The point of tipping is to empower the customer and measure their satisfaction. Because the customer has a considerable portion of the bill at his discretion, staff are going to be focused on making his experience as enjoyable as possible. This is what the restaurant owner wants but couldn&#x27;t feasibly accomplish through direct management.<p>I used to be very uncomfortable with this power over people&#x27;s pay; who was I to determine how much money someone was <i>worthy</i> of? But it&#x27;s not about that. It&#x27;s about rewarding good service and having a good incentive structure. It&#x27;s about making sure that the customer comes first.<p>In this day and age I imagine tipping is also good documentation for performance, should someone need to be fired. Otherwise, the owner might find himself on the wrong end of a bogus discrimination law suit.