Manpower Planning

Manpower Planning

Manpower Planning

Employees are the ones who actualise your goals – whether in finance, marketing or operations. Without them your vision would remain only a dream. In the hospitality industry, the interaction between customer and restaurant employee takes on a special meaning and importance, and customer satisfaction depends almost entirely on a smooth performance from the staff. A single inattentive steward could severely damage the reputation of your restaurant. It is therefore most important to attract the right kind of employees, then induct them into your brand values and vision, then engage and support them, motivate and reward them and do what it takes to retain them.

The first thing you need to do is to list out the functions that your organisation needs to perform. Then determine the number of people (and their backgrounds) that are necessary to achieve this aim.

Your first employees may include a manager and a chef whose expertise could be utilised in the further planning and hiring of your work force.

Engaging your Team & Becoming a preferred employer

Make a good beginning by recognising the elements of job satisfaction from the employee’s viewpoint:

1.       Good work conditions

2.       Opportunities for promotions

3.       Fair pay

4.       Opportunities for training

5.       Interesting work

6.       Reasonable level of responsibility

7.       Basic security

8.       Work appreciation

9.       Pleasant colleagues

10.   Empathetic superiors

Employees, like guests, have an option to go elsewhere. Finding the right employee for the position the first time around would be your most prudent choice. To attract and retain the best in the market you need to create the right work climate in your establishment.

To create a good work climate you need to:

1.       Give clear directives and reporting structures

2.       Offer adequate materials and equipment to support the tasks to be achieved

3.       Recognise and reward good work

4.       Develop formal and informal mechanisms to receive staff feedback

5.       Offer fair wages – low wages dissatisfy employees though high wages do not necessarily satisfy them

6.       Develop a spirit of participation so an employee can see himself as a person whose opinions matter

7.       Create meaningful jobs so an employee can see how his work contributes to the “end product” of the establishment

8.       Talk to staff about their progress

9.       Extend opportunities to learn and grow

10.   Create a team whose commitment to excellence is visible to new employees

11.   Treat your staff well since that is the way they will generally treat your guests

12.   Support good local causes

Innovative reward & recognition programmes generally boost morale and sustain interest over longer periods. You may provide perks such as overtime, medical allowance, staff transport, incentives on increased volumes of business, flexible schedules, an annual picnic, a prize for employee of the month, educational assistance, annual bonus etc.

A consistent effort over time will develop your reputation as a serious restaurateur committed to high standards of food service management. Now you can have your choice of the best employees in the business.