Waitress Job: History of the Industry and the Contemporary Workplace in Historical Perspective - Essay Example

WAITRESS JOB Introduction Waitress is one of the oldest jobs in the catering industry. Though it has little history that can be attached to the development of the job, it has definitely undergone dramatic changes in the past to emerge as it is today. In this regard a waitress is basically involved in serving other people. As a waiter you understand that your duty is to ensure that you serve the needs of the customers. There are many tasks that a waiter is involved in while serving customers. It is the duty of a waiter to ensure that customer gets all what thy want while in the hall. This will vary from serving them with foods and drinks and other items that they require. I work for Jericho Terrace on Jericho turnpike in New York. This company operates in the catering industry where it offers services like weddings and other functional catering. The company has been in the business for number of years and has been able to cut a niche in the market. it has become a leading catering complain in New York offering service to a wide range of customers especially for wedding and other functions like end of year company parties and others. It is a part of the large hospitality industry which has been one of the rapidly growing sectors in the world fuelled by the increasing changes that have been taking place in the social life and increased demand of superior services in the market that meets the needs of the consumers. Waitress has been one of the pillars of the growth of the business since they directly determine the level of customer satisfaction. The survival of any business in the industry depends on the way in which it can meet the demands of the consumers in the sense that it have to serve the needs on the consumers and in a way that they need to be served. Therefore waitress who is in direct contact with consumers makes a lot of contribution in the way the customers will rate the services of the company and therefore how they will choose or recommend the company to another client in the future. Though not considered important as such, waitress is the most valuable assets that any catering business holds and which helps the business to move forward in the correct direction. History of the of the industry The modern catering industry has along history of development having evolved from the food industry in the early days. Catering industry has been developed in the last century but its history can be traced to many years ago and since the evolution of business. It is one of the most complex industries of all times. Food industry has been one of the growing industries in the world and has made a lot of contribution to the development of wealth in the USA. Since the development of agrarian practices in the world, there have been increased culinary practices although most of it was practiced in homes. But in the since the turn of the century, there was the development of commercial catering in which food was produced purposely for sale. Catering industry has been there but some of the development in the modern catering has only taken place in the recent past. While we may associate chefs and the culinary world with hotels, we should understand that restaurants and other catering have developed in the recent past. For the better part of our history, food preparation was centered in homes and on feasts and celebrations especially for kings or for other occasion. In America particularly, catering industry is still young and started its development only after the Second World War. It was only after the war that companies which had previously supplied foods in the world war began thinking of an innovative way to continue with their services. As the economy started to boom immediately after the war, there was increased demand of catering service in America and it is from there that these companies found a niche in the market. This was like a revolution as services which have been previously preserved for the rich and the wealthier suddenly became open to all people and there was a rapid rise in catering business. This revolution saw the diversification in the industry with more and more people specializing in different catering activities. There was the rise of restaurants which initially marked the begging of the catering business. But it did not end there as there was need for more specific business targets as the demand for the service increased. The corporate world was changing at the same rate and there was increased demand of more personal and specialized services. As a result there was increased diversification in the industry and the rise of companies that specialized in the provision of catering services. (Education centre online, 2008) After the rise of the restaurants there was development of functional catering. In this regard towards the turn of the last century and in the preceding few decades, there was growing demand to have privatized catering service in function such as wedding, birthday parties, companies end year parties and others. This led to the emergence of the modern catering companies like my company which offers specialized catering services. But there has been various changes in the way the industry has been conducting business. From the earlier time when the catering services were more generalized, we have come to a time when the catering service are becoming more personalized and when there is increased need for more professional service. One of the changes that has characterized the Industry has been the development of professionalism in the industry. There is a trend of moving toward more personalized services which are tailor made to the occasion and the customer. In this regard the industry has moved from serving the mass which characterized it early evolution to the modern day time when it is targeting specific customers and their specific demands. Apart from the change that have taken place in the way the industry offer its service there have also been a change on the items that are provided to the consumer. This means that there have been a remarkable change in the provision of goods and services to the consumers. There has been development of modern cuisines which targets the specific consumers and which is more aimed at reaching the target customers. In this regard the industry has embraced variety due to the changing nature of customer that it serves. The wave of globalization has had an effect of changing the perception of the industry from serving only the local people and the increased tourism has opened a wider field for the industry as any catering company is likely to serve different people from different industry at any one function. Therefore there has been a change in the world wide appeal and the cuisines that have been developed have been reflecting the nature of diversity in the world. (Global Catering industry Survey, 2006) At the some time there have been changing nature of waitress job as the industry changes. One of the basic futures of the job that has changed has been increased professionalism in the industry and the rise of training schools which are aimed at producing professionally trained waitress for the industry. Compared to earlier times, there has been more ethics that has been applied on the job which comes with increased demand for professionalism in the business. The changing nature of the industry have corresponding with the need to change the nature of the business as well. In this regard there has been increasing need to change the way waitress offer their service and way they handle the customer. Due to the changing nature of the world and increased globalization, there has been a need to achieve a standardized way of serving consumers due to the diversity that has been taking place in the market. In order to makes sure customer feel satisfied by the services the are given, there has been an increasing need to give them services that they will feel matches their expectations in the industry. The increased wave of globalization has been one of the leading factors that has enabled the industry to cope with the rising demand to have a standardized way of serving customers and therefore the need for development of professionalism in the industry. My company has been one of the key players in the industry although it has been experiencing a still completion in the recent past. Having opened its door to the consumer in the 1973, Jericho Terrace has become an icon in the New York City catering industry and it is poised to achieve a higher growth rate. I has been able to build a reputation among the customer due to the superior nature of the services that we offer. The impeccability of its service, elegance ambiance and the attention to details that the company has cultivated in its service has been a source of strength in the competitive market. The founder of the business Leone Family has maintained dedication to the business since it was stared up to now. Therefore perfectness in its services has been the core factor that has enabled it to survive the otherwise competitive market. (Jericho Terrace, 2008) There are fierce competitors to the company who have also worked to build a name in the growing industry. Most of these operators are well know companies which have been able to build marketing niche in the industry. They are many as the diversity in the industry. Most notable competitor include Butterfied Market, Jackie Catering, Skyline Cruises - catering services, Kyeton Kitchen, Signature Cocktails, Elegant Affairs, Essectina catering, Exquisite Foods, Thyme Events, Tip of the Tongue Caterers, and many others. All these companies have been competing in order to cut a niche in the otherwise very competitive market. The survival of any company industry has been based on the survival tactics that a company is able to employ in its business. In this regard Jericho has been working on quality and affordability of its service in order to ensure that customers feel more satisfied with our services. With changing nature of the industry has been the changing nature of customer that the company has been targeting. Initially there was a general target towards the rich and those whom we thought could have afforded our service. But this has been changing with time and the current trend has been a focus on those customers who needs our service and not who can afford our service. This is due to the customer mobility factors that have been impacting the industry with the recent outlook to micro environment of our operation. In this regard we have moved from target big occasion like wedding parties and corporate parties to even come up with packages for our micro consumers who are the Individual persons. Although most of our services are rendered out to the big parties like wedding and others, we have found the need to rhyme with the changes that have been taking place in the market and in this regard with the need to be more open to the consumers and to meet the needs of individual persons. As the trend towards personalization of services continue, our company does not need to be left behind and it has been moving in the same direction. Therefore we don't value customer according to their wealth but rather according to the fact that they need our service. Gone is the in time when private catering function was only for kings and queens in the palace and for corporations. However trends shows that most of those who call for private catering function are those who are wealth and the others prefer to use the service of the private catering firms when they have occasion. There has also been increased use of catering services by other institutions like those for the old and also hospitals and schools. This shows that catering is not only an emerging industry but it is also a growing industry as well. As the industry grow there have also been the need for government intervention in order to ensure that there is smooth operation of the company. Though there has not been great control by the government on the industry, there have been a remarkable need to ensure that there are proper measures that are taken to protect the consumer. In this regard the industry has been required to comply with the government laws on food hygiene practices in order to protect the health of the consumers. This has been in the interest of protecting the health of consumer. However there have been not regulation that have been put in place in order to regulate entry and exit in and out of the industry. The sector has been a liberalized market when the laws of demand and supply reigns and survival of companies is dependant on the level of their services to the consumers. The contemporary workplace in historical perspective In the catering industry there are several workers who are segments into different ranks. The major section that make up the industry include the production department that is mainly concerned with production of foods. There is the service industry under with the waitress job lies. This department is mainly concerned with the serving the customer foods and drinks and other duties like collection of equipments and cleaning. It is also mandated with welcoming guest to the function. Then there is the administration section which oversees coordination of services in the industry with a focus on the need to satisfy customer demands and to deliver services on time as required. There are different ranks in each of these departments and the level of mobility is high. In the service section, there is also a high level of mobility. In the beginning one will be started with the duties like cleaning and other which require little contact with the customer since they may not have experience in the service of the customer or their level of public relations may be a bit low. But with time as one gets used to the company, one can rise to higher ranks and therefore it all depends with the efforts that one puts in the world and also the comments that are made by the customers regarding their services. The hierarchy in the waitress jobs are dependant on the organization. But there is usually the head waiters who is supposed to coordinate the work of all the other waiters. There are not distinct levels of hierarchy but it all depends on the way a waitress can perform here duties which will mostly determine their level of rating and the duties that they will be assigned to do. However most of the waitress in the company have been assigned special duties according to their areas of excellence. This has been respect to the practice of specialization which has been one of the most recent human resource management practices. There has been development of unions to look at the welfare of the waiter in the large New York City. This has been in line with the development that have been taking place in the market that have led to the development of a welfare body that will look into issues concerning the welfare of the waiters. The company has not put in place barriers that restrict its waiters to join unions in regard to the respect of the rights of the workers. The company has been emphasizing on the important of managing the relationship between the waiters and the customers. Therefore the greatest emphasize of the company on the job of waiters in respect of the duties that waiters are expected to perform and the need to cultivate professionalism in their work. Conclusion The catering industry has been recording remarkable growth in the recent past. From its predecessor food industry, the industry has been able to make strides towards the development of functioning business system that serves the needs of the individual consumers. Waiters have been one of the key pillars of the industry and have contributed so much in maintaining personal relationship between the business and the customers. Therefore one of the most important factors that the industry has to keep to if it has to ensure future survival will be the need to keep up with the business demands and to look at the welfare to the waiters. Without waiters, the business will no be making any appeal to the consumers since they are the most important asset that the business holds. Waiter will continue to play a crucial role in helping America to build it economy through building of its wealth. As America change, the catering industry is changing breaking the barriers of poverty and wealth and bring about more equity in life. Reference Education centre online, (2008). Catering: A short History; Retrieved from http://www.educationcenteronline.org/articles/Culinary-Arts/Catering-Industry-History.html on 5th May 2008 Global Catering industry Survey, (2006): Catering Industry. Retrieved from, http://www.fdi.gov.cn/pub/FDI_EN/Economy/Sectors/Service/Catering/t20070611_79657.htm on 5th May 2008 Jericho Terrace, (2008): Our history. Retrieved from http://www.weddingsitesandservices.com/New_York/ReceptionSites/NassauCounty_LongIsland/New_York/Mineola/JerichoTerrace.html on 5th May 2008 Read More