Suppose, you are the regional (northeastern US) HR manager of an expanding restaurant chain called "All Men Must Eat" which is based around a well-known fantasy television show. The restaurant is heavily meat-based, serving a variety of types and cuts of meat delivered by servers directly to diners on swords. Local craft ales, ciders and wines are the key attraction at the bar but although quality and variety of food and drink are major components of the customer experience, this is rounded out by staff with a customer facing role really embracing the spirit of the restaurant and 'living the fantasy'. Part of the experience involves servers and other front of house staff taking part in role-plays and reenactments for the diners' entertainment. One of the unique aspects of your chain is that it is structured around sectioned areas where servers, along with regular duties, must inhabit the 'character' of their section (often based on a particular 'house' or family from the show). You have been successful in staffing four new restaurants in your geographic area. Now that your restaurants are open and running, you are able to identify areas where improvements need to be made. The questions below highlight your current areas of concern regarding your severs across your region
1. Training: With the intention of being more proactive in your delivery of training and following a number of incidents (accidents and customer complaints) you need to make some choices regarding safety, hygiene and customer service training that your servers need to receive. What factors will you consider in designing, implementing and evaluating the training, and what factors will influence your choice of methods?
2. Performance: You want to ensure that servers are being given regular feedback on their performance so that improvements can be made. This is something that restaurant managers will need to be trained to do as you cannot do it yourself. What written guidelines could you provide to restaurant managers to ensure that they are constructing and delivering feedback in a way that encourages performance improvements?
3. Retention: A reasonably high rate of turnover is usually a given in the restaurant industry as lower paid jobs tend to attract students and seasonal or temporary workers. However, you are hoping to increase retention as servers with the unique KSAOs (Knowledge, Skills, Abilities, and Other characteristics) that you have identified are harder to find. Name and explain three realistic strategies that you could employ to retain servers in your restaurant.