Developing Good Communication between Management and the Staff to Reduce the Labor Turn Over in Cafe - Research Paper Example

The Children’s Museum of The aim of this research is to address key problems at the museum café. The study involves use of analytical tools for problem- solving to curb the troubles in the café. The research involves solutions to the rising turnover. The study involves use of questionnaires to get the views of the employees, in order to find the main cause of the problems. Background Turnover in restaurants is a common problem in many restaurants. Turnovers get to the rise in an economy that is in prosperity. This is when there are many opportunities for the employees and in case they are dissatisfied in their current jobs; they will opt to move to a new job. As people change jobs, employers also tend to lay off workers as they hire new man power. This also leads to increase of turnover. Restaurants tend to reduce the employees in seasons when the economy is performing poorly. When there is lay off of workers, it leads to unemployment and when the economy is performing well, it reduces the turnover rates as more people get employment. Employees in restaurants tend to stay in their current jobs when the economy is poorly performing, as there are fewer opportunities. They tend to change jobs in high seasons of the economy as more restaurants are hiring. Some of the causes of labor turnover include; poor working conditions, lack of incentives for the employees like bonuses and reward schemes for better performers, poor payment or low wages, poor relationship between the management and the staff. Employers who take time to listen to the problems of the staff and give reasonable solutions tend to get fewer turnovers. Those who give promotions and rewards to their employees also encourage their employees and reduce the turnover rate. An employer should also give the employee an opportunity to advance and increase their pay. In an organization, for a manager to resolve problems with the employees he/she must have good communication skills. MUSEUM CAFÉ’ RESEARCH As the manager of the café: it is important to find out the major cause of the problem within the café, leading to the high turnover. A problem, any matter or situation that is not welcome our daily routines. It is harmful and ways to overcome it with immediate effect need to be put in place. For one to find a solution to a problem, one first has to learn how the things should be. After finding the problematic area, then he/she applies a process to solve the process. Steps involved in problem solving; When dealing with a problem, these steps are important: 1 Identify what the problem is: This is the first step in dealing with any problem. From the case the problem is trying to figure out why the café is unpopular and is not making profit. 2 Defining the problem: At this point this is where one tries to find out what caused the problem, how the problem looks like, and the size of the problem. The problem is that the café has a poor quality image in a very popular museum. 3 Come up with possible solutions: This is where one tries to come up with all possible the solutions that can solve the problem. It’s important to consider our options in this case. The café may be put under new management or It may be closed or can also be rebranded in an attempt to win back the customers. 4 Making a decision: Here, one evaluates the solutions from above. This is where one calculates on the advantages and disadvantages of the solutions and one makes a conclusion based on this. The best solution would in this case be the one that makes the most economical sense. This solution should also Not negatively affect the Museums porpularity. 5 Implementing the solution: This is the final stage. A solution is put to practice to weigh its advantages and disadvantages. This is done to all the solutions adapted to weighing the best solution to use. After deciding the best cause of action the Museum manager should create an important implementation schedule. In this case the major problem within the café is staff turnover. Staff turnover in the café is a problem that has been solved from knowing its cause to finding solutions on dealing with it. Below are comments on the problem of increased labor turnover and the proposed measures by which this could be improved; How to Reduce Staff Turnover Having café workers that go by the rules of the place is a great thing. Reasons Employees Leave There are several reasons as to why an employee can leave a job. Some of these reasons are accelerated by the pay rates in the cafes. Below are some reasons as to why employees leave their jobs. Poor pay rates Lack of advancement opportunities Very little employment benefits Lack of understanding between the employees and the employer. Best Ways to Encourage Employee Retention Despite the above reasons as to why the employees leave Café jobs, there are several ways of retaining them. Here are the several ways of retaining employees: Offer Pay Raises Most of the employees leave their current jobs in search of better payment elsewhere. A pay rise for the high performing employees and promotions will motivate the employees. Offer Care and Benefits Taking care of employees together with knowing their families will make employees feel cared for. Employees also need to enjoy other benefits like insurance. Recognize and Reward Recognizing the most hardworking employees and rewarding them is a good way to encourage even the lazy ones because they will all work hard for a reward. This will encourage them because it shows that their hard work does not go un-noticed. Be as Fair as Possible It is obvious that all employees look for employers who are fair to them. Fairness in terms of payment and reporting time will ensure that the employees are always respecting their work. Improve Communication Communication between the employer and the employees creates a connection between the workers and the management. Holding staff meetings frequently will make more connection. Make the employees feel that they are part of the business by showing them love. Properly Train All Employees Before starting to work, all members of staff should undergo a training program. The training should include taking them around the café to make sure that they get familiar with the place. Provide Opportunities for Advancement Whenever there is an employee whose performance deserves advancement, opportunities for the same ought to be availed by the management. This will boost their morale. Catering provision in the café The café has food department that deals with what people have to put in their stomachs. In the food department, there are employed qualified chefs to give the best to the customers. There is buffet service to ensure variety is provided to the customers. Some customers drive from very far places to this cafe and most of them bring along their friends and relatives. In the buffet crab legs are always in the diet, there is also seafood, pasta, and royal red shrimp. Museum cafe buffet services feed over 20000 people for lunch and dinner in a month. In the beverage department there is bottled water as most people say that water is life, local sodas, and beer. In the beverage section, beer is not sold to underage people. The catering provisions in the café are defined by the outputs of the products. The basic function of the catering section is to serve food and drinks to customers and satisfy their needs. The main aim of the café catering section is to achieve customer satisfaction. Some of the needs that customers seek to achieve include the following: The need for special food items The need for good value of their money- this is through the price paid. A friendly environment The café aims at contributing to the country’s economy, creating employment by offering jobs for example to the chefs, and promoting diversity through different food concepts. FOOD SERVICE OPERATIONS WITHIN THE CAFÉ This is an analysis of how different foodservice operations work within the café. The consumer and market needs target the customer’s needs and the market potential. Formulation of policy explains the operating method to be used. Interpretation of demand explains the facilities and equipments required for the food and beverage operations. Planning and designing of facilities required in the food and service operations. Provisioning for food and beverage requirements to meet the food and production needs. Production and service explains the operations and management of the food production requirements. Control of cost and revenue explains the cost of materials and control of revenue. Monitoring of consumer satisfaction explains on how to continually check whether the operations are meeting the customer’s needs. ASPECTS TO MONITOR PRODUCTIVITY   Most important (%) Least important (%) Level of satisfaction for customers 74 11 Member loyalty 50 12 Capacity 30 30 Budget 27 27 Cost 24 45 Money collected 18 41 Number of table 13 50 Covers Per Staff 0 67 The café offers services upon order and delivery is free. Working hours are between 10am to 5.30pm. All services are taxed at the current rate. At the café duration of less than 48 hours for orders is not considered. COMMON TYPES OF SERVICES 1 Table service: Customers are served table. This type of service includes food served in a plate or silver service. This is a common type of service in most cafés. 2 Self-service: This type of service requires the customer to help him or herself from a buffet or counter. This type of service is commonly found in cafeterias. 3 Assisted service: The customer is served part of the meal at the table and is required to get the other part of the meal through self-service from buffet. This is the type of service used in children’s museum café. 4 Single point service: This type the customer orders for the food and beverage pays and receives the food and beverage, at the counter. 5 Specialized service: This type of service requires the food and drink taken to where the customer is. RECOMMENDATIONS ON CATERING PROVISION For a successful food and beverage service, teamwork, good product knowledge and good interpersonal skills are key. The personnel in the food production team need to have the following qualities for a productive business: Enough knowledge on the product and servicing process of all items on the menu. Be able to guide visitors on the various types of entertainment offered. The staff members must be well behaved, clean and of well-spoken manner. The staff members need to have a positive attitude at all times. MARKETING STRATEGY The café s opens between 10. Am in the morning and 4.pm in the evening this means that the café would offer a good entertainment spot for teenagers who have free time during the day. There are several marketing strategies but with museum café, offering free samples of food is one of the strategies to promote the café. People will come to the café because of food so by going to the streets and to local events and giving samples will attract a good number to the café. If the food is good enough to attract customers, they will book a table at the café and through this the café will make double profits. This strategy will mostly attract teenagers. The chart above shows the average spending for each age group that comes to the café. Teenagers spend the most money per meal which means that if the café focuses on attracting more teenagers then they will make higher profits. Another strategy of marketing in the café is having promotions and themed evenings. This strategy keeps customers wanting to comeback for more. This strategy is of importance to the profits of the café because people pay to attend such events. Through this the café will make more and more profits and will attract people to the café on most times. OTHER BUSINESSES OF THE CAFÉ The café can handle event businesses and this part gives the business a boost because the café earns extra money from this. The museum café is capable of holding evening functions therefore making money. In an event of 81 guests, museum café makes 31,148 dollars from food and 9,756 dollars from beverages. FINANCIAL INFROMATION For any business to make money, good management of the business is key. It is easy to calculate the finances of a business. When this is done at the right time, any upcoming problem is identified and solved. Two things involved to allow business owners to track problems include; income statements and balance sheets. This should be done on monthly basis. Museum cafés financial information is based on the products for sale that are available here. Some of these products include the services offered here. Museum café feeds over 20000 people on average for both lunch and dinner. This results to a huge profit. The café has not lost any money since the time it started its operations 18 years ago. From the year 2010 to 2014 the café has experienced growth in its profits. Findings A successful business requires good personnel. The children’s museum café has been successful due to qualified personnel. The museum café makes profit from the services that are offered here. It has maintained itself even with competition from other businesses because of its marketing strategy. Recommendations The number of people has been increasing each year and this increase the profits. The higher the number of people coming to the museum the higher the profits gained. It is up to the management to attract more clients. The best practices to include in this café would be to theme the café to attract more teenagers who spend more. Conclusion To reduce the labor turn over, the manager should develop good communication between management and the staff, to be able to find their problems and give prompt solutions. The manager should come up with ways to motivate the employees and give opportunities for growth. References 1 Keith, M. Problem-solving techniques for a high-performance team. Available from http://www.reliableplant.com/Read/14690/high-performance-team 2 Dobson, K. S. (2010). Handbook of cognitive-behavioral therapies. New York, NY: Guilford Press. 3 Nezu, A. M., Nezu, C. M., Friedman, S. H., Faddis, S., & Houts, P. S. (1998). A problem-solving conceptualization of coping: Theory, research,  4 A. M. Nezu, C. M. Nezu, & S. H. Friedman (Eds.), Helping cancer patients cope: A problem-solving approach (pp. 29-68). Washington DC: APA. 5 Mayer, R. E. (1992). Thinking, problem solving, cognition. (second Ed.). New York: W. H. Freeman and Company. Read More