Office Hours: Firing Isn’t Failure; It’s Maintenance

I’m Josh Kopel, a Michelin-awarded restaurateur and the creator of the Restaurant Scaling System. I’ve spent decades in the industry, building, scaling, and coaching restaurants to become more profitable and sustainable. On this show, I cut through the noise to give you real, actionable strategies that help independent restaurant owners run smarter, more successful businesses.

In this episode, I dig into one of the toughest parts of leadership: firing. I explain why it isn’t a failure but a form of maintenance that protects your team, culture, and long-term success. You’ll learn how to identify performance issues early, make fair and informed decisions, and create a system that supports accountability without losing empathy.
 
Takeaways

• Firing should be seen as maintenance, not failure.
• Keeping mediocre managers can be more costly than firing them.
• Performance management is about diagnosing issues before dismissing employees.
• Not every performance problem is a people problem; sometimes it's about systems.
• Clarity, capability, and care are key factors in employee performance.
• Firing protects standards and culture, not just punishes individuals.
• Every firing should lead to a review and improvement of systems.
• Documenting what broke helps prevent future issues.
• Refining roles is more important than simply refilling them.
• Share insights about firing practices to help others in similar situations.

Chapters

00:00 Introduction to Restaurant Success Strategies

01:02 Understanding Employee Performance Management

05:44 Implementing Effective Firing Practices

If you’ve got a marketing or profitability related question for me, email me directly at [e-mail] and include Office Hours in the subject line. If you'd like to scale the profitability of your restaurant in only 5 days, sign up for our FREE 5 Day Restaurant Profitability Challenge by visiting https://joshkopel.com.