Week Four: August 1st, 2011

Management's Role in Service

Service Standards

• Establishing Service Standards

            Establishing standards is relatively simple. The difficulty is in training employees and seeing that they follow them consistently.
            Standards vary from fine dining to casual. The text discusses typical full service standards but each operation must interpret what will best suit their guests.

• Management Functions

            Planning
            Organizing
            Staffing
            Leading
            Controlling
       

Motivating Servers

• management is responsible for seeing that all servers are motivated and that they work in a motivating environment.
• People are motivated to work by a number of factors

            Hiring motivated servers
                Motivated employees can often be detected n the interview
                People must possess self motivation to work hard and serve enthusiastically
            Creating a motivating environment
                One of the most important things managers must do is to motivate emplyees
                A positive environment fosters team work and cooperation
                        Good motivators vs motivation destroyers

• Empowering Employees

            Empowerment is a management tool in which employees are given the power to make decisions that achieve higher standards of service

• There are many ways to motivate employees toward doing an even better job
• Rewards as Motivators

            Positive feedback and recognition of a job well done
            Monetary rewards and prizes
            Employee of the month and year rewards
            Bonuses for longevity
            Vacation days, dining credits, tickets, passes and trips
            Achievement is traditionally rewarded with advancement

• Evaluation as Motivators

            The performance evaluation or appraisal is the formal method for providing feedback
            It is essential that all workers be treated fairly in scheduling
           

Dining Room Arrangement

• The dining area must be planned properly for good service
• Kitchen Arrangement

            A smooth flowing kitchen arrangement assists servers in providing good service
            A smooth, one way flow with pick up arranged in sequence of courses is best though some stations may be responsible for multiple courses and/or multiple   
           stations may be responsible for the same course

Training Servers

• Servers must be trained in what to do, how it is to be done and the professional standard expected.
• The effective trainer
• The training session
• The training space, tools, and equipment
• The "magic apron" is not an acceptable training technique, although it is common
  

Reservations

• Management is responsible for establishing the reservation system and seeing that it operates as desired
• It is not unusual to overbook by about 10% due to no-shows, cancellations and slow walk-ins but it can be problematic when there are more guests with reservations than there are tables.