An Analysis of Leadership and Management in the Restaurant Industry

This report analyzes leadership and management practices within the context of the 'Fifteen' restaurant chain, exploring key aspects of human resource management and leadership. It begins by examining the recruitment and selection process, including documentation, job descriptions, and the impact of legal and ethical considerations. The report then delves into the skills and attributes of effective leadership, differentiating between leadership and management, and comparing various leadership styles suitable for different situations, with a focus on motivational strategies. The analysis extends to the benefits and challenges of teamwork, conflict resolution, and team effectiveness. Finally, it addresses performance monitoring, assessment of development needs, and the identification of success in assessment processes. The study highlights the unconventional approach of the restaurant's owner in recruiting, training, and motivating employees.

Working With And Leading People

TABLE OF CONTENTS
INTRODUCTION...........................................................................................................................1
TASK 1............................................................................................................................................1
1.1 The preparation of documents to select and recruit new staff...............................................1
1.2 The impact of legal, regulatory and ethical considerations to the recruitment and selection
process.........................................................................................................................................2
1.3 The Role of a Restaurant Manager in the selection process..................................................2
TASK 2............................................................................................................................................3
2.1 The skills and attributes needed for leadership......................................................................3
2.2 Difference between leadership and management in an organisation.....................................4
2.3 Comparison of different leadership styles for different situations........................................5
2.4 Various ways to motivate staff to achieve objectives............................................................5
TASK 3............................................................................................................................................6
3.1 The benefits of teamwork for an organisation.......................................................................6
3.2 The difficulties faced in teamwork and resolve the conflicts appeared in teamwork............7
3.3 To review the effectiveness of team......................................................................................7
TASK 4............................................................................................................................................8
4.1 The factors involved in planning the monitoring and assessment of work performance......8
4.2 The assessment of the development needs of individual.......................................................9
4.3 Identifying the Success of assessment process......................................................................9
CONCLUSION................................................................................................................................9
REFERENCES..............................................................................................................................11

INTRODUCTION
Human resources are the crucial factor for an organization in order to achieve the set
aims and goals of company. Human resource management (HRM) is an organizational function
that prepares strategies to recruit people and train them (Mendenhall and Osland, 2012). It plays
a key role in retaining the best-qualified employees by providing performance appraisals,
establishing positive and vibrant work environment, developing public relations and managing
disputes if any arises.
The present study elucidates and examines the role of HRM and leadership in the
effective establishment of London's one of the renowned food and restaurant chains, 'Fifteen.'
The study reveals about an effective and unconventional approach that is applied by the owner to
recruit, train and motivate its team of 'Fifteen'.
TASK 1
1.1 The preparation of documents to select and recruit new staff
Recruitment and selection process is essential for a business to choose right person for
the right job within the precise time. There are mainly two methods adopted one is internal
sourcing that is practised by appointing existing employees to a new or recently vacant post
through transfer, promotion or re-employment of the ex-employee (Komives and Wagner, 2012).
While, external sourcing is conducted through advertisements, job portals, employment agencies
and educational institutions.
Documentation is the primary step involved in the selection process of restaurant. It
encounters and finds answers to the preliminary questions such as what is job profile, who can
apply for job, and what is the basis or approach applied for their selection. Moreover, it keeps the
records of offer, acceptance, notice and confirmation. Following elements are included by
'Fifteen' in the preparation of documents in order to select and recruit new staff:
 Job Description/Profile: The broad and written statement that describes duties,
responsibilities, scope, purpose and working culture of the prescribed post for an
employee refers as job description (Liker and Convis, 2011). It sets foundation for the
trainee of e restaurant by clarifying his duties, meeting expected results and evaluating
performance.
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 Job Specifications: The list of necessary skills required in an employee to effectively
complete the duties of a certain job is known as job specification. It enables restaurant to
judge each candidate fairly and objectively. This makes easy to conduct comparisons
among candidates while the selection process is carried out.
Now, taking in consideration 'Fifteen' Jaime Oliver, owner of the company recruited
unskilled and unqualified candidates. The idea was to encourage unqualified young people to be
recruited as trainees in his new restaurant and become qualified chefs gradually to contribute
substantially to this foundation.
1.2 The impact of legal, regulatory and ethical considerations to the recruitment and selection
process
The restaurant 'Fifteen' effectively abides the legal regulations in establishing a strong
brand image in the modern world. The restaurant follows some standards and principles to
design their day-to-day business activities in accordance with established corporate values.
Policies adopted by company in order to ensure regulatory framework are as follows: Discrimination Act 1995: According to this Act, managers should not discriminate
candidates on the basis of their gender, age, religion and nation at any stage of
recruitment and selection procedure (Komives, Dugan and Owen, 2011). Equality Act 2010: The Equality Act simply focuses on the fact that 'all are considered
equal in the eyes of law.' Herein, HR team of 'Fifteen' ensures that while screening and
interviewing candidates, risk of inequality is minimized to great extent (Key legislation
regarding recruitment and selection, 2013).
 Health and Safety Measures: As company deals in food and restaurant business, there
are risks of fire and gas explosion accidents. There is possibility of major and minor
injuries because of the constant use of sharp and pointed kitchen equipments and
cutleries. Therefore, restaurant takes various preventive measures while handling such
activities.
1.3 The Role of a Restaurant Manager in the selection process
Restaurant Manger plays a vital role in business of 'Fifteen.' Manager has significant importance
in the recruitment and selection process of candidates for the applied post (MacPhee and et.al.,
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2012). The process of recruiting chefs for the restaurant and how the Restaurant Manager plays
his part is described below as: Screening: The manager delegates authority and provides guidelines to the supervisor
about the screening process for appointing chefs in the restaurants. Preliminary Test: Under this test, candidates are filmed and are asked to talk about the
topic 'Food' in order to know the candidate’s enthusiasm and passion about food.
Restaurant Manager plays secondary role here and assists supervisors to scrutinize
candidates accordingly (Carey, Philippon and Cummings, 2011). Knowledge Test: In the next step, candidates undergo a 'taste' test where dishes are
served in front of candidates and they are required to describe the texture and flavour of
the dishes. In this, manager's purpose is to know how candidates express their sensory
experience for the food served. Simulation Test: The final test where at first candidates observe the preparation of a
simple dish and later on they have to cook dish themselves. Applicants are cross-
questioned about cooking methods by the restaurant manager to scrutinize their learning
quality (Petrie, 2011).
 Salary negotiations and hiring: The shortlisted candidates are now informed about their
selection and are made aware of the salary negotiations and code of conduct that are to be
followed.
TASK 2
2.1 The skills and attributes needed for leadership
Quality of good leader is a key to success for the progressive development of an
organisation. In 'Fifteen', this role is played by the Restaurant Manager who recognizes and
develops scopes and opportunities to flourish. The manager possesses good leadership qualities
and traits that help in identifying weaknesses and developing a strong management style.
Manager should have passion and enthusiasm for tasks assigned to him for increment of the
restaurant (Shuck and Herd, 2012). Therefore, he praises employees to become more productive
and enhance their skills for the company. He/she prepares the reports of employees in order to
measure their performance at regular intervals.
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Communication skills are given utmost priorities by the managers of 'Fifteen'. They
effectively communicate to both the higher authorities and lower levels of the restaurant so that
they clearly explain tasks and demands of the customers (Day, 2011). In this way, they manage
work to deliver vision of the restaurant in order to serve their customer in more effective manner.
Working culture in 'Fifteen' is team-oriented. So, managers or leaders are committed towards
their teams by providing ample training opportunities to the staff and considering feedbacks in
response (James, 2011). They treat employees equally and adopt structure that possesses ethical
values for the employees too.
2.2 Difference between leadership and management in an organisation
Basis of
difference
Leadership Management
Definition Leadership is the ability to motivate,
influence and enable staff members to
contribute in the successful working
of organisation (Yeo and Li, 2011).
Management is about managing and
controlling staff members with the
coordination in order to accomplish
the set goals.
Orientation It is people-oriented concept where
priority is given to the members of a
group or entity.
It is a task-oriented concept in
which managers are fully involved
in completion of the given tasks.
Styles Leaders follow different styles to lead
which are transformational,
participative and consultative.
Management is performed with the
help of these styles such as
Dictatorial, Authoritative,
Autocratic and Democratic
(Andrews, 2006).
Approach towards
task
Leaders are focused on providing new
and innovative ideas as well as
solutions in order to resolve issues.
Managers create strategies, plans
and programmes with their teams to
operate swiftly the task (Experience
trumps age when it comes to
community leadership, 2013).
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In the context of restaurant 'Fifteen', the owner led its foundation stone in a very
effective, unique and unconventional manner as a leader. His approach towards the recruitment
and selection process was innovative and focussed more on various leadership styles. The entity
deals in food and restaurant business therefore he gave emphasis on consumer-oriented services.
The owner always motivated and influenced staff to provide them better work-culture and attain
their goals.
2.3 Comparison of different leadership styles for different situations
In the contemporary world, emergence of the situational leadership theory created great
significance in leading methods of organisations. According to the theory, a leader’s behaviour
and traits depends upon different situational factors occurring in the organisation (Buckley,
2009). The leader ensures that his leadership attributes should be modified with the pace of time
and situations and the subordinates assisting him/her.
Under the democratic leadership of Oliver, fifteen unskilled young chefs were recruited
and trained to work for the entity. He monitored the trainees' development and always motivated
and encouraged them to attain professional standards for the success of the venture. He invited
and supported their suggestions and ideas from the employees aiming to develop their skills and
standard (Edwards, 2007.). The proprietor mostly adopted the democratic style of leadership but
depending upon the need of time autocratic style was also enforced. One instance presents his
autocratic style of leadership, where for the first time the students had to prepare a meal of fifty
guests. The structure became more rigid, deadlines were issued and a lot of pressure accumulated
among the trainees. The situation of chaos, confusion and aggression occurred but later it was
revealed there was no such urgency (Philip, 2010). The purpose of this activity was to introduce
the beginners with the reality check and importance of teamwork.
2.4 Various ways to motivate staff to achieve objectives
Employee motivation is beneficial for effective implementation of management
activities. The combination of various motivational strategies effect the performance of the
employees, some of them are as follows: Empowerment of employees: When the subordinates are given proper authority,
autonomy and encouragement to express as the trainees in 'Fifteen' are given global
social entrepreneurship brand are established in the market. Oliver made sure that
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mutual respect among the trainee and trainers was present (Sarasvathy, 2008). Everyone
greeted each other at the beginning and at the end of the day. Effective reward system: Another motivational strategy applied by the group is
monetary benefits and reward system where employees are often rewarded in form of
bonuses, promotions, special assignments, awards and verbal praise. The owner always
praised and acknowledged the trainees if they made an extra effort through reward
system (Kirkwood, 2009).
 Job redesign: The concept of job redesign is introduced for those who become lethargic
while performing same tasks every day in the restaurant. The techniques such as job
enlargement, job rotation and job enrichment create flexibility among the employees and
ultimately boosts their capacity towards work. In this manner, the skilled and qualified
staff of 'Fifteen' is retained in the firm and they provide services in various sections
gathering better skills and experience.
TASK 3
3.1 The benefits of teamwork for an organisation
In the organisational setting there are various factors which influence the mechanism and
functioning of the management and its subordinates. Management is an task-oriented process,
various activities are performed and strategies implied. For its smooth and swift running
teamwork is essential component.
The present context explains the significance of teamwork in 'Fifteen' one of the
renowned restaurant entity of London. Oliver contributed as the team leader of the fifteen young
chefs. He himself was skilled, experienced and demonstrated food preparation techniques as a
coach of the team. In order to make the employees understand the value of teamwork once he
created a scene of urgency. Under lot of pressure, given guidelines and deadlines they were
asked to complete the task of preparing food for fifty guests (Kim and et al., 2007). Some of the
employees got confused, some lost temper and some overlapped. Later, it was revealed that
artificial situation was created to make them understand the concept of teamwork make them
judge and improve themselves. Apart, from this Oliver gave individual attention to the members
and assigned them difficult tasks to analyse their skill and determination. He accompanied them
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in these tasks to provide them guidance to communicate and coordinate with the manager and
their colleagues (The benefits of group work. 2014).
3.2 The difficulties faced in teamwork and resolve the conflicts appeared in teamwork
Workplaces are hub of resources, machinery and human beings. The below mentioned
points indicate various hurdles faced during teamwork and the desirable solutions condemned for
the smooth functioning of the organisation:
1. Poor communication and coordination among the leader and the group members is the
primary barrier which hinders the growth of a team. Therefore, clear and cordial
communication process should be accepted and applied by each member (Conrad and
Poole, 2011).
2. Members may lack participation, commitment and dedication towards their assigned
tasks resulting in conflicts between the team goals and individual goals. To cope up with
this situation the members should be asked for their feedbacks periodically, motivated
and enlightened to balance their individual goals with the team’s objectives.
3. Some team members create loopholes by rigidly enforcing their decisions over their
subordinates this fluctuate the ongoing process. Here, the description of authority and
autonomy of an individual should be clarified to the each member of the team (Deci and
Ryan, 2008).
4. Lastly, ineffective leadership on the part of leaders causes great disturbance and
disadvantage among the team members. The lack of coordination, lack of creativity,
distrust and inability to resolve the conflicts become the scenario. The leader needs to
rectify the errors happening while his decision making process.
3.3 To review the effectiveness of team
Teamwork refers to more empowered way of working, encouraging multi-disciplinary
work and promoting the sense of achievement of organisational goals. When talking about the
kitchen management of 'Fifteen' the teamwork mainly focuses on the customer satisfaction and
quality production of dishes served. The following are the strategies implied to improve the
outcomes performed by the team of chefs and management: Size: The number of members in each team effects the production of the restaurant. Large
number of members in a team won’t provide fruitful results to the team. As optimum use
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of resources is not attained because of large number of members with different
personalities and perceptions (Jackson, 2010). Leadership: For the efficient and effective working good leadership attributes and
qualities are required. Jamie Oliver proved as a good leader and mentor for his team
members. He clarified and focussed on the aspects related to customer satisfaction and
quality production and motivated his staff for the same. Communication: 'Fifteen' follows a clear and proper channel of communication. It makes
use of communication channels such as formal and informal communication, upward and
downward communication or horizontal communication. All these channels transfer the
instructions, thoughts and suggestions in the restaurant clearly (Bevan, 2015). Clear delegation of rules and responsibilities: The responsibilities and duties of each
individual are defined clearly in the restaurant. The chef knows his role and his assistants
are aware of their part. From the upper department to the lower department each one of
them knows their responsibilities and code of conduct.
TASK 4
4.1 The factors involved in planning the monitoring and assessment of work performance
The performance appraisal of the employees helps to monitor and assess the overall
development of the individual. The 360 degree feedback is monitored of the employees. The 360
degree comprises feedback from customers, management and colleagues. Firstly, the customer
assessment which involves the standards like the attributes of the menu card presented, way of
serving food, texture and flavour of the dishes and after food services.
Secondly, the management performance analysis and assessment of its employees. The
management plays a vital role in organising, managing and controlling various activities in the
day to day procedures of the restaurant. The make periodical assessment of the staff on the basis
the attitude of oneself for work, the targets achieved and suggestions made for the improvisation
of the restaurant.
Thirdly, the performance of each and every individual is measured by the colleagues and
associates accompany an individual in a company. As they are one who have utmost interaction
with the individual.
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4.2 The assessment of the development needs of individual
In order to build strong human relationships Oliver focussed on each and every chef of
his restaurant. He developed the working culture in such a manner that cooperation and
teamwork became integral part of the working and functioning of the business entity. The growth
and development of each and every individual was done throw the following methods:
Training is the essential factor for the development of an individual. The employees in
'Fifteen' were given on-job training in the restaurant while for the off-job training he trained them
through periodical visits to grocery markets, to the farms and baker shops. Thus, the staff can
know about the practical and realistic factors of the business in expert’s guidance.
The continuous learning process improves the skills and qualities of the employee. By the
passage of time the individuals are able to provide innovative ideas and enhance their creativity
in the respected field. Another factor positive competitiveness in the working environment also
gives positive impact on the performance of the individual.
4.3 Identifying the Success of assessment process
The assessment process of the company is widely effective and essential for the growth
and development of the company. It will help the company in creating effective impact on the
performance of the employees and its brand image within the market. In order to identify the
success of the process the company will have to effectively focus on the employee feedback
regarding the process efficiency and its limitations. This will help the business in efficiently
identifying the needs and requirements of the process. Individual assessment of employee
performance after the program will help the company in analysing the impact on training and
development programs. Moreover, high level of motivation within the company will help the
company in evaluating the level of employee engagement without the process. Apart from this
the restaurant will also focus on customer reviews. The positive and satisfactory reviews from
the customers will help the company in analysing that the assessment of employees needs and
requirements has been successfully attained which created a positive and well developed impact
on the company.
CONCLUSION
The above report develops a clear insight about the significance of leadership and
management issues within the company. The report helps in identifying the needs and
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requirements if the employees and seek efficient measures to attain those needs. The case
analysis of 'Fifteen' restaurant helped in developing measures for linking the theoretical
knowledge with practical application within the company. The report helped in developing a well
based and effective analysis of leadership factors and its impact on employee performance. It
also successfully discussed various measures that the companies may adopt in order to enhance
employee performance and growth within the company. Hence, the above report reflects that the
restaurant has bright future for growth and development in the highly competitive market.
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