While I was in Shanghai last week, I ate at a local hotpot restaurant. The owner, who wrote a book and is quite popular, has a philosophy of hiring young people, paying for their rent, giving them three meals a day, and creating a situation where they only habe to pay for their cellphones and other personal expenses. He goes to each kid's parents and tells them how they are doing. Wow, talk about happy employees.
The deal is this, housing is very expensive here for the locals, and the parents love it when they get visited by him and hear of their kids, especially when they are doing well.
Anyway, these kids come up with ideas to improve the dining experience, this place was massive too. So, you can get your shoes shined, your feet or hands manicured, a massage. They made arm guards out of cloth for customers long sleeves. I put my cell phone down and this girl came by and put it in a little clear ziplock so it wouldn't get splashed on. I had my glasses on my head and she brought by a lens cleaning cloth in a ziplock. The waiting line is huge, and while the customers wait, they give 'em some shrimp chips to munch on. I have a feeling there are more things they do, this was just what I saw. It brings on a different meaning to, " listen to your employees" and also, "happy cooks make happy food"-------normally you get dipping sauces for your hotpot, there was a huge bar where you made your own concoction. I had four of them, and eventually meritaged 'em all. The sechuan pepper there was addictive, numbing, and can get really, really hot.