we feel like it, but it's unlikely anyone will starve if they don't get a tip.

      People would be better off on welfare than on $2/hr with the hope of getting tips.

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  20. When I was in Europe for a summer, tipping is not encouraged. In fact, I noticed that services was better. For me, service includes not feeling rushed by a restaruant. When waitresses rely on tips, they will want to rush patrons out in order to serve more tables, thus earning more tips. This is bad service in my eyes.

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  21. Appreciate this thought from a long ago.
    one study based on Indian Coffee House in India since 1936, once you go through their system of tipping and even other HR policies which yet not get changed, are based on equal tipping at the end of the day and not only the condition on present but on absent or leave days too. because they believe on the total Team Work and unity.
    I request or if you wish too please have a look on the story of Indian Coffee House.
    Thank you for reading my comment

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  22. I thought this last phrase was particularly enlightening for me: "managing people is not just about leadership (which is all the rage these days), but is also about wise policy design and implementation". HR management is a definitely my weak point as a Manager. To correct this, my HR department sent me for training in leadership skill. I thought that would help and that I was then equipped. However, issues with HR management came back in my managerial life, for this reason I am now taking this course. Nothing of what you teach here has been even alluded to during my past training courses. Also, one of the assignment I evaluated today as part of the peer review process identified "strategic leadership" as the managerial style to adopt in their particular case (I did flag that). So, I now have some understanding of the difference between HR management and leadership. Thanks for pointing this out, perhaps the topic would deserve an article per se?

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    1. Thanks for your nice comment, and for the good idea about a future blog post.

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  23. I like the article and the varied perspective of tip and no tip. I was amazed to read that how much the policies, efforts of HR can effect the organizations, and the individual. I usually tip higher to the server who took the order for the custom made dish, whereas the part of the tip is not shared to the chef who actually cooked it. Indeed, HR can help teams, organizations to be little more fair and rewarding, if planned and implemented carefully - wisely.

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  24. This is a great discussion on the topic of Tipping. As a previous server current restaurant manager I see this first hand. I feel the hiring process has to be completely different without tips due to the internal drivers of each person. Also balancing a labor cost to the amount of increase to the menu without losing customers in some markets would be tricky. The only reason you can have 15 people on a shift and make labor is because 8 of them are making $3.00. Ultimately I do not like tipping as it has never felt fair and as you stated it should not prevent the store from paying the back of the house more.

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  25. Ahh tipping is always a problem when one pays the bill. I really like the idea of not tipping and raising the price to be fair to all employees

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  26. It's always hard on the payer, but if its the income for the server that's not fair.

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  27. I feel like no tipping can cause poor attitudes in the work place also it opens other avenues to replace the tip but adding reasonable gratuity can solve the problem with front of house/back of house issues along with tip percentage for ticketed tips.

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  28. I think the best solution,such as in some countries, it is better for the employer to make one place for tips to be allocated at the end of day fairly.

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  29. It's very impressibe article for HR.

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  30. This is a very good discussion on a number of pressing needs in depth talk often

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  31. This is an interesting discussion. Tipping in my country (Nigeria) is quite rare. I haven't been approached to tip at restaurants. None I could think of. You can decide to leave the change with the waitress, but not tipping. Unless in classy restaurants, but I have never heard of it though. However, I could remember tipping at an Italian restaurant in the UK while I was studying there some years back. I love the fact that Professor John noted that "it's important for HR Professionals to have a deep understanding of the complex drivers of human behaviour". In addition to "knowing that managing people is not just about leadership, but about wise policy designs and implementation". Thank you for this Professor! Good work!.

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  32. of course managing people is very difficult it need a wise strategy.

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  33. This was an awesome article. I enjoyed reading everyone's comments.

    I do believe that fairness is what we should aim for.

    Great take on the economics and psychological perspectives and highlighting the differences.

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  34. this course of management is so interesting i see no difficult on the course.

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  35. Thank you for this article. It is a clear example of complexity of workers and HR and manager's role are.

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  36. It is such a good insight. I have never thought that giving tips might lead to unmotivated staff who work in the kitchen.

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  37. I worked as HR at a Services Company, and the tip was paid to all employees. We made a point distribution, front office employees earned more points, and back office employees earned fewer points, and overall tips were distributed to everyone.

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  38. I laughed about the idea of increasing menu prices to increase back room staff wages and to ensure equity. I do not see that happening. Very insightful and interesting post.

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  39. Thank yoThanklThank lecturer I leant a lot from you and this course is surely of paramount importance to my career orientation.Its content will undoubtedly help me land my career dream. Thank you indeed.

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  40. wonderful illustration, i think this is something our restaurants face everyday. being a hotel staff i think think this illustration is quite practical and realistic.
    thanks alot sir

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  41. Wow! This was really interesting. I became excited about this idea of no tipping and simply raising menu prices because the fairness component from the back-of-the-house and the front makes sense. But then the mention of how that may weaken incentives and reduce customer service made a good point as well. But, I think in the end...the former may outweigh the latter.

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  42. It's a very interesting topic. In the past I worked for a time as a waiter. I was in different restaurants and had the opportunity to learn about different policies on tips. In one, the tip was charged in the account and the customer could choose to pay or not. At the end of the week, the tip was distributed, according to the position and time intensity of each worker. The vast majority warmly welcomed policy.

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  43. Such awesome culture i want be a part of that culture

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  44. Some waiters/waiteresses who are from low socio-economic background might give all it takes for service delivery of the company they are working for, but still being underpaid. The tips received are as a result of customer satisfaction which some might use to care for their basic needs of life and other opportunism. So, I do support tips not affecting back-of-the-house pay.

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  45. Such awesome culture i want be a part of that culture

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  46. This write up has broadened my perspectives on HR practices and how important it is and applies to everything . Even the most seminally inconsequential aspect of everyday living. Very well written indeed.

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  47. To have fairness among employees. There can be service charges collected from customer instead of tipping personally.

    The amount so collected can b distributed among the workers during the shift. So as to encourage team work coordination.

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  48. When customers tip most times it is as a result of their satisfaction with the service rendered especially by the attendant and most of them are under paid hence they look forward to those tips. Giving tips is a choice so it shouldn't be mandated by including it in the services rendered.

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  49. I believe that was fair, because the front runners were benefiting and not workers from behind. So I salute the desicion. Thanks for the article

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  50. What a great culture this is.

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  51. It's a very interesting topic.

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  52. As said, "to be frank, it’s not clear to me why tipping prevents raising back-of-the-house pay". I always thought that front of the house staff received lower wages and the tips Balanced it out. I would suspect that there are nights when it is slow and tips a rare. Back of the house staff are paid higher wages and are paid whether it is slow or not.

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  53. Such as a Very Useful topic.It is a Good think

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  54. Working as general manager I know how hard BOH works... and how waiting staff on the floor. Plus FOH has a manager on duty and senior staff who steps in to help them . Kitchen doesn't have this type of support. Also wages in UK pretty much the same for a waiter and a chef. Unless you are a higher rank in the kitchen. And we do have policy where CC tips goes 50/50 . And everyone is happy. Only cash tips waiter allowed to keep. But in the end of the day all FOH puts some money to the side and buys a round of a drinks for a BOH... everyone is happy!!!

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  55. This topic is very useful for me. thank you so much.

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  56. This content is very good . thank you so much

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  57. This content is very good . thank you so much

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  58. I appreciate the read, insightful!

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  59. Amazing!! Now,after reading this article I'm clear about the difference between HRM and leadership.Its not about leadership its about how you manage your team using effective ways.

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  60. Perfect example to let HR professionals know where to focus on, and how deep the observation should be to understand human behaviour. Amazing. Thank you so much for sharing this.

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  61. This article clearly differentiates between leadership and HRM

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  62. Awesome article. Thanks for sharing.

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  63. As Professor Budd, has stated "This is a great example of the issues that HR professionals need to wrestle with, and it illustrates how critically important it is for HR professionals to have a deep understanding of the complex drivers of human behavior. A reminder that managing people is not just about leadership but is also about wise policy design and implementation."

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  64. I have experienced several times that culture of tipping can actually ruin the experience of dining in a restaurant where the waiter pester for tips regardless of the services rendered

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  65. It's a very interesting topic. In the past I worked for a time as a waiter. I was in different restaurants and had the opportunity to learn about different policies on tips. In one, the tip was charged in the account and the customer could choose to pay or not. At the end of the week, the tip was distributed, according to the position and time intensity of each worker. The vast majority warmly welcomed policy.

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  66. Great topic, i learnt alot of new knowledge.

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    1. Thank you Professor for some great insights of this topic
      And about this tipping article I believe it's hard to change people's mindset when they are used to this tipping lifestyle
      People learn to know about this tipping.lifeatyle fro Hollywood movies so to some societies they thought this was the American culture of the rich and famous
      However it is now practices by people of hierarchy in any society just like our small communal society

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  67. I first saw tipping in American movies as the rich and famous when they dine in expensive.restaurants they trade the service provided by tipping the servers and waiters.with.good money. So to me its more like the American culture of tipping and some countries and cultures have adapted this tipping style especially rich people in my communal society are doing it aswell. So it's hard to Change the mindset of the people whom are used to that lifestyle and way of life. But thank you professor for the great insights of knowledge in human resource behaviour.

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  68. Very insightful. Thank you. when i was working as a banker, a lot of customers give tips but i always share with other staff because some of the staff do not have the opportunity to get such extra.

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  69. I personally feel tipping is not good. Instead there should be a collection box .. where you can tip by your choice and convenience. Which is further distributed depending up on their efforts.

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  70. I believe that stopping tips to increase menu prices is not the best decision because tips enhance customer service which can bring, retain and maintain more customers and therefore increase revenues in businesses so they can still increase payment for back of the house employees .Increased menu prices and reduced customer service (due to lack of financial incentives or tips) might even decrease the number of customer coming to restaurants and this might not be a good thing if the manager is looking to increase worker salaries.

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  71. Tips are very helpful .Speaking from experience as a former waitress, where the salary is not enough or does not cover everything that needs to be covered and because of that I m always willing to tip as much as I can in every restaurantI go to .

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  72. Such great points. Very informative and insightful.

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  73. Excellent observation and analysis can be seen in this article. I would say it has clearly defined what exactly the role of leadership and what drives the factors truly that is effective policy and system development under HR activities.

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  74. Of course tips are other forms of motivation

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  75. Nice blog on tipping in organisations

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  76. This article really motivates me..
    Nice Tips thank you

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  77. This is extra informative for me. Thank you for disert the different views on Tips.

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  78. Really good. thankyou sir

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  79. This has really added to my knowledge as regards tipping,I will say that tipping is not actually necessary if the salaries of the employees is encouraging.

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  80. Thank you sir, this is quite informative.

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  81. Very enlightening. In as much as we seek to achieve fairness. Frontline workers contribute enormously in customer engagement. So tipping can be a source of motivation when it's not abused

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  82. Tips should not be stopped instead must be shared equally by the shift which will also benefit those in the kitchen

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  83. Nice write up. Good tips (No pun intended).

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  84. This blog entry is particularly interesting in hindsight. The NYC restaurant group that the original article being referenced talked about has since reverted back to a traditional tipping module. They lost the majority of their front of house staff at the onset of this pay module and in the end it was seen as a huge disaster.
    And to your point regarding BOH; they should absolutely see their wages increased. It would behove successful restaurants to reward their BOH for pumping out the food that brings people through the door.

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    1. Thank you for the follow up. I wanted to know if anyone checked back with the said restaurant to see if the morale of the staff changed. It should be the responsibility of the owner to increase the back of the house and maintain the front of the house as is. Did anyone ask the staff their opinion?

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  85. the article is very nice

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  86. Apparently I will like individual HR Manager to decide which way, whether to tip or not to tip.
    Thank you.

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  87. I never understood the dynamics for not tipping and price increases, Thank you for the awareness

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  88. Very interesting topic and important article.

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  89. This article portrait the relationship between HR and leadership

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  90. This is very interesting and i like the culture.

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  91. Very wonderful topic and article. Thank you Author.

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  92. This is very wonderful topic and Article. Big congz to the Author.

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  93. An insightful and informative piece. what an interesting course.

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  94. Thanks a lot for this nice article, I totally agree that a wise policy design and implementation can change and become a good strategy in HR management

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  95. Thanks a lot for this nice article, I totally agree that a wise policy design and implementation can change and become a good strategy in HR management

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  96. Very interesting article and its really true

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  97. I feel like customers tip depending on the service offered and the relationship between the customer and the person providing the service. I could be served by 2 different people but I choose to tip one and it all depends on how we sort of got along with each other I guess.

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  98. It's really a good thing,..
    Thanks for the share about Tip

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  99. As explained in the modules, workers differ, so this view on tipping cannot be generalised. Moreover it's still comes to the fact that HR personnel need to find what exactly work for and motivates workers. Thanks for sharing

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  100. I think that is a great idea! We could learn something from their concept of tipps

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  101. Thank you for the article. I think tipping culture is mostly a western culture made famous by Hollywood movies and now prevalent worldwide. Mainly in Asian culture there was no tipping and specially in Indian culture "Attithi Devo Bhava"
    customers/guests are considered as God.

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  102. I think in fairness, the restaurant shouldnt have cancelled tipping because those set of workers are used to it and that has been spurring to work better. in other words some customers may not stop tipping as they appreciate with money whatever little help is rendered to them.Infact tipping should increase the sales in the restaurant as a happy worker is able to draw more customers.

    What i think those front workers should do is to share their tipps with those workers behind the scene. Tohis should be done in all honesty

    Another thing again is to run a kind of exchange of duty whereby the front line workers will also go and take the place of those behind and scene and vice versa. A schedule or time table should with drawn to this respect.

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  103. It is very interesting.it is a good strategyI like it

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  104. I think it is a choice to remove an unrelated issue. It seems that the restaurant/ hospitality industry would rather demonise waitrons for earning tips and blaming them for the disparity and wage gaps, rather than accept smaller profits or address the underlining issues. Restaurants should increase menu prices and overall wages without removing tipping, surely the logic applies, with higher food prices the tips might decrease but overall the staff has had an increase in wages?

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  105. I think the tip should stop. The reason being that, TIP is a form of bribery and can influence a waiter or waitress in his or her line of duties and moreover, bribery is a sin, so if it is share with the other colleagues, they will have participated in sinning.

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  106. I find this article confusing, because what I know is that the people in front of the restaurants, share the tip amog all the employees; because for example, the cooker does not interact with the clients, but if he/she make a poor job making the food, the waitress will not receive a tip.

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  107. For this to work, it requires a societal shift in our views. Unfortunately, this policy failed were it was implemented both due to consumer views and the inability to compete with competitors. I was surprised by this.

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  108. In fact coursera you are great am really enjoying my studies with new ideas on culture.💯🙏

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  109. From my stand point of view, this could be seen as a contest of economic versus psychological approaches to human resources (HR), tipping is consistent with an economics mindset it is very good that while service, worker should be provided with compensation, to show gratitude and motivation all those who involve in such work. Giving tip to working is a good idea and show sing of humanity.

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  110. I like the line that says ' it's not just leadership, it also involves wise policy design and implementation'. Thanks for this.

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  111. I think the Tip is not the issue here, rather the customer relationship of the staff that receive the tips. If you try to rotate the staff, you may be surprise that if the staff in the front office role is not customer friendly, he/she may not receive any tip. So, the tip is an expression of the staff excellent service delivery and should be appreciated not deprived of him/her.

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  112. So true .. this course of HRM is so interesting and I learnt so many things..

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  113. thanks for sharing , it is all about deeper understanding on how you can manage, retain, recruit and motivate employees extinsically and intrinsically

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  114. I enjoyed reading this article because I was able to relate it to a real-life situation.

    Thank you

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  115. easy to comprehend and quite inviting a write up

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  116. for me is really interesting how the tipping has everything to do with the culture as a south american living in USA is hard to believe that the way that people treat me as a costumer has to do with the tip and not just the sense of do a good job.

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  117. I really enjoy this article as it contains informative contents

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  118. Tips is a very good incentive for workers to get motivated to come to work especially if you don't like the job. Sometimes you're just working at a restaurant to pay for your education so the tips will definitely keep you going

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  119. Tips are a good way to motivate waiters, because most times the pay waiters get does not cover all their personal expenses. so i believe the extra cash goes a long way to help.

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  120. Thank you for all the valuable ideas and information you provided, which gave me an added value and made me put my feet on the first step on the path to overwhelming success.

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  121. Tips is very good beause it up lift mood and encourages most times.

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  122. Very interesting. I know someone who used to tip eqaually the cooks and back-of-the-house workers out of concern for fairness.

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  123. This is a very good discussion

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  124. Tipping is rooted in the American culture to the point that there is a lower minimum wage for occupations where you are expected to receive a tip. To eliminate tipping as a necessity, this needs to be changed first.

    In my country, tipping is seen as a reward for good service and thus it is not mandatory. When servers are not tipped it is not seen as rude and we do not have rules about 20% of the bill or whatever is seen as the social norm in the US nowadays. The prices in restaurants are set so they cover the wages of the employees and the tips are a little extra. It is common for a tip to be something around 1 or 2 dollars (cost of one beer).

    In Japan it is rude to tip. The waiters will actually follow you outside of the restaurant to return the tip to you.

    From the customer point of view no tips is a fair approach. You pay the price in the menu and that's it. From the point of the employee, you are aware how much you are paid and there are no variables. Yes, the motivation to provide excellent service might come down, but the psychological effect of being paid fairly can compensate for that.

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  125. Tipping absolutely good to motivate workers; if it's apply in a fairness way by given to both front-of the house and back-of the house workers to share.

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  126. Great article! ... One recommendation for the restaurateur is to reconsider eliminating tipping, as this could potentially lead to an increase in menu prices. Such an increase might make customers feel uncomfortable and ultimately lead to a decrease in the number of customers. Alternatively, a suggested approach is to collect the tipping amount and distribute it equally among all workers, including both front-of-the-house and back-of-the-house staff.

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  127. Thank you so much it will be extremely benificial for me.

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