QUALITALY

OCT. NOV. 2017

23% of the ‘leading’ family companies

are more than 70 years old, and over

the next five years one in five foresees

a shift to the next generation.

High turnover and creativity in the

kitchen

But what are the specificities of

the catering sector? “In catering,

the generational handover is faster

because there are elements of physical

fatigue that do not allow to protract

work until late age - says Federica

Montagui, senior researcher of CISET,

International Center of Studies on

Tourism Economy, which some years

ago carried out research on the topic.”

If the problem is national, and it is

the subject of courses, conventions

and seminars, the catering company

is little considered “also because the

opening and closure rate in this sector

is very high: many restaurants close,

or re-open with a different name.”

“There are no manuals, I had to invent

everything by myself, taking from

elsewhere - says Stefania Moroni,” a

daughter employed in the two-star Il

Luogo of Aimo and Nadia (see box)

- catering is an increasingly complex

world and needs culture, preparation

and broad horizons.”

The difficulties, to sum up, are

many. Compared to manufacturing

companies, where often the owner has

managerial skills that are more easily

replaceable, in catering companies the

owner often brings together creative,

managerial and relational skills. This

is not something the children always

possess. “In this case you have to be

aware of your own limits and decide

to give another type of contribution.

But within a family it is not always

easy to be honest with oneself, and

relationships are sometimes complex,”

says Stefania Moroni.

PROBLEMS...

When a child decides to enter the

family restaurant, the problem that

arises is to keep its tradition and high

regard, raising the level of marketing

but also re-do the menu with new

proposals that meet, as well as the

taste of customers and l’esprit du

temps, also the production efficiency.

“The problems that emerged in our

research concerned the bureaucratic

aspects and the normative

changes, the demands of greater

professionalism, the relationship

with the non-family chef, with the

questioning of the role of leadership

of the new generation, and the issue

of new technologies, in particular

with regard to reservation systems,”

explains Montaguti.

AND SOLUTIONS

The first advice is therefore to provide

for a specific training of successors,

with managerial courses and a period

of work outside the family business,

even abroad.

“We have seen that in these cases the

children had less difficulty in managing

the historical staff, having acquired

skills that allow the avoidance of

protracting behaviour and solutions

typical of the family enterprise.” It is

also useful to reduce the period of

support for generations as much as

possible by setting a precise date for

the handover of responsibility. “The

typical situation in the restaurants

is that of two children, one in the

kitchen the other in the restaurant,

with the senior who maintains a role

of coordination, remaining the heart

of decision-making of the company”

says Montaguti. Because a specifically

Italian problem is this; the confusion

between family and company, with

undefined roles and interference

between the two spheres.

THE WORLD CHANGES

Of course it is that the world in a

generation has changed a lot. Inside

and outside the restaurant. In the last

decade the level of professionalism and

complexity of the sector has increased,

but also the competition. And the

“seniors” don’t always realise this, or

are able to adapt to the new demands