Strategies of Human Resource

The food service industry is a growing market and continues to increase by over a steady rate of 5 percent between 2011 and 2012. The industry has a high turnover rate of employees and constantly replaces unskilled workers in food service which cost the estimate of one year's salary and benefits depending on the position may cost thousands of dollars. A recent study showed that fast food restaurants with the lowest turnover made twice the revenue and higher profits than restaurants which had constant turnover. Sweetie Pies is a soul food restaurant located in SST.Louis, Mo owned and operated by Robbie Montgomery and James Norman, her son. The first restaurant, Sweetie Pies at Mangrove is the flagship of the restaurants which opened in 1996 but the recent opening of the Upper Crust is the gem of her restaurants completely by offering the signature recipes of the restaurant, a banquet hall, culinary school and performing arts space to the patrons. The focus of this paper is to identify key areas in HARM practices to align the business objectives and goals to expand nationally. Sweetie Pies ability to manage its people will be the key to succeeding in its goal to become a national brand.The restaurant has a niche in the DOD service industry because of its cuisine is not comparable to any of its competitors however; the restaurant will have to diversify its menu to broaden its brand on the national level. The owner has secured resources to branch out with the Upper Crust and provide a whole new line of services offered to customers. The compensation philosophy is not clearly stated however; the employees are satisfied and share continuous enthusiasm doing their Job considering the structure of the restaurant and the limit advancement to higher positions is not a clear promotion path.Employers are more likely to look at the external value of a Job before engendering the internal Job worth (www. Workload. Org). The current standard of the Job evaluation is based on t he geographical location, labor pools and market which will give the range pay per hour or pay per year. The pay rate of 7. 80 hour for kitchen help/servers is general but lagging in the market by . 20 cent different of other chain restaurants or similar establishments in the area. The restaurant is popular because of the reality television show on OWN.It has given them national exposure and the attraction of many tourists who are drawn there by the dishes displayed on the Food Network and other cooking shows. The food service industry workers are on some type of government aid due to low wages and low compensation packages. At Sweetie Pies, the wages are above those of minimum but limited compensation packages are offered to the employees. The HRS systems which are usually for control and commitment are not in place at Sweetie Pies because of the structure of the business.At corporate level, capital market measures of performance are generally considered more comprehensive than con temporaneous accounting measures if profit (return on assets or equity. )(Beer & Gerhard, 1996, peg. 791)The restaurant is very capable of achieving the goal to expand because the problems which the owners have identified by opening culinary school will give their employees the training to learn new knowledge, skills and abilities to offer the consumer different types of cuisine.According to Dither and Dougherty, businesses that are better organized to meet the needs of their people, so that they attract better people than their competitors do and their people are more greatly motivated to do a superior Job, whatever it is they do. This significantly is the problem with Sweetie Pies because of the lack of organization may hamper their ability to expand in the future. This being a service industry the customer must be satisfied with the overall outcome the product. The 21st century unfolds it is clear that most people accept that service will play an increasingly important part in th e economy. † Atkinson (2000, p. 8) goes further in asserting the importance of service performer/ customer exchange in that: â€Å"Customer perception of service delivery will be imperative and will shape their choice of supplier or service provider. Service excellence will need to take on a new mantle of one to one partner relationships with the customer, the consumer and end-user. (Maxwell, Watson & Quail, 2004, peg. 2) One of the unique things about Sweet Pies, Ms. Robbie plans were based on her customers and continues to offer the southern hospitality making sure that customers are always satisfied by conversing with each patron about their meal. The work process in the food service industry is the preparation, taste, presentation and delivery that involve steps taken to bring the food to the consumer. Sweetie Pies believe in preparing their meals from scratch and purchasing fresh vegetables, meats and wholesome bake goods.There are some times problems that don't stem fro m the food but based on the behavior of the employees. On one scene of the reality show, Sweetie Pies, the owners, Ms. Robbie and Tim were having conflict with each other about the treatment of his younger cousin, Ill Charles which ended with Tim being fired. Individuals with high n Power seek to control their environments and influence the behavior of others, while n Oaf is associated with the need to develop friendships and to be sociable and caring of others (Dither & Dougherty, 2012, peg. 6) however; Miner motivation states that: Individuals with high managerial motivation strive to engage in competitive activities, o behave in an active and aggressive manner, to influence others, and to seek highly visible and distinct positions. Tim and Ms. Robbie compete against one another by having a cook off to decide the new menu of the Upper Crust and Tim bends the rules to have his dishes approved for the menu. Even though Tim is motivated by the business and continues to try to achieve the goals however; his behavior has been an issue in conducting the affairs of the restaurant.According to Dither and Dougherty, Tim may not have had enough opportunity to challenge himself in his work and to advance to a higher position within the restaurant hierarchy. The cognitive and motor aptitudes needed to perform the duties in a restaurant are people skills, proficient mathematical skills, communication skills; being team players, cooking abilities and ability to multi-task under pressure being able to perform at minimum level or being proficient will differentiate in the level of pay.The restaurant pay plans are based on a traditional system pay at- risk system which is performance based however; the plan is not consistent for the participants' fluctuation in pay. The job analysis of the work performed requires unskilled workers for the position except or the management positions which are held by the owners at this point. The employment laws are followed in the restaurant based on the opportunities offered to felons and allowing those to have fresh start at adjusting to society and being able to give back to the community.HRS systems are regulated by federal and state laws that relate to employment (e. G. , Title VII of the Civil Rights Act, Age Discrimination in Employment Act, Americans with Disabilities Act), compensation (e. G. , Fair Labor Standards Act, Equal Pay Act), and labor relations (e. G. , National Labor Relations Act). (Dither & Dougherty, 2012, peg. 44) The restaurant's performance management is based on oral reprimands more so than written performance records done by line supervisors.The workers who hold supervisors' position do on-site corrections letting the employees know their infractions immediately. Sweetie Pies need to focus on one of the starting points in the restaurant's retention strategy may include evaluating further development, retraining or even disciplinary action of one or more managers. (Urbanism,2009) Management needs to implement a system to have a process to give two way communications to managers and to employees who loud give them feedback on the concerns and improvements.Sweetie Pies is a customer-oriented business with them building relationships with their patrons. The key HARM practices will benefit Sweetie Pies to have sustained competitive advantage. The financial value of Sweetie Pies would be properly managed by using HRS systems which could contribute to the restaurant and the methodology to show that investing in HRS systems often results in very high rates of return. The process of having a system to review the applicants instead hiring based on trial and error which has happened with hiring felons who were not able to adjust.The cost and revenue streams are then adjusted to take into account the time value of money and the cost of capital (costs and returns are put in present-value terms), variable costs associated with the improvements brought about by making better hiring The HARM practices help to motivate, conform behaviors to meet the culture of the restaurant by Job classification. Rewards, merit increasing, bonuses are used to target behaviors and to enhance the motivation. The labor market for the food service industry is plentiful because of the low wages and unskilled labor which is composed of mostly minorities and women fill these positions.Even though there may be a shortage in knowledge base oriented firms the food service regardless of demographic, age, gender, educational attainment or nationality the restaurant will have applicants. The requirements to work in the restaurant are less than a high school education however; Ms. Robbie encourages her employees to finish school. Conclusion In conclusion, the restaurant needs to implement systems that would eventually help to take their brand to the national level. The focus of the paper was to point out key areas those HARM systems that would strategically help to meet the restaurants goals ND objectives.