Continuous Personal Development in Hospitality

INTRODUCTION

In the following report, to be submitted to the restaurant manager I was instructed to find the gap between the staff’s current capabilities and the skills requirement that is needed to be developed in order to meet the restaurants further plan. I was also to determine the training objectives for the staff to increase their current set of skills.

For the current report I had to do the skills audit. I also had do the secondary and primary research for internal and external environment. For this purpose I have used a number of web sites and books.

About the restaurant: Chutney Mary- London’s most fashionable and highly acclaimed Indian restaurant and twice received the award of Best Indian Restaurant in the UK from the authoritative Good Curry Guide. Restaurant opened its door to customers in 1990 Chelsea, London. The new romantic interior combines Indian richness and sparkle sepia etchings of Indian life. Restaurant reflects mix of the finest Indian craftsmanship in a stylish setting. Chutney Mary welcome guest by a comfortable lounge area leading to a dramatic stairway, featuring an enormous Moghul style mirror work mural.

Impact Analysis

Skill Areas: Communication skills

Do you have the skills? (yes/no): No

Are the skills at a satisfactory level?(yes/no): No

Skill level 1-5 (1 is highest, 5 is lowest): 3

Skill level desired: 2

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Skill Areas: Knowledge of the product

Do you have the skills? (yes/no): Yes

Are the skills at a satisfactory level?(yes/no): No

Skill level 1-5 (1 is highest, 5 is lowest): 4

Skill level desired: 2

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Skill Areas: Up selling skills

Do you have the skills? (yes/no): Yes

Are the skills at a satisfactory level?(yes/no): No

Skill level 1-5 (1 is highest, 5 is lowest): 3

Skill level desired: 2

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Skill Areas: New Technology

Do you have the skills? (yes/no): Yes

Are the skills at a satisfactory level?(yes/no): Yes

Skill level 1-5 (1 is highest, 5 is lowest): 4

Skill level desired: 1

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The above table shows the current set of skills. The skills required by the staff to accomplish the company’s future plans are shown in the fifth column. The chart gives a synopsis to the manger of the areas that need to be develop, in order to reach the company’s goal. One of the ways to solve the problem is by gap analysis or impact analysis. It is technique use to pin point the correct gaps between expected levels of service and the actual level of service provided. Gap analysis has played a crucial role in planning asset within public sector and private sectors as well. This analysis also gives a summary of the impacts of the set qualities to the management. This analysis helps the management to recruit new staff in the future. The management can cross reference it to check if the candidate has met the requirement, so that they can achieve their future plans.

The analysis is generally used at the macro level. It identifies the key performance area of the organisation. It is necessary to close the gaps in desired and current levels of skills by every organisation in order to be successful in market.

Identified Gaps in Chutney Mary

Up-selling: Up-selling guides restaurant to achieve the target set by the management. In Chutney Mary the management had always given the target revenue for every month. From this employees will be aware of their their target market for their product and what exactly they have to up-sell. There is quite a big gap in up-selling. The gap can be closed by giving training to the employees. This to have a good knowledge about the product and will also help in up-selling the brand image of the restaurant.

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Time management: It is an important tool in the hospitality sector. Time is one of the factors that cannot be wasted by the management. Skill audit the employee’s are lacking in time management. It sis a new restaurant managers must plan and manage the time. Inability to this will lead to a greater loss of revenue and reputation of the restaurant. For closing this gap special training must be given to the employees regarding time management.

Communication skills: Being a hospitality sector it is very important to know that communication skills plays a vital role. In Chutney Mary many of the employees are Asians and Europeans and they are lacking in English so management must be well aware of it. As Chutney Mary is a new restaurant and which serve dietary food so there will plenty of reviews from the customers so staff should be able to explain the concept. For closing this gap management should arrange special English classes for those employees who are not fluent in English.

Product knowledge: Product knowledge is one the gaps identified in Chutney Mary. Every staff must aware of the product and brand standards. It can be close by undergoing proper training to the staff which enhance the employees to explain the customers about their product with ease and confidence which will result in up selling.

The restaurant must focus on shortage of skills and their impacts on Chutney Mary. From the given skills audit we can find out what skills are the employees lacking in:

• Lacking in efficiency and effective communication skills.
• Product knowledge.
• Lacking in time management.
• Up selling skills and its techniques of the employees are not up to the mark.

Impact of the gaps to the business and achievement of future plans and objectives of the organisation

Due to lack of skills within the staff the restaurant will not be able to achieve future targets. This may have an effect on the productivity and can lead to negative comments and perceptions of the customers.

Poor product knowledge may create lower revenue even when the staffs are doing through up selling. This can lead to the down fall of the gross revenue. Thus making lower profit on the sales volume.

Less knowledge about the product makes the staff aware of the highlights of the products. It may lead tension and lower self confidence while they are dealing with customers.

Lack of skills development results in less productivity of the organisation and poor and unacceptable performance.

Lack of communication skills results in higher guest complaints. It increases the number of unsatisfied guest, and thus to bad word of mouth publicity. Because of this the management fails to achieve their future goals.

Lack of up-selling technique will result in loss of potential revenue that the company can make. Organisation may lose its business in the market sector. They also have a fear of losing their market position.

Explanation of staff development plan

As per the results from the above staff development plan I have explain it in details the summary of these plan:

• Up selling skills training: Up-selling plays an important role in the organisation since it helps to provide the value of the product than the price verified for it. Up-selling sales report is put on the board for every month to know the whether the restaurant has gain more revenue or not. The restaurant has a target of doing up-selling of £20,000/- and above within a month time. This will help to increase the sales by 30%. Various up-selling techniques are used by the trainer who are invited from outside. From the above calculation there was £206 per hour of average increase in the productivity rate.
• Menu knowledge: having accurate Menu knowledge has a good impact on the employees. By giving the training about the menu, restaurant is hoping to achieve the target of 45% on sale within 3-4 months and from the above calculation it was observed that there was 10% increase in sales.
• Time management: Time management is done in order to maintain the standards and consistency of the quality of work. Employees must be aware of the importance of time. The organisation has to keep the prospective of events like Olympics 2012.
• Communication skills: Communication skills are important in any service industry. Customer should know the concept and is easier when the staff has good communication skill. From the above chart 70% of employees who lacked in the communication skill left the job. Training wise restaurant is improvising on training the staff regarding with their English language.
• Increase in staff retention: In Chutney Mary Staff retention program is not effective. From the above plan it was found that 70% of staff has left the job. Creating a friendly atmosphere and providing regular staff training the restaurant is seeking to cut down the employment cost by 34% by the year end.

Summary of this plan

• What has to be done: From the above development plan the restaurant is planning to train all the employees within the department. For achieving this, restaurant must follow the objectives which had prioritised in the staff development plan. Special training must be given to the following issues menu knowledge, time management, and communication skills and staff retention. Employees should be trained on the brand standards so as to achieve the objectives. For that restaurant must arrange staff meeting once in a week. And have feedback from the employees and must discuss about what has to be done in order to achieve the goals.
• Who is going to do it: the objectives are for all level of staff within the organisation. It is the management’s responsibility for arranging the trainings and evaluating the staff progress. Performance appraisal or staff performance check can be useful for this purpose. If the employees are successfully trained and are able to achieve this objective they should be rewarded by the manager of the restaurant.
• When it is going to be done: November 2009 the restaurant starts the evaluating employee’s recruitment, whether the employees are happy with their job through employees feedback form. December 2009 the restaurant will start with their up-selling training program and it will be finish by the end of 3 months. These programs will be held on Fridays and Saturday for every 1 hour. Brand standards training will be held in November 2009 on every weekend for 1 hour. Time management training will be held on January 2010 and communication skills training will be held in February November 2010. The time duration for all the training is of 3-4 months making them aware of time period. The employees who are lack in communication skills in English will be trained throughout the duration of the program. All this training will be done at management level and at the lower level as well.
• How it is going to be done: In Chutney Mary management puts training session on the notice board and gives the reminder of the session on the contact number of the employee. Websites resources like brand awareness, customer recommendation helps the employee to grow.
• Why it is going to be done: It is done to develop the personnel skills of the employees. The restaurant will have efficient staff to provide quality service after completion of the training session. This will result in increase in productivity of the restaurant and customer satisfaction and will improve. The restaurant will have a new face in the market sector, and within the competitors. This will be helpful to achieve the competitive edge against the competitors.
• How much will it cost: Approximately £200-300/- quotation has been allocated to achieve these objectives. A total expenditure of the training session which consists of staff expenses, trainer expenses, training room charges etc. will be approximately around £1000 to £1500/-.

How will the plan benefit the business?

Training on up-selling helps to improve the skills of the staff while up-selling the product to the customers and gain more profit.

Knowledge of the menu is key tool for the staff so that they can recommend the needs to the guest. This will help the staff to improve their skills and knowledge.

Through time management staff will become more efficient and productive and they can become focussed in their work.

By using communication skill the staff is expected to interact with the guest and top level management with effective communication.

The staff retention will help to identify whether the employee’s are satisfied with their job. It also creates friendly atmosphere and as a result in smooth running of the operation. It also ensures that employee cost will be reduced.

This plan will help the business in getting more customers. It will also help to achieve competitive edge over the competitors and helps to creating a reputation within the market sector.

How staff development will be measured

Recommendation by the customers: In Chutney Mary they follow guest recommendation. They also follow the comment cards policy. While presenting the bill folder the comment cards are also presented and through comment cards we receive the customer’s feedback. For that we have mention certain ratings from 1 to 5. If the ratings are more than 5 staffs are rewarded. It also helps in checking the performance of the restaurant.

Sales tracking system: Management keeps track on the sale through this system. In the system they compare the present and past sales and even do the break even analysis.

Employees feedback and reviews: In Chutney Mary performance appraisal are given to the employees and this is done on every month.

Risk assessment

The introduction of risk assessment.

PLANS

FACTORS WHICH CAN AFFECT TO CHUTNEY MARY

PLANS TO REDUCE THIS RISK

High profits

Customers wants

Wastages

Product knowledge

Staff must be aware of product knowledge and must reduced the wastages and management must undergo research on their whether their likes and dislikes.

Knowledge of the menu

Various styles and trends

Based on climatic conditions.

Allergic situations

Staff must know the trends and styles to overcome the place in the market. They must be aware of the seasonal foods so that they can explain them to the customers. Staff must very well tackle with the allergic guest for that the menu knowledge is important.

Time management

Staffs that are not aware of this skill will not be able to able to meet and keep the time for future events.

Staff needs to focus and must always be on time so as to achieve these targets so as to avoid conflicts within the department.

Communication skills

Many of staff are not aware of English language will not be able to interact with the customers and colleagues.

English classes must be appointed for the staff and must be made compulsory and other languages must be banned within the restaurant.

Increase in staff retention

High staff turnover rate will lead to high employment cost.

Friendly working environment for the employees.

Executive summary

From this assignment we were suppose to find out the medium terms plans of Chutney Mary and their objectives and what are the changes must be undertaken to achieve the objectives.

Than we have to find out the skills audit for analysing the skills and goals of staff within the organisation.

On the basis of skill audit we have to identify the gaps between current capabilities and the capabilities required in future plans.

Than we have to find out the impact and what are the plans and objectives of this gap on Chutney Mary

In the second task we carried out staff development plan so that the organisation can achieve certain targets and identified the risks which were inhibiting the organisational goals.

Appendix 2

From the above development plan the restaurant is striving to achieve the

Medium term objectives. Staff development plan is measured and achieved in every month and in result it will show the figures in the report regarding the restaurant success.

NAME OF THE STAFF

TRAINING PROGRAMMES

TRAINING HOURS

TRAINING PERIOD

COSTS

Mr Gaurav Raje

(manager ) and Mr. Sachin malhotra

(trainer)

Communication skills 

 For every 2 hrs

Monday to Wednesday

Approximately 250 £  

Mr Oliver

(wine trainer and supplier)

Up selling  

For every 1hr 

 Friday to Saturday

Approximately 200 £ 

 Mr. Gaurav Raje

(manager)

 Time management

For every 1hr 

Thursday to Friday 

Approximately 250£ 

 Mr. Sachin Malhotra (trainer)

Brand awareness 

For every 1-2 hrs 

Every weekends or during briefing 

Approximately 150-200£ 

Mr. Rohit Shelatkar

(director)

Staff retention

For every 10-15 minutes

During staff meeting

Approximately 300£

Appendix 3

SALES REPORT OF Chutney Mary OF DATE 30TH OCTOBER 2009(FRIDAY):

Chutney Mary

Current

Last year

Last week

Covers

121

103

110

Food per head

35.47

31.45

33.78

Beverage per head

21.01

23.36

17.13

Total per head

62.78

54.76

58.99

Revenue net of VAT

6,789

4,943

5,767

Dinner analysis

Before 7pm

Main

After 10 pm

Covers

05

181

15

Revenue net of VAT

0

6,389

0

Calculation of average sales per hour:

Output = average number of covers in a day – average price per cover

Input no of people working on the day – number of hours worked

= 120 – 55

4 – 8 hrs

= 6600

32

= 206 £.

Average turnover rate of the employees: No of people leaving premises – 100 No of people working in premises

= 7 – 100 = 70%.

10

Menu knowledge and cost: food cost + maintenance + employees cost

= 1500 + 1000 + 7 employees in a shift –

8 per hour

= 2500 + 56 =2556.

= cost per day = 2556 = 21.3%

No of covers per day 120

Sales per labour hour: Total sales

Labour hour

= 6,389

40

= 160 £ sales per labour hour.

Appendix 4

Continuous professional development determines latest trends in the organisation so as to raise the capability of delivering professional service. It helps to maintain the high standards and quality within the organisation. It promotes the general welfare of the public. It helps to increase the competitiveness within the organisation

Appendix 5

What is a skill audit?

Skill audit is defined as a performance indicator which helps to identifies employee’s performance and skills and it is done at management perspective.

The purpose for arranging skill audit is to find out the skills and knowledge that the organisation requires as well as they presently possess. It helps in understanding employee’s strength and weaknesses and identifies and measures the functional skills of the organisation. These are done through training, job design, out sourcing etc.

Appendix 6

The steps for performing staff development plan:

To determine the needs and development of the staff. This can be done with the manager of various departments that interact with the staff members.

For the improvement of staff development plan the organisation must measure the improvement for each development it must be specific such has production rate must be specific for every organisation.

For performing staff development plan organisation provides specific training courses, cross training to the employees so that the organisation can addressed and improve the development plan for the staff.

There are two types of staff development plan they are generic plan which are used for specific jobs, positions for every employee.

Source: Author unknown (2008)

Staff development plan identify the potential resources of the employees to meet the needs.

Staff development plan helps employees to update their skills and knowledge in various areas of the department.

These plans are generally made at management level.

The objectives of the plans to make the employees aware of the brand standards and to make to sell the product and to get positive feedback from the customers and to improve the performance.