The use of techniques for increasing servers' tips Andrej Raspor Ulica M. Valentincica 13, Solkan, Slovenia andrej.raspor@siol.net Abstract In a 1996 article in Cornell Hotel and Restaurant Administration Quarterly, Michael Lynn introduced the idea that restaurant managers could increase tips for there servers, and therefore reduce turnover, by training servers to engage in one or more of seven tip-enhancing behaviours. Since then, the list of tip-enhancing behaviours has expanded. We tested fourteen techniques to increase tips. The study was carried out among 294 employees or 197 waiters in the Slovenian catering industry in order to find out how they use these techniques and which methods can bring about an increase in their tips. The study showed that Slovenian waiters don't use any of these techniques, and that waiters who do use them tend to receive tips more often. The findings imply that managers and employees should be informed of these techniques in order to increase tips and their overall income. Key words: waiters, tip, tipping behaviour, catering industry Académica Turística, Year 4, No. 2, December 2011 | 101 Andrej Raspor The use of techniques for increasing servers' tips 1 Introduction The catering industry of today is facing increasingly complex challenges. Since guest perception of "quality service" is being taken more and more for granted, employee skills must evolve to reach their demands. For this reason, the managers as well as experts are trying to devise ways to persuade employees to enhance the quality of service, improve their motivation to work as well as intensify the labour output. At present, the system of remuneration is based on guaranteed salaries and regulated benefits. Due to the catering industry's work intensity, the increase of salaries and consequently labour costs is undesirable. Since the amount of their wages is not directly related to the quality of their work, employees can gradually become dissatisfied. These characteristics are not present only in the Slovenian business environment, but also in most of the developed Western countries. An innovative approach is thus needed to increase the motivation of employees without increasing labour costs or a comprehensive reform of reward systems. In our opinion, an increase in the share of tips in the income of employees is a viable method which could be realized through training of employees in techniques for increasing tips. The methods for increasing service quality are implemented differently from country to country. Consumers around the world routinely leave voluntary sums of money (tips) for workers in the service industry who have served them (Lynn, 2009). In some countries (e.g. the USA, Great Britain) the tip represents the better part of the income that workers in the catering industry earn. In the USA especially, tipping is a "significant economic activity (tips in the US food industry alone amount to about $47 billion annually) that was claimed to improve service quality and increase economic efficiency, because it gives incentives to provide excellent service and therefore avoids the costly monitoring of workers" (Azar, 2011). Paul (2001) claims that after completing their meals, 98% of Americans leave a voluntary sum of money (or tip) for the servers who waited on them. In fact, "tips often represent 100% of servers' take-home pay because taxes (in the form of withholding) eat up all of their hourly wages" (Lynn, 2005, 3). Due to the liberal ways of the collecting and sharing of tips and the wide-spread presence of the practice among various social classes the theme proved interesting for researchers. They are mainly focusing on questions on the appropriate amount of tip in various settings, how tipping affects the quality of service and the mechanisms waiters use to increase their tipping related income (Lynn, 2005). By and large, the research on tipping in Slovenia has not yet been carried out.1 One of the main questions is how wide-spread the practice really is. A survey carried out among 790 participants showed that the guests on average earmark 6.11% of the value of the receipt for the tip. Since according to the survey only 44% of guests are actually tipping, this represents 2.71% of the catering industry's gross turnover (Raspor, 2007a). The survey also yielded the following findings: in the mid-low price range restaurants, tips represent 8% of the waiters' net wage, while in more upscale restaurants tips can go up to 45% of the waiters' net wage. Thus, tips on average represent 32% of the waiters' net wage. In gross income terms, tips in mid-low range restaurants amount to 5.5% of waiters' gross wage, in upscale restaurants 30%, and on average 23% of the waiters' gross wage (Raspor, 2010). Due to the considerable amount of income generated by tipping, the importance of tipping in Slovenia is likely to grow in the future. This hypothesis is based on research which attempts to devise ways in which to improve the tourist industry's business operations. It is of great importance for the catering industry employees to know and apply methods to increase tipping. However, these methods are not easily transmitted from one socio-cultural system to another. The purpose of this paper is to first establish why tipping occurs, and then how this knowledge is applied among catering industry employees in Slovenia. 1 Andrej Raspor is in his research work interested in reasons that influence tipping, the correlation between tipping and quality of service and how tipping affects catering industry workers' flexibility and income. His work also deals with methods of teaching employees to know and apply techniques for increasing tips. Some of his recent contributions include comparison of tipping between the United States of America and Slovenia regarding legal regulation and taxing and analysis of demographic characteristics of tip givers in Slovenia. His research work is accessible (Napitnina, 2011). 66 | Académica Turística, Year 4, No. 2, December 2011 Andrej Raspor The use of techniques for increasing servers' tips 2 How employees can affect tipping behaviour - theoretical framework In the English language the most general expressions for gratuity of guests towards employees in the catering industry is "to tip (a waiter)". Also, sometimes the expression "drink money" is used (Foster, 1972; Lobb, 2001).2 At present there is no law that requires that one must tip for services rendered (Wight, 2006, 1); the decision to leave a tip is left to the discretion of the customer. If the customer is satisfied with the service, they will tip, otherwise not (Raspor, 2002a). The tip is therefore an optional part of payment for a service but is nevertheless sometimes expected by the service employees for services rendered (Wight, 2006, 1). The amount of the tip is usually calculated as a certain percentage of the value of the receipt. Raspor (2002b, 143) defined a tip as a »gift for a high standard service«. Therefore, if someone wants to receive a tip, the service has to be of a high standard. Lynn and McCall's research (2000) also found this to be true: the participants in their survey linked tipping with rewarding the service provider for a high quality service. 2.1 The techniques waiters use to influence the amount of tip There are many reasons for deciding on a certain amount of tip. Lynn (2004) collected research findings which demonstrate a positive correlation between certain behaviour on the part of service providers and the subsequent increase in the tip.3 The above table shows different techniques that researchers claim are in direct correlation with the tipping. As follows, a specific behaviour of service pro- 2 In 1972, George Foster, Professor Emeritus of Anthropology at UC Berkeley, looked at the origins of words meaning "tip" or "gratuity" in several languages. He found that, frequently, it evolved from 'drink money' -- supporting the idea that the practice began in eating establishments. Foster theorized that tipping started with a desire to avoid envy on the part of the server and to send the message that the server should have a drink at the customer's expense. 3 Research work which formed the basis of our survey is mentioned in Table 1. The various research findings are indexed by the increase of tip according to a specific technique. For a clearer overview we mention the authors of the research in the first column of Table 1, and are not mentioned later in the paper. vider can substantially increase the tip, in some cases by as much as 140%. Simultaneously, there can also be a negative correlation between the service providers' behaviour and the customers' tipping. These findings form a basis for further research and implementation in everyday business operations. Lynn (2004) in his book »Mega Tips« asserts that the above mentioned techniques will first lead to a greater customer satisfaction and only then to a higher tip. On the basis of the above-mentioned research, the author of this paper formed the following hypotheses to be tested out among employees in the Slovenian catering industry. 2.2 Why customers leave tips? The following research results showed a positive correlation between high quality service and restaurant tipping. Research findings mentioned in Parret (2003) imply that a customer is more inclined to tip because of satisfying service. First Raspor's research (2007b), carried out in Nova Gorica, Slovenia, showed the following elements of customer satisfaction to be of major importance: quality of food served (indicated by 80% of survey participants), amiability of restaurant personnel (indicated by 66% of survey participants), the atmosphere of the restaurant (indicated by 47% of survey participants), the taste of food served (indicated by 41% of survey participants), personnel professionalism (indicated by 39% of survey participants), and the price - quality ratio (indicated by 37% of survey participants). The second survey (Raspor, 2009) showed that the customers of the casinos in Nova Gorica tip because of: amiability of personnel (indicated by 71% of survey participants), professionalism of personnel (69% of survey participants), speed of service (36%), and appearance of employee (25%). 3 Methodology The aim of the study was to find out how employees in the Slovenian catering industry (especially waiters) use techniques for increasing tips and if the application of these techniques actually leads to an increase in 66 | Académica Turística, Year 4, No. 2, December 2011 Andrej Raspor The use of techniques for increasing servers' tips Table 1: Summary of experiments and quasi-experiments on restaurant tipping. Author of research Tip Enhancing Action Average Tip in the Percentage Increase in Tip Control Treatment Experimental Treatment 1 Rodrigue (1999) Call Customer by Name 14% 15% 10% 2 Rind in Bordia (1996) Writing "Thank You" on Check 16% 18% 13% 3 Stillman in Hensley (1980) Wearing a Flower in Hair $ 1.50 $ 1.75 17% 4 Rind in Strohmetz (2001a) Forecast Good Weather 19% 22% 18% 5 Strohmetz et al. (2002) Give Customer Candy Study 1 (fancy chocolates) 15% 18% 18% Study 2 (piece of candy) 19% 23% 21% 6 Lynn, Mynier (1993) Squatting Down Next to Table Waiter 15% 18% 20% Waitress 12% 15% 25% 7 Butler in Snizek (1976) Suggestive Selling $ 1.25 $ 1.53 23% (tip estimated at 15% of bill size) p/person p/person 8 McCall in Belmont (1996) Using Tip Trays w/ Credit Card Insignia Restaurant 16% 20% 25% Café 18% 22% 22% 9 Rind in Bordia (1995) Drawing a Picture on Check Waiter drawing smiley face 21% 18% — Waitress drawing smiley face 28% 33% 18% Gueguen (2000) Bartender drawing sun 19% 26% 37% 10 Entertaining Customer Gueguen in Legoherel (2002) Share a Joke 16% 23% 40% Rind in Strohmetz (2001b) Give a Puzzle 19% 22% 18% 11 Crusco in Wetzel (1984) Touching Customer Study 1 12% 17% 42% Lynn, Mykal in Sherwyn (1998) Study 2 11% 14% 27% Renee in Zweigenhaft (1986), Study 3 15% 18% 22% Hornik (1992) Study 4 12% 15% 28% 12 Garrity in Degelman (1990) Introducing Self by Name 15% 23% 53% 13 van Baaren (2003) Repeat Order Back to Customer NLG 1.36 NLG 2.73 100% 14 Tidd in Lockard (1978) Smiling $ 0.20 $ 0.48 140% Source: Lynn, 2004. 66 | Académica Turística, Year 4, No. 2, December 2011 Andrej Raspor The use of techniques for increasing servers' tips tips. We claim our findings to be representative as the survey sample included different catering enterprises across Slovenia. In accordance with the aim of the research we formed two hypotheses: Hi: »Waiters in the Slovenian catering industry do not use techniques for increasing tips«; H2: »Waiters who use the techniques for increasing tips are more likely to receive a tip«. 3.1 Research methodology To test the above mentioned hypotheses we used the following research design: on the basis of a literature review we devised the gathering of empirical data by conducting a survey (1) and executing the focus group method (2) among employees of the Slovenian catering industry. The focus groups were mainly used for clarifying the findings obtained by the survey. We used the probability sample for the survey design. In order to test the hypotheses, statistical methods were used as well as analysis, synthesis and compilation. In the next section, the process of gathering the data and characteristics of the sample are described as well as the measuring instrument we applied. Research project: Catering industry employees and tipping 2007 The gathering of data4 took place between May 2007 and December 2007 (Table 2). The catering industry employees (waiters, headwaiters, head chefs, chefs, kitchen assistants, receptionists and heads of reception) were the target population. According to the Agency for Public Legal Records and Related Services of the Republic of Slovenia (AJPES), there were 1,644 catering enterprises5 in Slovenia as of 31 December 2007.6 After reviewing some other databases we supplemented 4 The research was part of the author's doctoral thesis "The influence of tips distribution on the employees: comparison between the catering industry and the gambling industry" from the Faculty of Social Sciences at the University of Ljubljana. The thesis was comprised of 10 different surveys. 5 The enterprises are placed in group I CATERING INDUSTRY in the AJPES database, which is further divided into: I 55.1 Hotel industry, I 56.1, Restaurants and other types of catering enterprises and 56.3 Drinking Establishments (Ajpes, 2007) 6 The Statistical Office of the Republic of Slovenia (SURS) states there are 1720 catering enterprises in Slovenia for the same time period (SURS, 2007). our list of companies by adding companies that were not mentioned in the AJPES database. By using this method, we managed to include the majority of employees in the catering industry. Among the enterprises listed in the above mentioned databases there were 80 companies that had more than 30 employees. They represented our final selection for sampling on the first level. According to AJPES, they employ 10,617 persons or 59% of the total number (17,600) of the employees in this industry. The data however, covers all the employees and not only the profiles we were interested in. For this reason, we estimated the total number of wait staff, cooking staff and reception desk staff by using more detailed data collected by SURS.7 According to their data, there were 4,573 persons employed as wait staff (25.4%), 2,835 persons as kitchen staff (15.9%), and 963 persons (5.4%) as reception desk staff. The rest are managerial and supporting occupations.8 Following these numbers we made an estimate of persons working as waiters, cooks and receptionists in the above mentioned 80 selected companies. We then sent our questionnaire to each of the CEOs of these companies requesting that they make copies of the questionnaire and distribute them among their employees. From the first selected 80 companies 20 companies responded which in total manage 62 catering establishments (restaurants, bistros, coffee bars, hotels). The response rate achieved was therefore 25%. Our questionnaire was filled out by 294 respondents (127 male respondents and 167 female respondents). Their ages varied: 47 respondents were between 18 -25 years of age, 60 respondents were in the age cohort of 26 - 30 years old, the majority - 144 were between 31 - 50 years of age, 29 respondents were between 51 - 65 years old and 1 participant was above 66 years of age. Their educational background was as follows: vocational schools - 108 participants, secondary school 7 SURS warns that there can be inconsistencies regarding mentioned data due to mistakes in the process of companies reporting data to them. According to SURS 20% of work profiles can be miscategorised. 8 According to the SURS survey there are 17,320 employees in the catering industry. Together with other companies included in our survey there is total of 17,840 employees included in our target population. We should add that AJPES and SURS data on employees differ to some extent. This is due to Different methodologies: AJPES uses the average number of employees in a given year, while SURS collects data on 31 December. 66 | Académica Turística, Year 4, No. 2, December 2011 Andrej Raspor The use of techniques for increasing servers' tips Table 2: General information on »Catering industry employees and tipping 2007« research project. Duration of research 2007 Method of collecting data Mail survey Questionnaire Designed specifically for this project by author Site Slovenia Group: Catering industry and Gambling establishments Target population: Number of companies with more than 30 employees Realized Sample The share of answers with regard to target population The share of answers with regard to business activity (catering industry) Number of companies (Source: AJPES) 1,644 80 20 25% 1.2% Employees (Source: SURS) Wait staff 4,537 2,700 197 7-3% 4-3% Kitchen staff 2,835 1,687 71 4.2% 2.5% Reception desk staff 963 573 26 4.5% 2.7% TOTAL 8,335 4,960 294 5-9% 3.5% 135, higher degree 22 participants, university degree 12 participants and one participant with a Master's degree. The response rate in this group is 7.3% among wait staff, 4.2% for kitchen staff and 4.5% for reception desk staff. Focus groups with the employees We used this method for clearing up certain inconsistencies which emerged while surveying employees. The focus group method is a qualitative research method where the respondents are invited to a group session without prior knowledge of the conversation content. The topic is clearly defined by the research team. The moderator has a set of pre-prepared questions, but can also react to the debate in order to obtain clearer answers. We carried out focus groups right after the completion of the survey in the years 2007 and 2008. The focus groups usually lasted 2 hours and 30 minutes. Moderating was performed by the author of this paper. We conducted focus groups in 5 catering enterprises (Sava Hotels; Hit Alpinea; Turizem Kras, Destination Tourism, d.d.; Hotel Astoria). We additionally carried out focus groups among the employees in one company involved in the gambling industry, Hit, d. d., in Nova Gorica, where two focus groups were conducted in IZC Perla and two in IZC Park. In total we carried out 8 focus groups with 100 participants. 3.2 Questionnaire The questionnaire was comprised of several thematic components.9 Within the scope of this article we will mention only the questions, which are relevant to the application of the techniques for increasing tips and the frequency of tipping. The answers to the survey questions were either YES or NO, or alternatively from 1 to 5 where 1 stands for "I always do" and 5 "I never do." The focus groups were comprised of 20 participants, who were then later divided into groups of five. To achieve the consensus on the questions among group participants we devised a two phase procedure. In the first phase we looked for a consensus among participants in a smaller group, and in the second phase among the participants in the whole focus group. The composition of groups differed somewhat if the group 9 Due to the very broad range of questions that were included in the questionnaire we mention here only the most relevant for the content of this paper. 66 | Académica Turística, Year 4, No. 2, December 2011 Andrej Raspor The use of techniques for increasing servers' tips participants were from the catering industry (wait staff, kitchen staff, maids, cleaning staff) or from the gambling industry (also other employees working in casino - dealers, hostesses etc.). In the second phase the smaller groups presented their standpoints to the rest of the focus group participants, who then reacted to their expressed views. The question was put to rest when a consensus among all the participants was reached. Again, only the questions relevant to this paper are mentioned. 3.3 Data processing In accordance with the aims of the research, statistical analysis of the collected data was performed by using the software package SPSS. In the first phase we conducted a univariate analysis and in the second phase we used the bivariate analysis to investigate the correlation between the pairs of variables. Table 3: Application of the techniques for increasing tips. 4 Application of techniques for increasing tips - research findings Catering industry employees in Slovenia (Table 3) rarely use the above mentioned techniques for increasing tips. Thus, 6% of employees do not use these techniques at all. All 14 mentioned techniques are used by only one respondent (0.4%). On the other side, among the wait staff, there are only three respondents who do not use any of the techniques, although at the same time not even one employee uses all 14 techniques. Employees apply 4.67 techniques on average, wait staff 5.64 methods on average (Table 6). The techniques (Table 4) used by the majority of participants (more than 51%) are: smiling while working (75% in catering industry and 81.9% among wait staff), wishing the guest a pleasant stay (69% and 76% respectively), thanking the guest for the tip (61% and 76% respectively), asking the guest if there is anything else they need (59% and 71.8% respectively). As follows from the table of techniques, accessorizing (7% and 8% respectively), sharing a joke (9.5% and Catering industry Wait staff Number of persons using specific technique Percentage Number of techniques used Number of persons using specific technique Percentage 16 6.20% 0 3 1.9% 2 0.80% 1 1 0.6% 18 6.90% 2 7 4.4% 24 9.20% 3 15 9.4% 35 13.50% 4 24 15.0% 48 18.50% 5 36 22.5% 40 15.40% 6 23 14.4% 29 11.20% 7 18 11.3% 23 8.80% 8 14 8.8% 9 3.50% 9 8 5.0% 9 3.50% 10 7 4.4% 3 1.20% 11 2 1.3% 1 0.40% 12 - 0.0% 2 0.80% 13 2 1.3% 1 0.40% 14 - 0.0% 260 100.0% Total 160 100.0% Source: Raspor, 2010. Académica Turística, Year 4, No. 2, December 2011 | 71 Andrej Raspor The use of techniques for increasing servers' tips Table 4: Application of the techniques for increasing tips: catering industry. Catering industry Wait staff Techniques s by order of importance as established by the survey (Table 1) Please, list the techniques for increasing the tips that you use at work (n=294) The share of respondents that use specific technique among all respondents that answered the question The number of respondents that answered the question The share of respondents that use specific technique among all respondents that answered the question The number of respondents that answered the question 1 (11)1 smile while working. 75.20% 242 81.90% 155 2 (4)1 repeat the order after the customer. 35.70% 229 47.90% 149 3 (2)1 introduce myself by my first name. 17.30% 229 17.80% 150 4 (6)I shake hands with customers or lightly touch him/her in order to manifest respect 25.20% 229 28.30% 150 5 (9)1 use jokes while working. 9.50% 242 12.30% 155 6 (7)1 share a joke with the customer. 20.40% 228 23.90% 149 7 (12)1 advise the customer on payment methods in use at specific venue and where the exchange or provisioning can be done (e.g. cheques, bank cards). 23.80% 242 31.30% 155 8 (5) I offer the customer additional service (coffee, refreshments, taxi service). 59.20% 228 71.80% 150 9 (3)While talking to the customer I come closer or sit next to him/her. 9.90% 229 9.20% 150 10 (13) I present customers with small complimentary gift/giveaways (sweets, pens, coffee, etc.) 25.20% 241 28.80% 155 11 (8)I wish a customer a pleasant stay in our restaurant/hotel. 69.40% 242 81.60% 155 12 (1)I use accessories which are not too conspicuous (badges, brooches, hair accessories). 7.10% 229 8.00% 150 13 (10)I thank a customer for leaving a tip. 61.60% 242 76.10% 155 14 (14)I use customer's name to greet him/her. 27.60% 242 27.60% 155 Source: Raspor, 2010. 66 | Académica Turística, Year 4, No. 2, December 2011 Source: Raspor, 2010. Table 6: Number of applied techniques for increasing tips. Andrej Raspor The use of techniques for increasing servers' tips Table 5: Pearson's correlation coefficient between the number of applied techniques for increasing the tip and the frequency of receiving a tip. i How often have you lately received the tip? ! Catering industry Wait staff Number of applied techniques for Rank correlation coefficient 0.447** 0.222** Statistical significance (two-sided test) 0.000 0.005 increasing the tip Number of respondents 275 l60 "Statistically significant at p < 0.01 (a). ^Statistically significant at p < 0.05 (a). What techniques for increasing tips do you use at work? Catering industry Wait staff Frequency of receiving tips n ; Mean N Mean Always receive tip, very often receive tip, often receive tip 119 ; 5-92 92 5.9l Rarely receive tip, almost never receive tip, never receive tip 156 i 4-03 65 5.26 Total 294 i 4-67 l60 5.64 t-test (difference between two means) F=15,975, stat. sig. < 0.0005 !=2,6i5, stat. sig. < 0.108 t=5,82i, stat. sig. < 0.0005 = 1,691, stat. sig. < 0.093 Source: Raspor, 2010. 12.3% respectively) or sitting next to a customer (9.6% and 12.3% respectively) are used very rarely. If we compare the order of importance of separate statements in our research (Table 4) with the previous findings by other researchers (Table 1) we can observe major deviation in statement 2 (I introduce myself by my name) and statement 6 (I shake hands with customers). These findings point to the fact that employees still have some manoeuvring space for increasing tips by personalizing the service (introduction, physical contact). We can also observe the relative restraint of the employees who prefer not to share a joke with a customer or use jokes in general while working (statements 7 and 9). By carrying out focus groups with employees, it was our intention to further explore why employees prefer some techniques to others and why some aren't used at all. We've learned that employees are not familiar with which techniques affect tipping and in what way. They also believed that certain techniques cannot be transplanted to circumstances in Slovenia for different reasons (e.g. internal rules forbid sitting down with the customer, it is too "American" to wear accessories, etc.) The correlation between the number of techniques used and the frequency of received tip is positive (Table 5), that is the more techniques an employee knows and chooses to implement the more often they will receive a tip. A medium correlation between the variables is characteristic for the employees in the catering industry 66 | Académica Turística, Year 4, No. 2, December 2011 Andrej Raspor (Pearson's correlation coefficient 0.447),10 while weak correlation is typical for the wait staff (Pearson's correlation coefficient 0.222): employees that use more techniques also receive a tip more often. Employees in the catering industry who usually receive tips (always receive tip, very often receive tip, often receive tip) use on average 5.92 techniques, while those who do not receive tip (rarely receive tip, almost never receive tip, never receive tip) use on average only 4.03 techniques (Table 6). Wait staff who usually receive tips (always receive tip, very often receive tip, often receive tip) use on average 5.91 techniques, while those who do not receive tips (rarely receive tip, almost never receive tip, never receive tip) use on average only 5.26 techniques. It has also been established that those employees who receive tips frequently (always receive tip, very often receive tip, often receive tip) characteristically use most of the techniques more often (64% or 9 out of 14 for those in the catering industry). 78% (11 out of 14) of the wait staff receive tips frequently if they use the techniques more often. 5 Discussion and recommendations We can confirm both of the hypotheses: 10 To interpret Spearman's correlation coefficient and Pearson's correlation coefficient we defined the following scale: 0-0.1- no correlation; 0.110.3- weak correlation; 0.31-0.6 - medium correlation: 0.31-0.6 - strong correlation. The use of techniques for increasing servers' tips This research was carried out in various catering enterprises across Slovenia. We obtained relevant results on the usage of techniques for increasing the tips among Slovenian catering industry employees. The findings also confirm that employees who use the techniques frequently receive tips more often. Therefore, the research can be of practical value to managers and team leaders for motivating their employees to offer higher quality service. The research results can be a useful tool for managerial personnel in order to motivate and direct their subordinates towards offering a higher quality service. In accordance with Wang (2010), we strongly recommend that mangers implement a policy of pooling tips. The research highlights how techniques for increasing tips are applied among Slovenian catering industry employees and how the application of these techniques can influence the frequency of tipping. Combined with the findings on the effectiveness of the aforementioned behaviours, this suggests that restaurant managers have an opportunity to increase their servers' tip incomes by training them to engage in these behaviours. Both common sense and prior research (Lynn 2002, 2003, Lynn & McCall, 2009) indicate that doing so will help to reduce turnover. This is not an answer for the turnover problem plaguing the industry, but it does promise to help and costs very little to implement. We invite managers to download a training manual entitled "Mega Tips" free of charge from the Cornell Center for Hospitality website (http:// chr.cornell.edu) and to train their servers to engage in these tip-enhancing behaviours. 6 Conclusion Our research showed that catering industry employees in Slovenia are not familiar enough with and rarely apply techniques for increasing tips. We believe there are several reasons for that: (1) the tipping was not traditionally part of the cultural repertoire of this country, (2) research on tipping techniques was carried out only recently, (3) the managerial staff do not know how to use tipping to stimulate their employees Hypothesis Statistical method Results shown Hypothesis confirmed/ rejected Hi: »Waiters in Slovenian catering ndustry do not use techniques for ncreasing the tips« Descriptive analysis (comparison on the basis of shares) Table 3 Table 4 Confirmed H2: »Waiters who use the techniques or increasing the tips are more likely to receive a tip«. Pearson's correlation coefficient t-test Table 5 Table 6 Confirmed 66 | Académica Turística, Year 4, No. 2, December 2011 Andrej Raspor The use of techniques for increasing servers' tips towards higher quality service and flexibility, (4) since it has been established that catering industry employees who use techniques for increasing tips receive tips more frequently. The estimation on the overall amount of tipping indicates that the relatively high sums might be of interest also to legislators. Here, one can learn from the gambling industry; there tipping was first regulated and subjected to taxes at playing tables (dealers) and later also with other work profiles in the casino. Legislation dictates that the management of casinos must earmark the tips entirely for the employees' salaries. At the same time, the management team are excluded from the distribution of tipping income, and the distribution itself is dependent on the amount of tips gathered at specific work posts. In the catering industry however, tipping is not regulated, and thus presents an opportunity for both employers and employees. An innovative approach is needed to increase the motivation of employees without increasing labour costs or a comprehensive reform of reward systems. In our opinion, increase in the share of tips in employee income is a viable method which could be realized through training employees in methods for increasing tips. The methods to be adopted should, however, be adjusted to the specific socio-cultural environment in the country. Uporaba tehnik za povečanje napitnine Povzetek Leta 1996 je Michael Lynn v reviji Cornell Hotel and Restaurant Administration Quarterly predstavil idejo, da lahko vodje gostinskih obratov povečajo napitnino in zmanjšajo stroške, če svoje zaposlene usposobijo s tehnikami dvigovanja napitnin. Če je bilo takrat predstavljeno sedem različnih tehnik, se je spisek teh načinov v tem času že povečal. Sami smo v dejavnosti slovenskega gostinstva in turizma preverjali štirinajst različnih tehnik. Raziskava je vključevala 294 zaposlenih iz gostinske dejavnosti od tega 197 slovenskih natakarjev. Raziskovali smo predvsem, kako natakarji uporabljajo te tehnike in kakšen je vpliv posameznih tehnik na pogostost prejete napitnine. Glavna ugotovitev je, da natakarji tehnik, ki omogočajo prejemanje višjih napitnin praviloma ne uporabljajo. Tisti natakarji, ki pa jih uporabljajo, pogosteje prejemajo napitnino. Ugotovitve podpirajo razmišljanje, da je naloga menedžmenta seznaniti zaposlene s tehnikami za povečevanje napitnine. To bo vplivalo na napitnino in prihodke. Ključne besede: natakarji, napitnina, prejemanje napitnine, gostinstvo 66 | Académica Turística, Year 4, No. 2, December 2011 Andrej Raspor The use of techniques for increasing servers' tips References AJPES. (2007). Evidenca AJPES o obdelanih in javno objavljenih letnih poročilih gospodarskih družb za leto 2007. Retrieved May 25, 2008, from http://www.ajpes.si/prs/ Azar, O. (2011). Business strategy and the social norm of tipping. Journal of Economic Psychology 32(3), 515-525. Cornell Center for Hospitality research. 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