Steak n Shake Reviews

Pros

Raises, paid vacation that you can take in a check form if you want the extra money instead, health insurance, 40 hours plus overtime, you always get your hours

Cons

You don't get the days off you want. You have to work over time on your shift. If it's slow you have to leave early. Your schedule is followed loosely.There are buses that drop off a lot of customers at the last minute out of no where and they need you to work harder. They make you clock in and clock out to lunch as soon as you get there so they can send everyone home right after the rush is over

Advice to Senior Management

give your employees more breaks, give them lunches halfway through their shift instead of right when they clock in cause even though it saves you money to send everyone home early you are hurting your staff

Pros

The pay was good, higher than more restaurants for salaried managers. The staff were great people as long as they worked hard. Enjoyed talking with the regulars and seeing sales go up.

Cons

I would not recommend this place to anyone. I have worked in the restaurant business for at least 10 years now. Obviously, as the gm you have a lot of responsibilities. Not only running a shift, but in charge of all the new changes that happen more often than not, and usually the changes are old ideas that they bring back. The high unrealistic expectations they set upon you. It's one thing to expect a well ran and clean store, but another to expect perfection, no complaints, an absolutely spotless store. COme on now! We're open 24 hours a day, how do you expect not a smudge of dirt anywhere. And the fact that all of these high standards and expectations come from the top. People whom have never actually ran a store before. They see the numbers but they don't see the actual work that goes into it. I would respect them more if they have actually managed an sns and not just yell at us for not doing it right or getting it done in a timely manner. Overall, you have to kiss your personal life goodbye, not only are you working at least 60 hours in the store but a lot of time at home and a lot of useless meetings and classes. You have to work all day on Friday, Saturday and Sundays. The stress and pressures of this job is not worth any salary. Oh and the complaints that people have are absolutely absurd, we have to bend backwards for them just so they don't call in to corporate. Ridiculous.

Advice to Senior Management

Understand that each store is different. You cannot expect the same results with every store. Each one has to be tailored differently, managed differently, have different expectations.

Pros

Fun place to work
Nice co workers
The tips are fairly decent if it's busy
You don't have to share your tips

Cons

You never get out on time
Some people tip really low or don't tip at all
The food takes a while if its busy and sometimes the food dressers get things wrong
Management......
Stupid rules (Don't bring napkins unless they ask?? whatever)
Hours are not fair
If you request off, get ready to get your hours majorly cut back.

Pros

Full benefits on day 1. I got the salary I asked for. I have a 5 day work week and If I pick up any extra shifts I get paid for those days on top of my salary. Bonus is easily achievable. Im very pleased to be working there!

Cons

Insurance is ok but could be better. I have great hourly employees who have poor benefits and absolutely no raises in pay regardless of tenure.

Pros

What pros?
Some nice staff and occasionally decent fellow managers. Regulars can be fun as well to help you get threw your shift.

Cons

Hours suck, pay sucks. They talk up your pay but after the actual hours you put in for a week you are lucky if you make $4.00 an hour as a manager. $35,000 a year for a required 50 hours a week but you put in 60 + hours. Districts forget that they were once in this boat and you would think that they would have more respect. Its okay for some to break rules but not others. And we are talking BIG rules. You have to kiss their asses everyday just to get any type of respect. Oh and lets not forget NUMBERS. If any one knows there are no such things as set meal rushes. And unless you really put in alot of extra work you will never know when you are going to get hit. But the scheduling manager never seems to care about that. they only care about their own shift. Every know how to critize especially the new CEO, but can they really do what it takes to run a store themselves.

Advice to Senior Management

Walk the Walk before you Talk the Talk. Its not so easy and to give up raising your kids its not worth it.

Pros

The co-workers were usually fun and easy to get along with. And the schedule flexibility was tolerable. I even worked with a few managers who were pretty decent and easy to work with. They have the potential to be great if they could get a better CEO.

Cons

This company is an absolute atrocity. The customer base is probably the worst in the restaurant industry. No one appreciates the rudest of customers.

And then there is management. They have the company riding their tails so hard they feel the need to treat their employees like scum. Not to mention their manager turn over rate is embarrassing. In three years I worked with three different general managers and probably about 15 managers total. And most of them were awful. I couldn't believe half of them had a highschool diploma let alone a college education or equivalent work experience.

On another note their policies were outrageous and ever changing. And you had to agree to them or be terminated. For example the most recent being taking 2.5% of servers' credit card tips to pay for the companies credit card processing fees. No I'm not joking. How can you justify practically stealing from your employees? On top if that don't hope for a raise because they don't offer them. Except the three raises I got WHEN MINIMUM WAGE WENT UP. Basically you can help your store bonus for the period and earn an extra 50¢ per hour, but its based on impossible to meet standards. Or you can be promoted through the company which is a joke cause anyone there long enough to be offered a promotion knows better than to take. Sure Ill be your trainer for a quarter more an hour with tons of extra responsibilities!

My favorite part would probably be their 40% employee discount. Oh jolly! A reason to look forward to work and their disgusting food.

Advice to Senior Management

Work a day in a store and see what its like. Also you should provide employees with more incentive to work for the company.

Pros

- Some good employees and managers
- Decent quality food for a reasonable price

Cons

Ridiculous amount of paperwork, long hours with little to no respect from the incompetent upper management team,
Customer satisfaction system where you're guilty until proven innocent, the most insane management style I have seen in over 20 years of restaurant management experience
Bonus system targets are almost impossible to reach, high turnover of managers (that's if they can even get managers)
Work at least 70 hours a week and management expectation is that you're available even on vacations and days off
I could go on and on, but recommend anyone considerating working at Steak N Shake to look at other alternatives unless your completely desperate

Advice to Senior Management

What a joke of management style. Only thing this management cares about is reaching their numbers so they can fill their pockets with bonuses, no respect or care for the team which makes it all possible from them to even get a bonus. Good luck to anyone even considering working at Steak N Shake as a GM.

Pros

Crew cared for each other like family
Pay was good.
Food was free for managers
Promoted very quickly into general manager position

Cons

Very intimidating style of management, job threatened dailly. Micromanagemet from top down was intense. Always find a way to cheat you out of your bonus. Changed bonus structure every six months. No support from District Managers, if you were short management expected to work extra days to cover. No balance of home life and work. 60+ hours a week expected, work every Friday and Saturday nights, work every Sunday only can be off one of these days with DM approval.

Advice to Senior Management

Let your managers due there job without telling them they are replace able. Give back to the associates the benefits that were taken away to make more money for SNS

Pros

Flexible schedule, shorter shifts with the potential to make good money (4-5 hours and depending on how busy the store is) ; Closeknit employees, many at my store had been there for 5+ years including myself.

Cons

overworked, underpaid, underappreciated. District manager is in charge of stores in his/her area. When something needs to be done, they threaten the general manager of the store to get it done or else they may be fired. In turn, the GM has a fit and unloads a shitload of paperwork, charting etc onto the trainers (hourly positions) to help when they also have their regularly assigned work to do. Worked to the bone, put in all kinds of extra hours and not really appreciated.

Pros

You can make good money as a server.

Cons

Very physically demanding.
Incompetent management.
Lack of effective training.
Employees are disrespected.

Advice to Senior Management

When problems are taken to higher ups they should be answered/responded to.