Employee Training Program, Research Paper Example

Introduction

All of the employees in an organization would need to constantly learn to enhance their talents and knowledge as time goes by. They would need to learn from their peers and superiors the innovations which would help enhance their crafts as they progress on their careers. Employees would need to attend several seminars and workshops from time to time to learn new knowledge on a regular basis. They would need to heed the constructive criticisms of their superiors, if there would be any, and consider them as helpful for their growth in their careers. They need to do this instead of regarding the criticisms as targets to their characters.

Body

In this paper, I will be focusing on the employee training program for restaurant staff. In the restaurant business, the performance of the restaurant manager reflects the performances of its staff as well (Arduser, 2003). The restaurant manager handles the overall operations of the facility. He/she is the one concerned with handling the major concerns in the facility such as business transactions, customer satisfactions and of course, the job performances of the staff. The performances of the wait staff in restaurants ultimately affect the business prospects of the restaurants. If the performances of the staff are good, ultimately, customers would be coming back for more visits. With this said, it can be concluded that the good business of restaurants reflect good managerial skills of the managers.

Getting together staff for teamwork is an essential function which restaurant managers must accomplish as well (Arduser, 2003). No single worker can survive alone in a work place successfully without the assistance of their co-workers. This situation is especially true for restaurant staff. Restaurant staff needs to cooperate with one another in order to successfully deliver excellent customer service. A staff member who works closely with another staff member in the restaurant would likely get to know the service preferences of frequent customers, and will successfully apply effective customer service skills.

The restaurant manager has the essential duty of performing the task of preparing the skills needed for employee training program for the restaurant staff. Preparation of these skills should come from the heart of the manager in order to bring forth successful training sessions. First, the manager should prepare the employees the proper ways of greeting the customers when they first come in the restaurant. The greeting should be more than smiling to the customers. It should also contain the proper greeting remarks such as “Good Morning,” “Good Afternoon,” etc. Constant practicing with the wait staff in appropriateness of delivering greetings would make the staff more competent in being hosts/hostesses.

Next, the restaurant manager must prepare the waiting staff in serving the customers with class and delicateness. The manager should prepare the accompanying materials in the employee training program. After preparing them, the manager should make the purposes of such materials known to the employees. The manager should mention these purposes once again if the employees are already familiar with such purposes. The materials in the restaurant include, but are not limited to, silverwares and kitchen cutleries and utensils.

The primary staff members that the customers would see upon entering the restaurant premises is the wait staff known as the greeter/host or hostess (Arduser, 2003). The customer’s first impression of the possible service of the restaurant staff may be attributed on the ways that they would be welcomed to the restaurant by the said staff. Greetings and smiles of the host/hostess are highly recommended to have come from their hearts. This is because if they serve with happiness, they would ultimately make the customers feel that happiness, and ultimately, make the customers feel more satisfied with their services.

If a restaurant does not have a service bar, the bartender would be tasked to entertain the customers through conducting small talks with them (Arduser, 2003). The bartender is responsible for keeping the customers entertained while enjoying the ambiance of the restaurant. The server is the staff member who the customers mainly depend on for their needs and interact with (Arduser, 2003). The task of the server is to serve the foods and beverages with friendliness, effective speediness and with caution. Because the server would be talking to customers most of the time, his/her friendliness is of utmost noticeable to customers. The server should also be cautious so as not to make a negative impression of his/her service to the customers. Slow and careless servers are definitely uncalled for.

The busser is in charge of setting up and clearing the tables before and after meals of customers (Arduser, 2003). The busser must exhibit speediness in his/her work effectively, especially in a very busy restaurant. The busser must also take extra care in handling silverwares when performing his/her tasks. Now, it is time to tackle the second step in the employee training program-presentation. The restaurant manager now formally acts as the trainer to the employees he/she handles in the restaurant.

The restaurant manager must present the additional training materials given when greeting customers. These additional materials may be in the forms of having the greeters give out comment cards to customers to fill up before they leave the restaurant. By having the greeters give out these cards, customers would feel that they are valued as their opinions themselves are valued by the staff of the restaurant. When presenting the materials in the restaurant to be used to bartenders, it is important that the use of these materials. The use of these materials is demonstrated in connection with the development of the skills of the bartenders as well. Bartenders need to be attentive in observing the presentation of the manager in this part of the training program. They need to do so in order to not break any bottles of drinks that they would handle.

The servers need to observe carefully the manager’s presentation of serving with food and beverages with physical ease and caution. After observing the manager’s presentation in this part of the training program, the servers need to take it to heart the importance of having smooth physical grace when serving customers. The servers also need to remember that the most important role they have is ensuring that they serve with cautiousness so as to not spill anything on the customers. It is of crucial importance that bussers observe the presentation of the manager at least twice before actual performance of tasks. The tasks of the bussers are complex and strenuous. These tasks need to be internalized deeply for a while before being performed, which is unlike the experiences of the other restaurant staff.

The kitchen staff (chef), dishwasher and management and administration are the other staff members of the restaurant (Arduser, 2003). These staff members may skip the first two parts of the training program, through assisting the restaurant manager in implementing the initial steps in the program. The chef, dishwasher and management members have their own

knowledge base applicable to their tasks at work. With this said, they do not need intensive participations in the employee training program. The chef usually has attended and graduated from culinary school before being applying for the said position in a restaurant. The management members also had the relevant training and education prior to being employed. As for the dishwasher, he/she had honed dishwashing skills at home before becoming a dishwasher.

The chef, dishwasher and management members still need to enhance their skills despite their knowledge and experience. For this reason, the president of the restaurant needs to hire an expert employee trainer in order to guide them in enhancing their skills. The chef can learn cooking and preparing new food that the customers have not tried yet. During this practice training, the trainer would need to hire an assistant trainer who has a background in culinary arts. The head and assistant trainers can observe the chef as he/she performs the preparation and cooking of food based on a new recipe. Whenever the chef needs assistance in the practice preparation, the head and assistant trainers would be there to assist him.

The dishwashers can be observed and assisted in having the effective speed in doing the dishes. The trainer can give hands-on assistance to the dishwashers if they seem slow on performing their task. As the assistance progresses, the dishwashers are able to efficiently perform their task. Practice training sessions for management members enhance these employees’ leadership skills. These leaders never stop learning even though they are in high level positions. The greeters, bartenders, servers and bussers may enhance their skills learned through actual constant practice performed in front of the trainer. By doing this, their skills may be enhanced as they progress in their careers.

One of the goals of a restaurant is to make a fifteen percent profit or to establish a reputable upscale restaurant (Arduser, 2003). For this to become a reality, it may be helpful to make it known to the public about the practice part of the employee training program in the restaurant. This can be done through the releasing of commercials with regards to the program on television and radio. Several people would have faith in the restaurant establishment knowing that they actually train their employees in a hands-on way upon seeing the commercials.

The practice training for the managers of rushing around the restaurants during busy hours may be implemented in the program as well. The trainers should closely observe the competency of the managers as they rush around the restaurants during these hours. If assistance in a fast paced environment is needed, the trainers should slow things down and give assistance to the managers. Step by step, the managers get to learn to function in fast paced environments. They get to learn how to keep the smiles on their faces despite the occurrence of the busy hours in the restaurants.

One of the beliefs of restaurant establishments is to provide quality food at affordable prices (Arduser, 2003). The performance of the employees in actual on-the-job performance tells if the employees can apply the things they have learned from the practice part of the training program. The customers’ satisfaction reveal the level of excellent learning incurred during the initial tree parts of the employee training program. If the customers are not satisfied on an employee’s performance, it may likely mean either that the trainer was an incompetent instructor or the employee was an incompetent learner. A research study should be conducted if this situation occurs to find out if the failed training was the fault of the trainer or the employee.

The skills developed arising from the training of employees must also cater to the target groups of customers. For example, it is best helpful to prepare and cook cuisines for teenagers and young adults since they are the people who mostly love to eat out. The cuisines should include snacks as young people would typically want. The bartenders should be trained to be effective conversationalists to young people. They can do this through being knowledgeable of the topics that young people love to talk about during small talks.

The setting of the restaurant is also imperative to be considered during the implementation of the employee training program. If a restaurant is located in the city, it is natural to train the greeters of the restaurant to be loud and lively when greeting customers. On the other hand, when the restaurant is located in rural setting, the greeters of the restaurant are usually silent in nature when greeting customers.

The management members of the restaurant must be trained by the trainers to do as they have said (Arduser, 2003). The trainer must train and encourage management members to keep their words when it comes to making promises to improve their job performances and making promises to their subordinates. The trainer must encourage the management members to accept constructive criticisms as they are received. These constructive criticisms would help the leaders achieve higher positions in the company as they continue on improving themselves.

Conclusion

Readers would get to learn from this paper the value of good relations between the employees, trainers and employers. The cooperation between these people would likely predict the success or failure of the training the employees underwent in the program. Respect is a

component which is necessary in accomplishing good relations between these people. These people should have respect on the wants and needs of each other. Differences naturally occur when interacting with each other. These people should have the ability to deal with these differences as they come.

Interest in the program itself is also necessary in order to accomplish a successful training for the employees. If the employees continually become monotonously uninterested in their training, they would likely not be able to learn the ropes of the training itself. As a result, these employees would become ineffective individuals to perform the job in the fields they are involved with. They would usually be terminated from their job positions when this happens. They may incur difficulties in staying in any positions they hold. This is because the employee training program success holds the key to success in effectively performing the functions their positions require. Trainers should remember to remind this to the employees at any time during the training duration.

References:

Arduser, L. (2003). The Food Service Professional Guide To Waiter & Waitress Training: How To Develop Your Staff For Maximum Service & Profit. Ocala, FL: Atlantic Publishing Group, Inc.