The guaranteed tip occurs when you are out dining with friends or family at a restaurant with a big group and the wait staff comes to you and says…
“Since this group is over x, we automatically apply the gratuity of x %”
I recently had this happen to me and instinctively replied – “Congratulations” – as you would to someone who had just won the lottery.
Not the best response, but the triggered response to someone getting something for not having really tried. They didn’t need to give their best service, they already knew what they were going to get based on what was ordered.
They didn’t need to give their best service, they already knew what they were going to get based on what was ordered. In short, it was no longer a nod to the work that they had done, but rather a tax on the meal we had bought.
If you know you are going to get something for doing what you are currently doing, you’re not going to put in the extra effort.
Conversely, I have dined at a number of restaurants where we’ve had the large group, but with no guaranteed tip. And those people knocked it out of the park, they wanted it, they had to work for it, they deserved it and yes, they earned it. When the tips are not guaranteed, you then start to see real ideas take shape, original thought, growth, change and the shift in culture.
Tips and all need to be earned – not given.
