A Focus on Restaurant Staff Development

People Management

Human resources management (HRM) is a business function that involves managing the personnel so that the company achieves its objective. Performing this function includes processes such as the staffing, training, and motivating employees (Yang et al., 2015). Both the new and the old staff at the restaurant will benefit from an effective human resource management approach that promotes their professional growth. A company’s workforce is its most valuable resource and HRM will help the restaurant gain from it by optimizing the efficiency of the staff.

Formal and Informal People Management

Addressing the challenges faced by the restaurant will involve formal practices such as organizing, planning, and developing strategies that align employees with company goals (Hashim et al., 2016). Specifically, part of the project will involve a training and development program that will enhance the competency of employees. The program will be separate for the old and the new staff to focus on each group's area of weakness. While the new staff will learn the hands-on skills required in the restaurant, the old team will learn how to work with the new equipment. However, both teams will be made aware of the company’s improvement goals and how each employee contributes to its attainment. The sense of direction gained from this formal practice heightens the project’s chances of success.

Informally, the HRM will help give the restaurant a competitive edge by offering a suitable work environment. In this case, the management will have a task of intuitively identifying the issues that act as barriers to employee performance in the restaurant. The identification will involve analysis of the complaints from the staff. Informal practices such as resolving conflicts will help create an open environment that gives the workers an opportunity to bring up any issue hindering their performance (Hashim et al., 2016). Engaging employees through informal practices will give the restaurant a competitive edge by maintaining motivated employees and enhanced productivity through it.

Risk Management Policy

A risk management plan will be developed and implemented so that the project is in a position to overcome potential problems as it progresses (Carvalho & Rabechini Jr., 2015). The objective of the project is to improve the performance of the restaurant such that it manages to stay ahead of the competition and remain profitable. Potential risks involved in attaining this objective include technical difficulties with the new equipment and the risk of harm due to lack of familiarity with the tools. Employees may also resist the changes that are required to improve the restaurant’s performance. Identifying the potential risks helps develop appropriate risk management policies to prevent performance failure.

The risk management policy will cover possible technical difficulties through training. Specialists will train employees on the use of the new equipment and what to do in case it fails or poses harm to the staff handling (Carvalho & Rabechini Jr., 2015). The policy will also include a plan for compliance with ISO standards to avoid the hazards that relate to the food and drink industry. Such a policy addresses the customer complaints by ensuring that the quality of the food, beverage, and services offered by the hotel are high. Addressing the potential risks of the project through the risk management policies that are developed will, therefore, avoid the losses that are incurred when problems occur.

Alignment Processes

For the project to be successful, the efforts of each participant have to be aligned with the objective (Too & Weaver, 2014). The goal of the project is to improve the performance of the restaurant within five months. Strategic plans to achieve this goal include the introduction of new equipment and improving the services offered by the restaurant. Every department in the restaurant will be briefed on these objectives and the role that they play in achieving the common goal. Understanding the significance of their role makes it easier for the employees in each department to align their efforts with the strategic objectives.

The first step in creating strategic alignment will be outlining the project objectives and how they relate to each department. Improving the performance of the employees will be handled by the human resources department through motivation and developing skills through training. Other departmental goals will include the cost-cutting that will be managed by the finance department and facilitated by changes such as new equipment. The step that follows setting the goals is making decisions on the execution and evaluation of the goals (Too & Weaver, 2014). Finally, the staff is effectively managed in line with the strategic goals such that the chances of success are increased. The restaurant is set to gain from the project through the exceptional performance and high profitability and all efforts are directed towards these goals through the strategic alignment processes.

Management at the End of the Project

Both short-term and long-term evaluation plans will aid in the management at the end of the project. The indicators for success in this project will be reduced costs, fewer complaints from the staff and the customer, and increased profits (Yang et al., 2015). An improvement in each of these aspects will also indicate that the restaurant has managed to stay ahead in the highly competitive hotel industry. Assessing the success of the project after certain time intervals will identify the required adjustments as unexpected challenges are experienced throughout the course of most projects. Evaluating the project also ensures that the benefits gained by the restaurant are greater than the cost of implementing.

People management at the end of the project will involve evaluating the performance of the staff in relation to the objectives. The objective is to enhance performance with the intention of increasing productivity and keeping customers satisfied. An analysis of records will determine whether the employees can efficiently use the new equipment to improve services in the hotel. The quality of the food and services offered will be evaluated using feedback from the customers. Sales records will be compared to show whether the attempts at improved productivity have yielded results. Assessing the aspects of performance will help make adjustments which might include further training of the staff (Yang et al., 2015). Evaluation will, therefore, guide the management of the finished project to ensure that intentions for the restaurant are achieved and maintained.

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References

• Carvalho, M. M. D., & Rabechini Jr., R. (2015). Impact of risk management on project performance: the importance of soft skills. International Journal of Production Research, 53(2), 321-340.
• Hashim, J., Ismail, Y., & Hassan, A. (2016). Formality of HRM practices matters to employees’ satisfaction and commitment. Journal of Human Resources, 4(1), 47-64.
• Too, E. G., & Weaver, P. (2014). The management of project management: A conceptual framework for project governance. International Journal of Project Management, 32(8), 1382-1394.
• Yang, L. R., Chen, J. H., Wu, K. S., Huang, D. M., & Cheng, C. H. (2015). A framework for evaluating relationship among HRM practices, project success, and organizational benefit. Quality & Quantity, 49(3), 1039-1061.