White Lion Restaurant: SOP Revision and Customer Service Improvement

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Hospitality Operations
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Executive Summary
The assignment analyses the current situation of the White Lion Restaurant and evaluates the
reasons that lead to the revision of the SOP’s followed by the organisation. It discusses the
various training requirements and measures that are essential for the implementation of the
revised SOP’s to attain industry standards. It analyses the ways in which the standards will be
maintained, and compliance with the legal and regulatory policies will be achieved by the
restaurant. It also analyses various models of communication that can be used to improve the
communication process with the teams and staffs to avoid confusion.
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Table of Contents
Introduction......................................................................................................................................4
Main Analysis..................................................................................................................................5
Conclusion.....................................................................................................................................12
Reference List................................................................................................................................13
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Introduction
Organisations working in the food and beverage department should adhere to certain
predetermined standards to serve their customers better and strengthen their brand name. White
Lion Restaurant offers cold and hot bar snacks along with carvery selection to their customers,
but their services have deteriorated in the past three months as is evident from increasing
customer complaints regarding the service, wrong orders, improper communication and cold
food. In order to enhance the current situation of the restaurant, the existing SOPs need to be
reviewed and revised so that the staffs adheres to standard SOP’s and comply with the legal or
regulatory issues regarding the F&B services offered by the company.
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Main Analysis
White Lion Restaurant need to review and revise their current SOP’s so that improvement can be
made in the food and beverage services offered to the customers. It will help in addressing the
various issues such as wrong orders, ineffective communication, poor customer service, cold
food etc. and adopt measures that will allow the company to adhere to standard SOP’s. It will
also enable the organisation to adhere to legal and regulatory policies to avoid risks of
prosecution. The revised SOP’s will facilitate training of the employees as well as ensure
improved communication with the customers.
SOP’s and training requirements
Standard Operating Procedures or SOP’s are a set of written rules that are to be followed by the
workforce of an organisation so that the various operations are performed in an effective manner.
It forms the foundation of every program (foodsafetymagazine.com, 2013). The revised SOP’s
that should be followed by the staff of the White Lion Restaurants are discussed below:
 The customers should be acknowledged with friendly greeting within 30 seconds of their
arrival, and they should be escorted to a table.
 Every table should be laid out in a clean and hygiene manner. The setting of the table can
be formal or informal depending on the type of restaurant.
 The staff should communicate in an effective manner and take the food orders from the
customers. The staffs should provide suggestions and solve the doubts of the customers in
a polite manner (Kanyan et al., 2016).
 The staffs should maintain a record of the orders in order to provide correct food to the
customers and avoid confusion about the orders.
 The food should be prepared in a clean and hygienic way, and it should be adequately
provided to the customers to make their meal better.
 The tables should be cleared in between the dining session to make space on the table
without disturbing the customers.
 The customers should be provided with a bill in a polite manner, and the staff should
ensure that they are charged the correct amount.
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The staffs of White Lion Restaurant need appropriate training at periodic intervals to ensure that
they learn and polish new and existing skills to serve the customers in the best possible manner.
The staffs should be trained regarding the preparation of food and beverage products, the manner
in which the food should be served, the communication process, etc. It will ensure enhanced
customer experience leading to the strengthening of the brand identity of the organisation.
Maintenance of standards
It is essential for the management of the organisation to maintain the standards in the
preparation, cooking and serving of the food and beverages in the restaurant. The following
measures can be adopted to adhere to standards:
The commitment of senior management: The senior management of the organisation should be
committed to their responsibilities to ensure that business operations are performed as per the
stipulated standards of the organisation.
Adherence to the Food Safety Plan: The organisation should develop a food safety plan that
complies with the guidelines of HACCP to ensure that the food and service provided to the
customers are standardised. All employees should adhere to the food safety plan for better
customer service (Foodauthority.nsw.gov.au, 2019).
Quality management system: A system should be developed by the restaurant that will ensure
that all the food and beverage products provided to the customers as of superior quality. It will
facilitate the quality management of the foods and services offered to the customers.
Site standards: The management of the company should be vocal about the standards that should
be followed and maintained by the employees to avoid any mistakes by the staffs. It will make
them aware of the standards they need to adhere to.
Control of product: The management will have to see that the quality and proportions of the
food and beverage delivered to the customers are of standard measures. Standard products will
help the company in gaining customer loyalty.
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Control of process: The process adopted for the making of food and beverage products should be
monitored and controlled to ensure superior results. Use of correct procedures will help the
restaurant to deliver quality products and services to the customers (Cohen et al., 2013).
Personnel: The workforce of the organisation should be trained regularly so that they
communicate and appropriately serve the customers. It will also improve their management skills
and reduce confusion.
Risk Zones: The restaurants should ensure that the high-risk zones are handled carefully and
only selected people to have access to it.
Traded products: The management of the company should ensure high standards of products
that are being traded by the restaurant, as it will allow the restaurant to comply with food and
beverage standards.
Methods of training new and existing staffs
The management of White Lion Restaurant should follow a proper systematic method to train
their new and existing staff to enhance their services and improve customer experience. The
methods that should be followed are listed below:
Orientation: The management should conduct an orientation programme to make the staff
aware of the causes due to which they should receive training and the manner in which the
training will be conducted.
Training plan: The existing training plan should be revised and upgrade so that adhere to it helps
in attaining the new objective of improving customer service (Nestoroska and Petrovska, 2014).
Observe and guide: The activities of the staff should be observed, and they should be guided
accordingly to help them realise their shortcomings and suggest ways in which they can improve
their performance.
External training: The workforce should be trained about the ways in which they should handle
customers when they are working for private parties, events etc. They should be provided on
field training to improve their skills and performance (Akroush et al., 2013).
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Technology: The employees should be trained regarding the latest technology so that they can
use technology effectively to serve the customers better.
Recognition of top employees: The management should identify the top employees, and they
should be trained accordingly so that their skills can be polished.
Evaluation of employee: The performance of the employees should be evaluated to identify the
areas of improvements and measures should be adopted to enhance their performance.
Team building: The management should adopt Belbin’s team roles to develop team building and
team working skills in the staffs of the restaurant.
Records: A record should be maintained about the performance of the employees to identify the
extent of improvement due to training.
Legal and Regulatory requirements that should be considered in F&B preparations 250
The White Lion Restaurant should ensure that their activities comply with the legal and
regulatory requirements that have been developed by the government in the preparation of food
and beverage. Some of them are listed below:
Weights and measures act, 1985: The act helps restaurants in regulating the measures and
weights of the food and beverages offered by the restaurant to the customers (Legislation.gov.uk,
2019).
Trade description act, 1968: This act ensures that the restaurant describes the services and
products offered to the customers appropriately and correctly to provide correct information to
the customers and government about their business operations (Legislation.gov.uk, 2019).
Health and Safety Laws: This act ensures that health and safety of the employees are given due
importance and appropriate measures are taken by the management of the organisation to take
care of the health and safety of the entire workforce of the restaurant.
Food safety laws: The organisation needs to abide by the food safety law HACCP under article 5
of Regulation (EC) 852/2004 to ensure that the foods and beverages provided by the restaurant
are as per the food standards developed by the government.
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Menu Planning Laws: The Menu Planning law ensures that organisations develop and employ a
proper menu to inform the customers about the dishes served and the ingredients and methods
that will be used in the making of the meal (Assets.publishing.service.gov.uk, 2019).
Adherence to service standards
The White Lion Restaurant should ensure adherence to service standards as well as compliance
with legal and brand operating standards to improve customer services and develop a brand name
for their restaurant. It can be achieved by using model and theories such as Total Quality
Management and Six Sigma. They are discussed in detail below:
Total Quality Management: It is a systematic approach for complete management of the
business operations of a company by enhancing the quality of the services and products offered
by the organisation by improving the internal practices (Sallis, 2014). The approach will help
White Lion Restaurant to attain industry standards and improve their offering by improving the
internal practises of the organisation. It will allow the company to focus on the customers and
accordingly adopt measures to improve customer experience.
Six Sigma: The approach allows companies to monitor and control the quality of services and
products by using the data-driven review in order to reduce defects and mistakes that occur in the
process. It focuses on cycle-time improvement as well as manufacturing defects ensuring faster
execution of business operations (Pyzdek and Keller, 2014). White lion Restaurant can use this
approach to reduce the mistakes in the process of performing business operations and increase
the speed of conducting business operations. It will improve the efficiency and productivity of
the restaurant leading to better customer service and staff management. It will facilitate the
growth and development of the company.
Compliance with legal and regulatory issues to avoid the risk of prosecution
The White Lion restaurant should ensure that their business operations comply with the legal and
regulatory issues development by the government to avoid any kind of lawsuit or prosecution.
The company can do so by following the principles developed by HACCP (Hazard Analysis and
Critical Control Point) in order to reduce the risks associated with safety hazards in the
preparation and making of food and beverages. The principles of HACCP are discussed below:
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Conducting Hazard analysis: The restaurants need to analyse and identify the points that can
lead to the introduction of hazards in the everyday processes adopted by the restaurant. Expertise
should be employed to ensure accurate evaluation of different forms of hazards.
Identification of critical control points: This step will allow the management of the restaurant to
identify the control point in the process through which the hazards can be monitored and
controlled. Identification of critical control points will help the restaurant in developing measures
to prevent hazards (Mortimore and Wallace, 2013).
Limit of temperature, salt, pH, time etc.: In this step, the restaurant will control the limit of
temperature, chlorine level, salt, pH, the temperature in order to prevent any hazards.
Critical Limits: It allows the restaurant to establish criteria for each critical control points to
understand the measures that should be met to control and monitor hazards.
Monitoring process: The restaurant monitors the process and various critical control points to
make the HACCP program effective.
Corrective actions: This comprises the actions that should be implemented when the critical
limits are exceeded to bring the situation under control and reduce the risk of hazards.
Record keeping: A record keeping process should be implemented to keep track of the critical
limits and to understand when the limits are under control or when they exceed limits so
measures can be adopted accordingly (Pierson, 2012).
Verification process: The plan developed for the HACCP program must be verified to ensure
that the actions are effective in the prevention and reduction of hazards.
Communication of the SOP’s to staffs
Developing the SOP’s is essential, but it is equally important to communicate the SOP’s to the
staffs and teams working in the White Lion Restaurant to make the implementation of the SOP’s
effective. In order to communicate effectively, the Shannon and Weaver model of
communication can be used to convey the correct information properly for the effective
execution of the business operations. Warren Weaver and Claude Elwood Shannon developed
the model in 1948 to ensure effective communication through a five-step process (Rogers and
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Valente, 2017). According to the model, the message is transmitted by the sender through a
channel in an encoded form, which is later, decoded to make the message legible for the receiver.
The process also encounters noise that hampers the quality of communication. It will ensure that
the staffs and teams communicate effectively among themselves and with customers to avoid
confusion and mistakes.
Gibb’s Model of reflection is another method that will help the staffs and teams of the restaurant
to improve their performance by analysing their experience and activities to identify ways in
which they could improve their performance (Davies, 2012). It will facilitate the planning of
measures that can be adopted if similar situations arise in future. It will help the employees in
understanding was in which they can improve their interaction with the customers and enhance
customer service.
Recommendations
The White Lion Restaurant should improve its customer service to attain a significant position in
the market and develop a brand name in the industry. Certain recommendations have been
discussed below that should be adopted by the restaurant to improve its customer service:
 White Lion Restaurant should train their staffs so that they can improve their
communication and management skills so that they can communicate with the customers
better and avoid confusion regarding the orders of different customers.
 The restaurant should establish specific standards that should be followed by every
employee of the organisation to attain customer service standards as a whole.
 Quality management is another aspect that the restaurant should focus on to improve their
customer service and make the customers loyal to the restaurant by serving them the
standard quality of food and beverages.
 The management of the restaurant should be committed to improving the performance of
the various employees so that they can serve the customers in a better manner.
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Conclusion
Organisations serving food and beverages should ensure that they adhere to the industry
standards and comply with the various legal and regulatory policies developed by the
government. The White Lion Restaurant should adopt measures to improve their customer
services by providing training to their staffs and teams. It will lead to effective communication
and management of the various business operations resulting in the development of the business.
The organisation should implement the principles of HACCP to prevent hazards of different
forms. These measures will help the restaurant in improving its customer service along with
ensuring compliance with legal and regulatory policies.
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