Outback

outback(prenominal) Steakhouse in Knoxville, TN, who late assumed the sassy position of Joint-venture crack upner, and who pass on to daylight be handleing 12 eaterys situated between Huntington, WV, and Pittsburgh, Is profiled as part of Nations Restaurant News NOR 50 General Managers Orchestrating Success feature. throughout his days at the Knoxville property, Stanton Increased gross sales by a thumping 133% to $4. 3 million dollars. While Stanton rewards his employees financially, he also is keen on showering them with the respect they deserve.He notes that one of the closely blissful aspects of his business is to attach his lag evolve, slowly usageing their commission through the ranks of the restaurant world. Joint-venture partner raises the s prosecutes, ropes in customers, lassoes $4. 3 million in sales Since 1995 Tim Stanton has spent much of his duration at the bustling outback(prenominal) Steakhouse In Knoxville, Teen. He has watched sales grow, led a supp ly that Is alert and happy and enjoyed the unwavering leap out of his family. Now things are nigh to get even better.View motion-picture show Stanton, who recently was made Joint-venture partner, soon will over realize 12 restaurant postures as sound as four more that still are to a lower place construction. This month Stanton assumed the new position of Joint-venture partner. Instead of overseeing one outback(prenominal) in Tennessee, the 43-year-old now will watch over 12 restaurants located between Huntington, W. Va. , and Pittsburgh, as well as four that are to a lower place construction. This Is It, Stanton says. This Is my best tour of duty. All the rest were stepping stones. At Outback those with abstract responsibilities are not known as general managers. Instead, they are called managing partners and piddle partial ownership of their restaurants. As a result, managing partners have a personal stake in the success of their operations. For Stanton, who served as man aging partner of the Knoxville restaurant for nightspot years, It was that vested Interest that motivated him to generate sales aggressively. Its an ownership, Stanton says. l made a commitment to generate sales. Without sales, there are no profits.Without profits, there Is no business. Its the perfect triangle. Ten percent of the bottom line is profit. Throughout his years at the property, he increase sales by a thumping 133 percent to $4. 3 million dollars. Colleagues are in awe of the accomplishment. He took a store that was in a good place and increased sales, says Sheer Monnet, who worked alongside Stanton in Knoxville, helping to manage the front-of-the-house as well as tend bar. His bosses werent seeing those results in other stores, and so they said, peradventure you plenty show us how to do it. As a Joint-venture partner, Stanton will work hand in hand with managing partners, guiding them through functional challenges and confirming Outbacks mission fresh and alive. His new home base will be Pittsburgh, and his hours, often 70 to 75 hours weekly while he is in Knoxville, are likely to get longer. You yes-man do what you goat do, he says of his managing-partner days. If I needed to be in early, I came in early. If I needed to work late, I worked late. In Knoxville, Stanton managed a staff of 70, with more men in the kitchen and more women in the front-of-the-house.As Joint-venture partner, Stanton will oversee 840 battalion, and that number is likely to grow because building the Outback brand inside his new territory will be one of his mandates. But Joe Roberto doesnt foretell any problems. Stations supervisor for a year and a half, Roberto is a Nashville, Teen. -based Joint-venture partner who worked directly above Stanton and now shares similar responsibilities for a contrary regional market. Hes incredibly driven and originally motivated, Roberto says of Stanton. Hes detail-oriented and passionate about aliment quality. Hes demanding solely fair. View Image The in Knoxville, Teen. Has been the site of many confederation fund- raisers and has contri besidesed to such(prenominal) organizations as The Heart Association, The Lupus Foundation and bleed for the Cure. As Monnet recalls, Stanton was an inspiring boss. Hes an extreme perfectionist, she says. He sets his expectations high and knows what needs to be done. Stanton is no stranger to the restaurant industry. The Illinois native actually went to school for coal-mining technology, mistakenly thinking thats how he valued to spend for mom-and-pop establishments and fast-food chains, and decided he needed to become a part of it.To escape the cold Midwestern winters, Stanton became area manager of the Long earth-closet Silvers franchise market in the Southeast. He also worked for eighter and a half years as a Chilis general manager and attribute that company with teaching him the importance of fresh food. When he learned about the opportunities at Outback, he made the leap. Based in Tampa, Flat. , Outback now has 825 namesake steakhouses as well as several other full-service concepts. View Image Stanton says he rewards his financially and also is keen on showering them with the respect they deserve.Monnet says the incident that Stanton was such a dedicated managing partner made the Knoxville Outback touch more like a comfortable home than an impersonal and unaired business. She says Stations own family was very involved with the dynamics of the restaurant. It was not uncommon to see his wife helping out with the books. His sons and daughters also worked there at different times. L would love to Just slow my kids down from growing up, says Stanton, a self- described family man who has been married for 21 years and has four children.While Stanton rewards his employees financially, he also is keen on showering them with the respect they deserve. He notes that one of the nearly blissful aspects of his job is to watch his staff evolv e, slowly working their way through the ranks of the restaurant world. There is someone who came on instrument panel with me who went from being master of ceremonies to bartender to key employee, he notes. Someone else also came on board as a server, hen started working in the back on salads, then went on to become key employee and then manager. Some people are not focused on life yet but have that fire in them. For his employees Stanton likes to keep it simple, believing that it is the little things that keep everyone happy. Hes the kind of guy who might let someone take the day off or, for a more morale-boosting team event, rent a video theater out for a fun afternoon flick. He says the most important thing he has learned along the way is that communicating is vital. He always listens and also encourages his staff to get involved. And he does so not Just in the restaurant. An avid community leader, Stations generous philia reaches out to his own backyard.Under his leadership t he Knoxville Outback has been the site of many community fund-raisers for grade schools and churches and has contributed to such diverse causes as The Heart Association, The Lupus Foundation and Race for the Cure. Once, around Halloween, local children were encouraged to pick pumpkins, decorate them and bring them to the Knoxville Outback to display them so that customers could vote on their favorites. Despite his stellar accomplishments, Stanton maintains that he is doing nothing less Han acting upon his commitment to Outback. We have to be pull and set the bar high, he says. We have to be ready and take care of the guests as a group goal. You need great food and great people. Its a team. Some people are exceptional in themselves. Surround yourself with great people, instill pride in them and give them something they can take pride in. Sidebar Tim Stanton Outback Steakhouse Outback Steakhouse Inc. plan type casual Steakhouse Company location Tampa, Flat. Unit location 330 N. Pet ers Road, Knoxville, Teen. No. Of years with company 9 years, 6 months Age 43 Hometown Carbondale, Ill.Personal married, four children, ages 9 to 21 Most rewarding part of your Job seeing the people I work with grow with the company work with. Tip for otter general managers Surround yourself with great people. What the boss says Ive known Tim Stanton for eight years, says Ben Novel, vice president of operations for Outback Steakhouse. He Joined Outback in 1994, and since then hes been up there, winning Proprietor of the Year sextet times. During his tenure Tim became a managing partner and grew sales from $3. 2 million to $4. 3 million. Its a spectacular thing. Hes a developer of people.