Strategic Human Resource Management - Case Study Example

Executive Summary Being a market leader in its field, Jacqueline’s Diner International has the need of recognizing the intangible aspect of its product—customer service. In this new strategy of coupling delectable menu with excellent customer service, it is irrefutable that the company will need to align its front line for the attainment of its various organizational goals. This report recommends that the casual dining giant focus on three aspects in the training and development program namely company culture, standard of service, and operational guidelines. Introduction Human resource management, in the simplest sense can be defined as “getting things done through people.” This function of management has been in place throughout the history of mankind yet it is irrefutable that this function has evolved to incorporate significant developments. With these revolutions the focus shifted from how “get things done through people” to “getting people do things” for the company’s utmost benefit. This signals an alteration of the management perception of the human resource. Nowadays, there is a global recognition of the crucial role played by employees in attaining the goals of an organization as well as responsibility of management to harness the full potential of its workforce. This suggests the increasing role of the human resource department of becoming more involved and participating in the strategy making of the firm. The importance of human resource can never be overstated. John Purcell further highlighted the importance of employees in his research which emphasized the huge role played by the company’s workforce as “strategic partners.” This research strongly supports the highly economist viewpoint of Grant (2002: 219) of “aligning employees with organizational goals.” Schuler and Jackson (1987) gave a more precise description on how management should “align” their workforce to support the company crafted strategy. Their conclusion was: If management chooses a competitive strategy of differentiation through product innovation, this would call for high levels of creative, risk-orientated and cooperative behaviour. The company’s HR practices would therefore need to emphasise … “selecting highly skilled individuals, giving employees more discretion, using minimal controls, making greater investment in human resources, providing more resources for experimentation, allowing and even rewarding failure and appraising performance for its long run implications” – on the other hand if management wants to pursue cost leadership … (the model) suggests designing jobs which are fairly repetitive, training workers as little as is practical, cutting staff numbers to the minimum and rewarding high output and predictable behaviour. (Boxall and Purcell 2003:53-4) The above discussion makes a very strong case for strategic human resource management in today’s business environment. It should be noted that a company’s workforce is an important asset and may even become its sustainable competitive advantage if utilized efficiently. Thus, the human resource department should take a more active role in the formation and execution of the business organization’s strategies. This report argues the case for strategic human resource management in Jacqueline’s Diner International1. Jacqueline’s Diner International: An Overview From its humble beginnings in 1980, Jacqueline’s Diner International, Inc (Jacqueline’s), has risen to become the largest casual dining restaurant chain in the United States based on size, market share, and revenue. Today, Jacqueline’s operates 1, 900 casual dining restaurants all over the world operating with the commitment of providing “attractive, friendly, neighborhood establishment featuring moderately priced, high-quality food and beverage items, table service and a comfortable atmosphere that speaks to all ages” Specializing in casual dining, Jacqueline’s restaurants offer lunch and dinner made up of entrees of beef, chicken, pork, seafood and pasta dishes, desserts and appetizers which the company changes from time to time in response to the patrons’ tastes and preferences. The price of an average meal is $11. Aside from providing dine-in services, it also introduces Carside To Go which allows customers to consume their orders outside the store premises. Recognizing the clamor for a healthier lifestyle, it has teamed up with Weight Watchers International in offering the Weight Watchers selections. Geographically, it has the small market segment in rural areas under 25,000 in population while cornering larger market segments in the cities. In its 2006 Annual Report, Jacqueline’s emphasizes: “Our current operating strategy is to focus on increasing comparable sales and average unit volumes in existing restaurants by improving the fundamentals of Jacqueline’s concepts and placing less emphasis on new restaurants development for company-owned markets in past. As part of this strategy, we are concentrating leveraging our value proposition and broadening our appeal to guests through an improved menu and consumer messaging.” Beyond the Tangible: Excellent Customer Service In its statement above, it becomes apparent that Jacqueline’s is competing through differentiation. Jacqueline’s currently do this by offering a wide array of delectable menu and healthy menu in order to satisfy the palate of its market. Because of the proliferation of new entrants in the market, the more intense rivalry among industry players, and new product offerings in the market, Jacqueline’s is compelled to enhance its current differentiation strategy. The restaurant chain also recognizes that aside from the satisfying meals that it provides to its customers, the company should also focus on the intangible aspect of its product—service. The importance of excellent customer service is becoming more pronounced. According to survey conducted by industry experts and analysts, the casual dining industry is estimated to be a $70 million industry and is still growing annually. When asked about their preferences, customers state that the secondary criterion in choosing a casual restaurant is the level of customer service. For Jacqueline’s, customer service has been regarded unimportant. In fact, the company faces customers’ complaints on poor service quality. There has been no proper briefing and training on how clients should be treated and management does not emphasize any concern on customer service. Thus, the shift on more customer service oriented operation will bring a huge impact on its workforce. Human Resource in Strategic Shift Jacqueline’s workforce is irrefutably instrumental in formulating and carrying out the specific change in the company’s strategy. In fact, being in the front line of the company’s operations, the casual dining’s workforce becomes the primary strategic partner which will carry out the change in its orientation. Since the attendants and waiters are the ones directly communicating and interacting with the customers, the quality of customer service is almost solely dependent on them. Thus, it is strongly advised that Jacqueline looks into aligning its human resource to its organizational capabilities. The company should be able to transform its human resource into strategic resources in order for Jacqueline’s to extend that required excellent customer service. The move into transforming frontline employees into strategic partners should support the goal of “accumulating several process skills into a complex strategy-making capability” in order to “outperform less capable firms” (Hart & Banbury, 1994, p. 255). In the case of Jacqueline’s, it needs to have the superior workforce which will provide the best service in the casual dining industry. At the end, the company will check if it is able to transform its workforce into a valuable, rare, hard to imitate, and unsubstitutable resource. Recommendations: Employee Training and Development Programs The human resource department is instrumental in transforming the current workforce to be strategic partners. Jacqueline’s plan of extending customer service will start by the efforts of the human resource department in changing the mindset of its employees. It is irrefutable that this will include a lot of aspects but this report will focus only on the training and development program which will be conducted in order to fear the workforce with the appropriate knowledge and skills which they will utilize in their interaction with the casual diners. Currently, Jacqueline’s do not conduct any formal training to its employees. Once they are hired, they are given the go-signal to join in the company’s operations. This is where they actually learn the tasks that they will handle. The training and development program which will be implemented in Jacqueline’s is consists of communicating the company’s strategies, establishing a standard in customer service, and operational guidelines. Each of these components is expected to enable the company to fully align its workforce to its strategies. The first part of the training program will focus on communicating the company’s vision, mission, objective, and strategies. This portion is deemed to be very important because it explains to the employee why the training is being done. Jacqueline will be able to fully transform its workforce into strategic partners by fully explaining them the deal. It should be noted that this move does not only communicate what the company is trying to achieve but will also communicate its concern and trust to its employees. The goal here is to stress that the new strategy will only work if employees act as strategic partners. This program will also enable Jacqueline’s to create a culture of excellence rooted on trust and empowerment. Since its inception, the company fails to set a specific standard of service in its operation. The training program is geared in creating a set of standard that each employee should meet in his or her interaction and dealing with every customer. In here, it should be emphasized that the main goal is to put a smile into customer’s faces and to satisfy them by offering all the service that they can. The company must also set specific time frames that limit the time needed for orders to be prepared, for customers to wait until seated, and others. Even though Jacqueline’s is trying to standardize, it should also be emphasized that customer service should be customized according to client’s needs and preferences. Lastly, Jacqueline’s will also train its employees by giving specific operational guidelines. These are the imperative things which should be given to every customer. Protocol should include greeting and opening doors for customers once they arrive, invite him to the bar if his date has not yet arrived, and making them comfortable by assisting them in their specific needs like high chair if they are dining with toddlers. This can also be added by giving customers with free invites and flowers. The human resource department has a huge role in transforming the workforce into strategic partners. It should not only train employees but should also monitor the progress and performance of front liners in extending the desired customer service. However, it should also be noted that the top management should also recognize the huge role and give the department a more active role in the formulation and execution of strategies. References Boxall, P. and Purcell, J. (2003) Strategy and Human Resource Management Palgrave Macmillan Grant, R. (2002) Contemporary Strategy Analysis: Concepts, Techniques, Applications (4th edition) Malden, MA: Blackwell Publishers. Schuler, R. & Jackson, S. (1987) ‘Linking competitive strategies and human resource management practices’, Academy of Management Executive 1(3): 207-219.. The Changing Role of HR. (2002). The Economist. March 31, 2002 Wright, P., Gardner, T. and Moynihan, L. (2003) ‘The impact of HR practices on the performance of business units’ Human Resource Management Journal 13:3, 21-36. Read More