A supervisor at Denny’s in Penticton is receiving accolades for running the restaurant so smoothly while in the midst of a labour shortage.
Image Credit: Sandman Hotel Penticton
October 31, 2021 - 7:46 AM
A supervisor at Denny’s in Penticton is receiving accolades for running the restaurant smoothly while in the midst of a labour shortage.
“I’ve been there lots of times before and he is phenomenal,” Meghan Harms said of Denny’s supervisor Deepinder Singh.
Earlier this week, Harms was particularly impressed by his performance. She said beyond filling multiple positions – host, busser and server – he was responsible for half the tables in the restaurant, but made time to engaged with guests, and still went above and beyond for her children.
At one point her son made a comment at the table about wanting more grapes.
“We didn’t even ask, he must have overheard it and then brought my son extra grapes. He could have completely ignored it but he obviously cares so much about peoples’ experience there," Harms said.
It was her youngest daughter’s birthday and she was treated to more than just a free Grand Slam.
“He gave her a stuffed animal and she felt very special,” Harms said. “I’m not sure if he got it out of the claw machine or where, but she was exceptionally thankful.”
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Harms worked in hospitality years ago and her older daughter, who also worked at Denny’s, currently works as a server at Boston Pizza.
“We were wondering, ‘How is he doing this?’ I've never seen somebody be able to serve that volume while filling multiple positions," she said.
After having such a pleasant experience, Harms complimented Singh on the Penticton Facebook page.
“So just a huge rave to Mr. Singh, and all of our workers in hospitality that are doing so much short handed. We appreciate you!” reads the post, which received nearly 1,000 positive responses.
“Everybody clearly loves this guy,” she said. “It’ not like he was just having a good day – this is someone who’s like that every day.”
The public filled the comment section with dozens more compliments that shared a common theme, describing Singh as an exceptional server who’s great with children.
“Deepinder (Singh)’s customer service skills are incredible,” Denny’s general manager James Hunter said about his supervisor. “He is so interactive and ensures guest gets really good service.”
Hunter is impressed by the quality of his staff but he struggles with the quantity. Currently, the restaurant is not operating at full capacity with some tables closed, and it hasn’t been able to offer 24-hour service since March 2020, when it was first shut down due to COVID and public health orders.
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Higher starting wages are being offered, Hunter said, and as part of a corporate chain Denny’s is able to offer competitive benefits. But attracting new staff has not been easy. He said there was one day when he scheduled 15 interviews and not one candidate showed up.
“That’s how brutal it’s been. Instead of being able to help staff, I’m waiting for people to show up.”
He suspects government assistance programs like the Canadian Emergency Response Benefit or CERB and the subsequent Canada Recovery Benefit added to the challenge of finding workers. CERB ended in October 2020 and the Canada Recovery Benefit came to an end last week on Oct. 23.
Since then, Hunter has had two out of four applicants show up for their interview.
“It’s sad that that’s progress," he said.
With concert announcements returning, Hunter is hoping to return the restaurant to 24 hours soon, but said he is getting nervous that he won’t have enough staff.
Despite the staffing issues, he said there is still capacity for every guests and nobody has been turned away at the door.
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