Training Program for Top of Pizza Inclusive - Case Study Example

Training program for Top of Pizza Inclusive Introduction The training program is designed to aid Top of Pizza Inclusive Restaurant to enhance its performance. Top of Pizza Inclusive operates in the fast food industry and was formed in the year 1996. The company is based in Las Vegas, United States of America. It is the hope of Top of Pizza Inclusive fraternity to have the restaurant expands to other States. The company offers the following products and services; pasta, Pizza, salad, wings, and fingers in addition to that they offer delivery services for clients around Las Vegas and Green Valley. Training program The company has been operational for almost a decade, and therefore they must have encountered challenges hindering success. In this training program, four key areas for the company success will be discussed, and possible solutions suggested for implementation. 1. Time management 2. Production process 3. Public relationship 4. Quality enhancement Time management Time is more expensive than that gold coated watch or sporty automobile, because of the irreversibility feature (Laird, & Naquin, 2003). To be reasonable everything within this organization has to be guided by time and it is by that processes run smoothly. There are very many instances where time is lost when operations are being carried out. An employee may come to work late and still expects to clock out exactly when the shift ends as per the roster. Digging back what might cause the lateness it will be found out that he/she spent much time on certain thing forgetting the next role awaiting him/her. Failing to plan and waiting for great results is exclusively planning to fail. An organization like this requires being conscious with time in its operations. Getting the best time plan for running certain activities requires priority to be established. The nine years the firm has been operational it must have identified the products the clients order much and at what time interval. Having this in mind, the products that are on high demand in morning hours should be allocated much workforce in the morning and vice versa in the afternoon and evening. Production process Food industry is a unique field because the pattern of clients can be plotted smoothly in a graph. Production of the food needs to be aligned with the pattern of orders placed by the clients. Lunch hour is expected to have much order from clients; therefore, the employees should have set all the components required for finishing the product ready. Adopting idea such as “delayed differentiation” will enhance the rate of service delivery. Delayed differentiation refers to a product having completed just remaining a few customization demands from the consumer (Jansen, 1988). Raw material required for producing those final products need to be available throughout the production process. According to (Jansen, 1988), implementation of just-in-time (JIT) model will facilitate not only the steady flow of raw material, but also delivering of raw material when they are required. The benefits associated with this model are beyond quantification. The cost incurred in maintaining inventory can be too high, thus eating into the proceeds the firm generates. If this cost were eliminated ever since 1996, it indisputable a plan to open another outlet in the neighboring states would be underway. Quality enhancement The industry has many players competing to be the top of mind for all consumers. Top of Pizza cannot just sit back and expect clients will just flock in their outlets. Identification of x-factor that will make consumer craving for the products is important. For instance, McDonald’s is recognized for its delicious hamburger worldwide. Therefore, as Top of Pizza, ideas should be generated on how to enhance the quality of the pizzas. Kaizen model adopted by Toyota Company emphasizes the need to continuously enhancing the quality of products (Koole, n.d.). The pizza can be molded to shapes like a love heart, dolls et cetera. Public relationship Public relation will entail all those people this restaurant engages with either for business or other functions. Company’s image to the public is what matters, since clients judge a firm on its attention to public demand. The marketing team should assess the brand growth in the Las Vegas and its environs to determine the performance. Multinational firms like McDonald’s Corporation have been able to succeed by opening outlets in several states because of their ability to harness consumers’ demand. According to (Laird, & Naquin, 2003) in a business, one should know that, the clients are the dictating factor; therefore it is either one follows their demand or shut down with massive losses. Since the restaurant offers doorstep delivery of its products, it is essential the communication channel used to be accessible and flexible to the clients. Personnel in charge of external communication should be courteous and make the clients feel they are the king at the moment. The idea behind this is to buy their loyalty, and once this done the growth of the restaurant will be on the right track. Milkovich, & Boudreau, (1991), argued that Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) is not meant for the giant companies only, and suggested that, small firms like this one receives significant credit for the little effort it does to the society. For instance, if a donation of food items is presented to children home there is a possibility most people would love to be associated with the company’s brand. The benefits accrued with this move will push the firm forward. Challenges in the implementation Frustration from employees- The move to have time exploited to the maximum is a challenge especially when managing adults. Some employees might think the management has become dictatorial in its time schedule. However, change cannot be achieved without the resistance and after all achieving the firm’s goal is what matters. Saying this does not mean that the employees are to be denied time to refresh themselves, no they are human being, not robots. External players- Production process engages external players, who are the suppliers, thus minimal control over them. There are times when suppliers fail to meet the quantity of raw material demanded, and if they deliver it is late. Actions like this are unprofessional, but cannot be ignored not to happen. As a manager, it is prudent to have a list of potential supplier who can be reliable, such that if one the “loyal” fails, a substitute is available. Consumers- The clients can sometimes become nuisance or arrogant when placing orders, and it is therefore, important for the employee entitled to receive orders to be calm. It might seem to be a hard task because someone’s ego and esteem are at a losing end. Rough clients should be identified and chances of conflict erupting with them minimized. Cost impact- Improving the quality of products is expensive, and a firm should be ready to incur such costs. There are instances where clients will dislike an enhancement made, but that should not deter the management in pumping resources into programs that will buffer its products and services. The era we are living demands creativity to stand out in the business world. Training strategy All the training needs assessed above in this paper are all vital to the growth of Top of Pizza Inclusive. Therefore, a strategy on how to ensure they are handled is essential. The following approach will be useful in the implementation process 1. Prioritization Training on all aspect cannot take place in a single session, since it will require professions from each area. Based on the company’s urgent need it will be brilliant to have employees trained on the following order production process, quality enhancement, time management, and public relationship. The reason production process training should be first is once the employees are taught on this skill, the production cost will reduce and the amount used for the remaining training. 2. Selection of members to be trained ` Each training session is designed for specific staffs and, therefore, selection should be based on the job allocation of the employee (Milkovich, G., & Boudreau, 1991). For instance front office staff is one supposed to attend the training on public relationship and the senior chef to attend quality control and enhancement training. Time management can be attended by all employees because it touches on the all the activities. 3. Type of training Training can either be on-the-job or off-the-job, based on the training needs required is when decision on this can be made. In this case, training employees on quality enhancement and control will be expensive if a trainer is contracted to come impart the skills. Bearing in mind the Restaurant is still growing and needs to check on its expenditure and the employees are not many. Training on time management can be conducted within the restaurant since all staffs will undergo this training. The management can bargain on the charge since it will have the quorum. This kind of training is regarded as on-the-job training. 4. Analyzing training impact Training employees is a long term investment and, therefore, the benefits will be gained slowly, but it will be lasting. References Jansen, R. (1988). Just-in-time manufacturing. IFS Publications. Koole, G. (n.d.). Kaizen: The Right Approach to Continuous Improvement. Journal of the Operational Research Society, 1399-1400. Laird, D., & Naquin, S. (2003). Approaches to training and development (3rd ed.). Cambridge, Mass.: Perseus Books Group. Milkovich, G., & Boudreau, J. (1991). Human resource management (6th ed.). Homewood, IL: Irwin. Read More