Interviewing a Food Service Leader
General Manager Food Service
What are your names and position in the food service industry?
How long have you served in the industry and the same position?
Is human resource necessary in the food service industry?
How do you approach conflicts at different levels in the industry?
In the case of stress, what mechanisms do you apply to cope up with it?
What process do you apply in making decisions in the industry?
What are procedures for recruiting, interviewing, training, retaining employees in the industry?
He is working as a general manager at Mansion Restaurant, 2821 Turtle Creek Blvd, Dallas, TX 75219. Wallace has been working at the Restaurant for five years, three years as general a manager and two years as an assistant general manager. Wallace joined the restaurant in the position of assistant general a manager for two years, and he has been promoted to the position of general manager, a position he has a hold for three years.
Wallace confirmed that HR management is a very important department in Food Service Industry just like in other industries. Food service industry has employees at different levels, and it is the duty of human resource department to recruit and train the employees. It is a major responsibility of human resource department, as they devise strategies and plans of hiring the right kind of people for the right jobs opportunities. Human resource department formulates the obligations of an employee and the tasks assigned to the employee in the department. In the food industry service, some employees prepare food, others serve the food, and others attend to the customers. It is the responsibility of the human resource department to delegate all these duties to the employees (Clayton et al., 2015). Human resource department is also responsible in the field of performance appraisals, where the employees are encouraged to work according to their potentials. Human resource team communicates with the employees from time to time and providing all the necessary information concerning their performances and defining their respective roles. At first, new employees were employed in the process of recruitment by Human resource. The staffs were not experienced enough, and they needed to be frequently trained in various tasks in the food service industry. After some time, the department realized that it is necessary to employ experienced and qualified staff who will deliver with minimal training. It was after comparing the staff at the beginning and after working for some time undergoing various training.
Communication is an important factor to be considered for the success of any business organization. For success to be achieved in the business, all the departments need to work together, and it will not happen if effective communication is not installed in the organization. Food service industry is not an exception, as it requires effective communication for the success of the industry. Communication is two way; from the top management to the staff at the lower level and from the lower level to the top management (Darkow et al., 2015). For effective communication, it needs good leadership at all the stages. Good leadership will enable the management to select the suitable mode of communications and the messages communicated will reach all the departments and acted upon within the shortest time possible. Communication has been successful in Mansion Restaurant since they have installed an effective communication system all over the industry. No delays are experienced in the process of serving customers because any issue arising is communicated and solutions offered immediately without causing any disruption.
It is obvious that in any organization or business where different people are working together, various conflicts are experienced. It is important for the organization to put in place procedures for solving conflicts and any measures inform of punishments to those who are found guilty of initiating or influencing the conflicts. In Mansion Restaurant, a committee has been set, which is responsible for addressing any conflicts arising within the restaurant. The committee will offer a chance to the conflicting individuals or groups to express their complaints and reasons for conflicts (Brimblecombe et al., 2015). After both sides have expressed their issues, the committee will analyze the issues from both sides and recommend punishments or any other discipline to the individual, group or even both parties if a found guilty or responsible for initiating or influencing the conflicts. Since Wallace joined Mansion Restaurant, they have experienced various kinds of conflicts, but the committee has been effective, as it has managed to solve the conflict in a manner that all the parties, and the organization, are...
It is not that stress affects specific people like the managers or the employees; it affects all the people irrespective of their status, levels of education, level of income or any other considered factor. In Mansion Restaurant, psychologists have been employed such that they can offer counseling services to any individual having stress problems within the organization (Clayton et al., 2015). Any person affected by such problem is given sick leave for some time such he/she can spend time with the counselor and observe the procedures and measures given by the counselor for him/her to recover. The staff is relieved from his/her duties such that he/she can relax while undergoing medication and counseling process. It is the part that Wallace as the general manager of the restaurant is proud of being associated with the organization. He introduced the recruitment of the specialists to assists any staff affected by stress when he joined the restaurant. At first, the staff would seek medication outside the organization and spend personal funds to meet the expenses needed for treatment. Currently, the staff can be treated within the organization without spending personal, as the restaurant gathers all the expenses.
Decision-making is very important in any business organization. According to Wallace, decision-making should incorporate the opinions and ideas of all the staff in an organization. Before the management makes any decision, they should give a chance to the staff to give their opinions and ideas on how the issue in question should be handled. All the staff are experienced in different fields of study, and their opinions and ideas should be considered when making decisions. When Wallace joined Mansion Restaurant as the assistant manager, he introduced the idea of incorporating the opinions and ideas of all the staff when making any decision on certain issues. At first, other leaders working in different levels of management positions in the restaurant often mistook or misunderstood (Darkow et al., 2015). It is because the other leaders were used to a system where decisions were made by consulting only the leaders in management positions and ignoring the other staff working in the restaurant. After some time, Wallace made the other leaders understand the importance incorporating all the employees, stakeholders in any decision-making process, and they implemented the idea, which has created much impact in the organization. Everyone in the organization has felt his/her importance to the organization especially the employees in much lower positions whom their opinions and ideas are ignored in many organizations.
Recruitment, training, and even retention of employees are the responsibility of human resource department. Without the help of the management staff and corporation from the entire organization, the department will not succeed in executing it duties and mandates. Recruitment is a process, which involves interviewing people seeking employment opportunities in the organization and it requires enough funds. Wallace as a manager plays an important role in making sure that the department access adequate funds to execute its mandates. When recruiting employees, previous experiences are considered as the important factor to determine the employees to be recruited (Brimblecombe et al., 2015). After recruitment, the management should organize for frequent training where the employees will acquire more skills in their respective fields. According to Wallace, training staff frequently is very important especially in the current digital era, where new technological innovations are made day and night. Currently, in the restaurants, customers book their meals, rooms, and conference halls using online platforms implemented by the restaurants. In such cases, the staff needs to undergo frequent training such that he/she can have the knowledge to understand and serve customers to their bets level.
In conclusion, the interview has been successful and educational to many people especially to those working in the food service restaurant. Through Wallace leadership, other leaders in Mansion Restaurant realized the importance of incorporating all the employees and stakeholders in the decision-making process. Leadership is an experienced achieved through a process, and it involves trying new things and ideas. It is evident in the interview when Wallace explained his new idea of introducing the recruitment specialists to assist the staffs in the restaurant who were facing stress problems (Darkow et al., 2015). When the idea was implemented, it became a major success because all the restaurant staff enjoyed. As a food service leader, Wallace ensured that all the staff in the restaurant…
