If a New Hire Watched One Shift, What Would They Think You Value?

“Don’t forget, you have a new host training tonight”, the GM reminds you as you walk through the door for your noon-to-10 swing shift.

“Yeah, I’m on it.”

After working a busy lunch, you finally make it to your tiny desk, pushing aside five bottles of wine dropped off by a sales rep. You skim last night’s manager log, answer a few emails and, before you know it, your phone buzzes. Your trainee is sitting at the bar, seat 1.

“Where did the time go?”, you mutter to yourself.

You scramble, quickly find someone to give a quick tour, and piece together a plan on the fly. In that moment, you wonder when it got so complicated.

This isn’t working.

The struggle is real. We’ve all been there.

But if we don’t take control of the basics, like hiring, onboarding, and training, we will forever be playing catch-up. Reacting instead of leading. Over time, that has a cost, and our organization will never reach its full potential.

Is one rushed training shift really that big of a deal?

Absolutely. Hear me out.

Every new hire is asking a silent question: “What matters here?”

And they’re not listening to find the answer. They’re watching.

They notice how organized (or disorganized) things are, how people speak to one another, whether anyone is prepared for their arrival. Even the quality of family meal. Every interaction is information. They may not call it “culture”, but they know how it feels.

Leaders spend a lot of time debating their organization’s values, defining them for the employee manual, and sharing them at all-staff meetings.

But, if you only mention your values at all-staff meetings, you’re forgetting that culture is how we live our values every day. Culture is formed quietly, through the behaviors leaders reinforce or overlook when things get hard. Every action builds momentum. It’s a choice to set the direction of that momentum.

What’s the solution?

Try This

Pick one of your organization’s values that resonates with you, personally. Now view a specific part of your operation through the lens of that value.

Start small: the host stand, the bar, or the pre-shift huddle. Watch closely.

Where is that value obvious?

Where is it inconsistent?

Where is it missing entirely?

Then ask: What would this look like if we got it right every time?

Start there. Make one improvement, then another. Model it. Practice with your team. Talk about it in real time, not just in meetings. Because the real shift happens when the team starts to see it without you.

The process can be tedious, but it’s transformative.

Awareness turns into ownership, and ownership becomes momentum. You’ll spark a chain reaction of both awareness and improvement, and you’ll never look at your organization the same way again.

I have seen this process work beautifully in organizations of every size. It works because of small, consistent actions that align behaviors with values.

That is how culture is built. Not all at once, but every day.

So, here’s the question again:

If a new hire shadowed on shift in your business, what would they say you value?

Try it out and let me know what you discover.

Until then, make it a great shift.