Importance of Management Style in Restaurant Business

Introduction

The success of a restaurant depends on the way it is managed by the owner or the management team that is in place. Employees working in the restaurant can make or destroy the restaurant, which means that handling the employees is an integral part of the management style. The owner has to ensure that the employees are able to work towards helping the restaurant achieve its goals and objectives. The other factor about the performance of the restaurant is the customer service. The way that customers are served and the quality of foods that is prepared determines the success of the restaurant. This means that the owner has to adopt the right management style that will not only provide the employees with the right guidance but will also ensure that they are motivated to work for the organization. This paper is based on an interview with Gene Valdez who is a restaurant owner. The focus of the interview was to understand how he manages the restaurant and ensures that the employees are satisfied with the work that they do. I also focused on how he conducts his hiring process to ensure that he can effectively run the restaurant.

Management style 

Mr. Valdez stated that he used a participative or the democratic management style. This means that he asks the employees to come up with the right options to deal with a situation, and then they vote for the best option available. This means that all the employees right from the receptionist are engaged in the decision-making process of the restaurant. I asked him what he felt was the impact of the management style and he explained that the employees own up to the decision that they make and in the process could work towards it even if it may affect them in a negative way. It became apparent that providing the employees with timely feedback on their progress in the organization was part of the democratic management style. Consequently, I observed that the employees were free to make their decisions based on the situation at hand. This means that the manager did not have to direct every decision that the employees made in the organization. There was a strong relationship between the owner and the employees. Even in instances where something had gone wrong, the employees in the restaurant felt at ease explaining to the owner. 

Regarding the leadership style, the interview revealed that the owner used a transformational leadership style. This is because he gave every employee a chance to take part in any changes that were occurring in his or her department. Consequently, he was busy coaching the employees in any situation where he felt that some changes were needed. The interaction between the owner and the employees was also one of the highlights of the interview. The motivation of the employees came from his ways of handling things and helping them in their activities when he was not busy. He stated that interacting with the employees allowed him to understand them better and fulfill their interests as they work towards the organization. 

Motivating the Employees 

As stated earlier, the restaurant business fully depends on the employees and the effort they put towards customer service. Mr. Valdez motivates his employees in various ways. One of the ways is using daily competitions where the employee with exemplary performance is given a gift or placed in a draw to win the main prize at the end of the month. Valdez also uses the employee of the month acknowledgments as a motivation to the employees. The employee of the month is voted by the employees themselves. This provides the employees with the sense of ownership of the prize, which means that it acts as a form of motivation. 

The owner uses training and development as one way of motivating employees. Employees are more motivated when they feel that they have the right skills to perform the jobs. Valdez outlined that he conducts an employee appraisal program to determine the gaps in the skills possessed by the employees. This process is aimed at determining the compatibility of the skills that the employees have with those of the jobs that they perform. In case there is a gap in the skills, the owner trains the employees based on the type of skills required. If it is something that he cannot handle, then an external trainer is hired to ensure that the employees have up to date skills.

The other form of motivation that is given to the employees is the longevity bonus especially when it comes to employee loyalty. For example, he stated that there is always a salary increase on every anniversary of all employees. He stated that this acts as motivation to new employees. Giving complements is also another way to ensure that the employees are motivated in a restaurant. During the interview, he stated that he always gave a compliment to the employees when they had done something good. On the same note, the employees are provided with meals right from breakfast, lunch, and supper for those working in the evening. According to him, this incentive makes the employees want to work in the restaurant for a longer period. As a form of motivation, Mr. Valdez also host birthday parties for employees whenever they have one. This means preparing a meal that is shared by all the employees after work, which ensures that the employees are satisfied with their jobs and the way that the restaurant treats them.

The benefit of the motivation program in the restaurant is that it ensures job satisfaction among the employees. He also stated that the employees have organizational citizenship behavior because of the job satisfaction that they possess. They can be seen helping each other as a team, which is an indication that Mr. Valdez has effectively been able to establish team building among the employees. The other benefit is employee retention. The restaurant has a low turnover rate because of the job satisfaction. The Recruitment Process

The recruitment process is one of the most important things that the restaurant puts into consideration. As stated earlier, employees can make or destroy the restaurant. This means that as the restaurant owner, Mr. Valdez has to make sure that the hired employees are reliable. Mr. Valdez argued that working in a restaurant is not something that provides any room to learn how things are done. A single mistake by the service team has the capacity to destroy the whole reputation of the restaurant. 

Upon asking him how he conducts the recruitment process, he stated that he starts by identifying a position in the restaurant with the help the employees. Once the position has been identified, a job description is written identifying the roles and responsibilities of the position. This is too is done with the help of the employees. In case the position can be filled from within, then that opportunity is first given to the employees. If that is not the case, then the advertisement is done using the local dailies and the social media outlets that are used by the restaurant. For example, Facebook and Twitter, as well as the website, are used to advertise the positions that are to be filled in the restaurant. The applicants are requested to send their resumes to the owner who engages the employees in shortlisting the most appropriate candidates to fill the positions.

The employees are engaged because they are the ones who understand the roles and the responsibilities of their jobs. The focus of the evaluation process is to ensure that the experience of the applicants is used as the basis of the shortlisting. After shortlisting, the applicants are invited for interviews where further evaluation is done to ascertain their qualifications. Mr. Valdez also stated that he always contacts the referees to ensure that he can understand the participant better from the perspective of someone who has worked with him or her before. After the selection, the selected applicants are taken through an orientation process where they are trained on how to behave or conduct themselves while working at the restaurant. 

Conclusion 

The interview revealed the importance of a management style to a restaurant and its success. The use of the democratic style provides the employer with the opportunity to get closer to the employees. Motivation is paramount in the management as well. The owner has to make sure that he has done the right things to ensure that the employees are retained in the restaurant, and job satisfaction is high. On the same note, the recruitment process also emerged as an important aspect of the management. This is because by conducting it in the right way, the restaurant is able to get reliable employees.