1.11: Organizational Areas to Explore

When looking at the inner workings of a restaurant there are many organizational areas to explore. Although each restaurant will have organizational areas that may be specific to just that restaurant, there are seven widely accepted, important areas of organization that are universal. This chapter will explore these areas of importance individually and in more detail.

Area	Assumptions	Outcome
Organization Schema	Purpose and functioning of the organization is necessary to become an effective organizational member.	Improved understanding of corporate purpose
	Things to think about: What is the organizational mission? What are the core values? Can personal and organizational goals be achieved simultaneously.

Organizational Chart

An organizational chart describes a thought pattern or behavior that organizes all manners of the restaurant’s information into categories. In doing so, it shows the different relationships between specific information about the restaurant. In this way, the chart is used to arrange current knowledge in a systematic way, as well as provide a substructure for future understanding. It can involve team members or management structure as shown in the examples provided – build your own site organizational chart.

Creating an organizational chart is important for several reasons. Perhaps the most important reason is it creates a hierarchy within the restaurant. This hierarchy creates a chain of command that can help eliminate confusion. Employees now know where to go for answers and learn to respect the chain of command. It is important to note that every restaurant is different. Therefore, each restaurant will have their own specific organizational chart. Often times this has a great deal to do with the size of the restaurant. Typically, the less covers or plates of food you cook each service the smaller the organizational chart will be. Places that do a larger volume of customers would require more labor and therefore a larger management team.

A good organizational chart will leave room for growth. Restaurants are constantly changing and evolving to meet the needs of their clientele. For example, twenty years ago there was no need for someone on your organizational chart to deal with social media. No organizational chart is every set in stone. It should be a living breathing document. The organizational chart should be posted or readily available for all employees at all times. A plan that no one knows exists is not a plan. It is a lack in communication waiting to happen. A good organizational chart should be an incredible tool in aiding with the communication and politics of day-to-day workings of a professional restaurant. A well designed organizational chart along with creating policy and understanding the nature of politics in the kitchen will create an empowered employee that knows the importance of teamwork in getting the job done.

Questions for reflection

1. What is an organizational chart?
2. Describe how the size of your restaurant can affect the organizational chart.
3. List three reasons why a good organizational chart would leave room for growth

Policy

Area	Assumptions	Outcome
Policy	Every organization has a specific hierarchy, however, power may not lie where one might expect.	Effective organizational integration. Who leads and decides?
	Things to think about: Who is the storyteller? Who is powerful and who is not? What is the organizational structure?

Once you have examined the restaurants organizational chart and the interns can understand the proper chain of command, now it is time to look at policy. Policy can be best described as guidelines to specific day to day procedure of running a restaurant. Successful restaurants that have established a well-defined organizational chart will use policy to further outline procedure for each intern. The advantages of having well defined policies at your restaurant are many, but here are the two of the most important reasons. A well-defined set of policies will set specific expectations for your co-workers and yourself. It will also create a safer workplace by reducing the frequency of arguments, incidents, and accidents. The result over time if policies are sound and are easily understood will be a more successful service with more productivity.

When understanding policy there are many details to think about. Making an accessible, well defined, and enforceable policy is the lynch pin for creating the culture you want in the kitchen. Does the policy fit and follow the hierarchy of the organizational chart. If policies do not fit the flow of the restaurants organizational chart, the restaurant creates confusion by sending mixed messages. A successful policy is much like an organizational chart should be written. It should be located where all employees have access. Most successful restaurants will make a handbook outlining the restaurants policy and procedures. These are typically given to the employees during their training period. Restaurants will also have a copy of the manual on site in the event there needs to be clarification on a specific policy.

Just having a well written, easily understood and accessible set of restaurant policies is not enough. For policies and procedures to be successful, you must be able to tell if policies are being effective. One of the best ways understand if policies are successful is to have employee input. When workers feel listened to they feel part of a team and valued. Whenever possible, run policy ideas and changes by employees that best understand the culture and environment of the restaurant. This will create ownership of these policies by the employees. It is likewise important to remember that one of the quickest ways to lose employee confidence is to not enforce or inconsistently enforce policy.

When a problem arises that goes against or down right breaks a rule of policy and procedure, it is important to identify the problem. Once the problem is identified then it should be corrected in accordance to written policy. If there is no current written policy then perhaps it is time to re-examine the policy and make changes using the collaborative method that will be discussed more when we touch on restaurant politics. Consistency is the key. The more policy is reinforced and defended, the more it will become almost second nature. The constant reinforcement of policy is what creates a restaurants’ culture. This means holding the intern is held accountable to not only the policy, but also the escalating consequences that come with repeatedly broken policies.

It is important for the punishment to fit the crime. For example, if the policy is, “All employees and interns handling food will wear a hair net.” If an intern forgets or does not wear a hairnet, the manager would explain the restaurant’s policy again making sure the intern understands. Many places use escalating consequences to deter infractions. Perhaps the first time a manager might explain why the health code necessitates the intern wearing one, and how the restaurant would be ‘written up’ by the health inspector for health code violations. The behavior needing correction is important, but the reason ‘why’ it was broken is more important.

To be consistent in the enforcement of correct policy and procedure, it is more important to get to the understanding of why the policy was broken, because there are always circumstances where there are exceptions to policy usually based on health or personal human suffering. Policies in a restaurant that ultimately lead to the staff and interns being more hospitable. If policies punish unavoidable human suffering it is probably best they be re-examined. Policies that do not reflect the organizational chart, and more importantly are not consistently enforced create power struggles and confusion.

Questions for reflection

1. What are the two advantages of having well defined policies at your restaurant?
2. Why is it important that the policies reflect the hierarchy of the organizational chart?
3. Explain why it is a good idea to have employee input when coming up with policy

Politics

Every workplace especially a kitchen is political. Politics can best be defined for our purposes as trying to gain power or influence for ones’ own personal gain. Everyone strives to be professional and avoid bad politics, but people will come to work with drive, emotions, needs, and apprehension. While we all strive to do our best we find there are differences in personalities, thought processes, and opinions. When constructive communication breaks down, we can seek to influence others and their decisions. Co-workers can be open about their intentions or can be covert in their political influence. It is a tricky situation because due to the organizational chart some people will always naturally have more power than others will. So how should new intern try to navigate the political trappings of a kitchen? It is not an easy question to answer, but there are steps you can take to better understand the politics of your kitchen and how it affects you.

The political climate of the kitchen you are in can vary at times due to staff turnover, but most of the time it will stay constant. The first thing an intern should do is know the organizational chart. Once you know the chart and its’ hierarchy, it is time to observe. After you observe you will see who has the greatest influence or political strength. Go back and look at the organizational chart. Does the chart list the same people in order of political power? Who is the creative muscle behind this restaurant? Which employees have the greatest influence over others? Who are the leaders? Who are the followers? Which people on staff truly try to mentor? All of these questions will give you greater understanding of how this more informal network of politics works.

So now, you have some understanding of consistencies and differences between the restaurants’ organizational chart and the restaurants politics. What you are exploring is the informal networks of your restaurant. Once you better-understand who ultimately controls the influence in the restaurant; it is time to understand management and staff interactions better. You will observe again maybe in more detail and without the staff knowing. Are their separate groups? Are there people who are in or out of the loop? Who get along with everyone and who does not? Are their examples of bullying? Are these connections made due to admiration, genuine friendship, or even romance? It is your job to find out the ebb and flow between these groups in the restaurant. Discover if there is a long on-going interpersonal strife between certain groups or workers. Understanding the dynamic and flow of these informal networks will give you a greater understanding of office politics.

You have now studied your restaurants organizational chart, and have looked at more ‘personal’ and ‘interpersonal’ relationships between co-workers. Now you can use this knowledge to build your own social relationships in the kitchen. It is important to be cordial to everyone; however, you should refrain from aligning with this group or that group. It may be natural to try to avoid those with greatest political power especially if they can be difficult, however it is important to get to know them but do not be naive. It is important while you do this that you are making genuine association with this person. Empty praise or flattery will get you nowhere. This is a perfect time to develop your people skills.

Think about what makes you tick. Think about your emotions. The more even keel your emotions are the less likely you will get on the wrong side of the political climate of the restaurant. How do you deal with your emotions? Do you act out? Do you shut down? When you do this you will greater understand your likes and dislikes. From here you will start to notice others emotions and their preferences. Everyone loves a good listener so the more you can wrap your head around your and your co-workers emotional intelligence, the more successful you will be in staying clear of negative political issues.

Remember from the day you walk into the kitchen you are creating your own image of how you are viewed at work. So make the most of the social networks you can make. The best way to create an image everyone loves is to make all your successes about the restaurant’s success. When colleagues see this, they are more likely to reach out to you. It can help build strong ties with other employees. Always be accountable for your actions. Refrain from talking bad about others. People will notice if you strive to be trustworthy and do quality work. Do not be afraid to ask for feedback. The more feedback you receive the more you will understand what your employer’s major concerns are. This will show that you are willing to learn and value others opinions.

Once you have gotten to this level of understanding your restaurant’s politics, there may be a tendency to avoid the co-workers that practice bad politics or sabotage. This is generally not the best practice. As mentioned earlier, it is important to build trust among your co-workers. There is no way to build their trust if you are constantly trying to avoid them.

Get to know the people who try to work around the systems in place at your restaurant. You want to understand what their aspirations are, but do not let your defenses down. Some people’s words or actions can be extremely manipulative. Be pleasant, but guarded. Every person has a different emotional intelligence. Often, a person being this manipulative has deep insecurities and ultimately will ‘self-sabotage’ their own career. Make sure they are not dragging you down with them.

There is much to think about on the subject of restaurant politics as you can see. What it really comes down to is being professional at all times. This is best done by lifting others up, not tearing them down. Rumors are just that – avoid them, as you would gossip. That does not mean you cannot voice your concerns. Even the best of restaurant teams will at times have discord. It is just important that when you do voice your opinions you do it politely and without malicious intent.

Questions for reflection

1. Define the word politics.
2. Explain why it is important to understand the organizational structure before analyzing kitchen politics.
3. Discuss the role your emotions can play in the kitchen to your overall success.

Management Styles

Area	Assumptions	Outcome
Management	Responsibilities duties, personalities may vary with different management philosophies.	Understanding management styles, six styles discussed
	Things to think about: What are the chef's duties? Are the trainers knowledgeable? What is the 'cultural' personality, the way everyone does things?

When entering the workforce as an intern it is important to understand the six different basic styles of management. A good manager will use a mixture of the most successful styles depending on the specific circumstances at that time. Bad managers will be limited in their use of different style of management. They will typically use only the management styles that prove to be ineffective or counterproductive. Most often, this is because their experience is limited and they are modeling the exact management style that was used on them. It is human nature to imitate what we see. The next paragraphs will discuss in more detail the six different management styles and their effectiveness.

Coercive management – Compliance at the expense of commitment

The coercive style of management is the least effective style of management. This is the “classic angry chef model” there style is an intimidating leader who uses force to gain immediate adherence to policy and procedure. This is the manager who constantly says, “Do it the way I tell you to do it.” There is no management style capable of wrecking a restaurant’s culture faster than this style. Eventually, it disenfranchises workers by making them constantly feel as if their opinion does not matter and therefore an intern will not feel valued. You would think this management style has no value at all in the kitchen; however, there are certain times when it can prove to be effective. It is most effective in a time of a crisis when time is of the essence. An example would be, “That pot of milk is about to boil over, turn the fire off!” It also is used when addressing an intern that is consistently underperforming in the form of the last warning of impending termination for lack of policy compliance. However, his may force the intern to an immediate decision on whether to terminate their employment. So this technique would be used in the rarest of cases.

The overall problem of this management style is it places enormous stress on a staff. The staff can become so frightened of doing the wrong which leads to paralysis. It creates a culture of workers waiting to be told what to do, instead of understanding policy and procedures. Often times this kitchen will be without organizational chart or policy and procedure manuals. Coercive leaders live in a world of “It’s my way or hit the highway”. This is a breeding ground for bad intern morale and is best avoided.

Pacesetting Management – Setting standards

The next style of leadership is pacesetting. This leader constantly strives for perfection by setting high standards. This leader management style can best be described as, “Do it the way I do it, and do it now” Whereas this management style does have more hands on instruction generally than the coercive management style, it can be just as ineffective. While it will work with strong intrinsically highly motivated intern, it can leave the inexperienced overwhelmed. Once an intern or employee feels this way it is easy for them to give up because they feel the leaders standards are unobtainable. While this style usually will make experienced long time workers feel more successful because it rewards long-term commitment, its down side is new employees feel inadequate.

Coaching management – Helping you learn

A leader who uses the coaching management style is most concerned the growth and potential of an intern. This management style would use a phrase like, “have you tried this?” Managers using the coaching style tend to be more patient, and will put up with short term mistakes provided they see the intern progressing towards long-term growth. This more inquisitive approach to management make these managers more readily able to delegate. Delegating as such creates ownership by the intern as well as a feeling of belonging. This in turn reinforces the restaurant’s culture. Where these managers are more successful in creating a positive impact on the restaurant’s culture, it does have its’ drawbacks. For example, an intern that does not have the foresight to look towards long term will feel frustrated because they would rather just be told what to do. As long as you have a highly motivated intern that wants to improve this style will achieve positive results.

Democratic management – Collective Vision

The next management style is even more about building a consensus than the coaching style. The democratic management style is where everyone gets to give his or her thoughts and opinions. This manager would use phrases like, “what are your thoughts on…?

This works wonders for team building. Interns feel validated because the commitment the democratic styled manager has to the process typically builds a reciprocal level of commitment from the intern as well. This style of management is great for creating agreement and harmony. Although this is a great management style for getting people to buy-in to the restaurant’s culture, it falls short in two places. Clear communication is a must for effective operation. This style does not work well with interns that are ignorant of all the facts of a specific situation causing confusion. Likewise, this management system does not work well when time is of the essence and it is necessary to be more direct. That fact notwithstanding, this approach will build culture at a slightly more effective level than the coaching management style.

Affiliative Management – People orientation, commitment

The affiliative style of management is a huge believer in “in house marketing.” This manager will create consonance with-in the restaurant by building bonds that deal with the emotional well-being of the intern. In this managers kitchen people come first.

This is a highly motivational style. Unlike the democratic style this style works better the more stressful the circumstances become. You will hear phrases no matter of stress level like, “This is a people business.” “People have to come first” The positive people centric nature of this style of management will obviously increase communication, but can also improve overall morale. It will even help mend issues of broken trust. In addition, unlike the previous mentioned styles of management, this style has almost no down side. It is for these reasons that interns would do well to try to search for managers using a majority of the affiliative management style at their internship site.

Authoritative Management – Team commitment to mission and vision

The last management style is authoritative. This leader is charismatic. Leading with energy and enthusiasm the set a visionary statement that will inspire. An authoritative manager will take and allow staff to take measured risks as long as it stays true to the restaurants vision. Instead of asking the intern to follow, they will ask them to come along the journey with them. It is much more collaborative and allows room for people to be creative and innovate. This is a great approach when a new direction is needed or when a fresh change is warranted. The one drawback of this style surfaces when the intern or employee is more experienced or knowledgeable than the manager. If the manager fails to stay positive this lack of knowledge can lead to the manager being perceived as arrogantly domineering. While it takes a dynamic visionary leader to manage authoritatively, this management style has the highest overall effect on the restaurants culture.

By now, you should be able to see that there are different management styles that work better in different situations. The better you understand the management style your supervisor uses the more you will observe if your manager is using the appropriate style in the correct situation. There is no one management style that will work for all situations. The most successful managers will use anywhere from four to more styles. Most notably, they use the affiliative, authoritative, democratic, and coaching styles. The manager that will produce a positive restaurant culture and enjoy the greatest success is the one who can no matter the challenge move effortlessly between these styles.

Questions for reflection

1. List the six types of management style.
2. Which style is considered most effective and why?
3. How many different managing styles have you observed you immediate supervisor using?
4. Which one seemed most successful in their use? Why was it successful

Employees

Area	Assumptions	Outcome
Employees	Team member competency, skills, talent, reliability, and motivation may vary individually or collectively.	Individual and collective team assessment
	Things to think about: What is important to the employees? What are 'their' values like? Are they motivated and consistent?

When entering a kitchen for an internship, it is important to know the types of employees you may encounter. This is important because it will inform you as to which type your manager prefers. Whereas the types of employees can be broken down into many types, I would like to group them into three basic employee types for clarity’s sake. Understanding these three types will help you know co-workers personalities better. In addition, knowing their personalities will help your form relationships and have greater empathy for your fellow workers.

Survivalist – compliant for personal reasons

The first type of employee is the survivalist. The survivalist employee is an employee who is only there for the money. They will only works well when being observed by their managers. Then can often show open carelessness for their job. Survivalist employees will have trouble being truthful. Most of the time you will observe them feeling fed up with their job. You will find these types of people all over the organizational chart from top to bottom. This usually happens because the parasite employee will always appear to be energetic and downright delightful at first. However, over a period, they can become lackluster, and deceitful. They usually will show just enough improvement to keep their employment. In restaurant politics, this would be the type of person that you would be slightly guarded around because of their ability to deceive.

Laborer – Committed, limited vision, need direction

The second type of employee is the laborer. The laborer employee is an employee that needs a job, but also has the drive to feel useful in the restaurant. Often times these employees are less outgoing and charismatic than the survivalist employee. However, they get a great deal more production done than the survivalist employee. The biggest drawback to this employee is they usually stay in the moment. They typically will not have well defined long term professional goals. The laborer employee is not a self -starter. They must be constantly told what to do. This leads them to be the type of employee that never goes above and beyond their job duties. The mindset they have of just staying in the moment and completing the task at hand eventually will limit professional and personal lives.

Entrepreneur – Commitment leading to company growth

The third and final type is the entrepreneur. Unlike the survivalist employee, entrepreneur type employee does not want the job for the money. Moreover, unlike the laborer employee they are not content with just being useful. The entrepreneur employee has a clear vision of their goals. These will usually involve owning their own business in the hospitality industry, which is why we use the term entrepreneur. The employee is full of intrinsic drive and will overcome any limitation. In fact, this drive can become overbearing over time. Some restaurants see hiring this person as risky. They may want to just work until they have learned the skills they require to reach their professional goals and then leave. However, with the correct mentorship they will mismanage their professional goals less.

They will have fewer conflicts with other employees. Perhaps the most important upside is that the entrepreneur employee is their determination and creativity may lead to improvements in the restaurant that may have once seemed impossible. So long as the restaurants’ management team can utilize the entrepreneur employee’s talents without letting the personal and professional goals of the entrepreneur employee conflict with the restaurant culture this type of employee is invaluable.

As an intern being able to observe and distinguish which employees fall into which distinct type of employee, will greatly help your internships’ success. Each employee serves a place in the restaurant, but understanding his or her strengths and weaknesses will greatly improve your chance of aligning yourself with the correct mentorship. When it comes to incredible internship experiences, it is all about doing the research to find the best mentors to lead you to your professional goals. Knowing the different types of employees will greatly improve your chance of navigating the ins and outs of your restaurants’ organizational structure, policies, and politics. This will in turn set you on the road to success.

Questions for reflection

1. What are the three types of employees?
2. Compare and contrast the major differences between the three different types of employees.
3. Explain why it is important that employees with entrepreneurial drive must have great mentors.

Marketing

Area	Assumptions	Outcome
Marketing	Customer perception and intended audience can be approach utilizing various methodologies	Overall marketing approach and effectiveness
	Things to think about: Does price determine an item's popularity? Who are the clientele - age, income? Is the marketed perception complimented?

Marketing for a restaurant can be best described in two part, the restaurants’ marketing strategy and its’ marketing plan. You will find restaurants that have little to no marketing strategy much less a plan, and others with elaborate well thought out plans, as well as everything in between. Most restaurants’ without sound marketing will not survive for the long-term. Without successful marketing a restaurant will have trouble finding its’ customers, keeping those customers, and growing that customer base. It will not be able to adapt quickly to changes in the restaurant industry. This section will explore the difference between marketing strategies and marketing plans. We will also look at the questions your employers should ask to align both the restaurant’s strategies and plans together successfully. This in turn will allow you to better observe and understand the marketing of the restaurant you choose for your internship.

A restaurant that wants to be successful at marketing itself must first start with a marketing strategy. Marketing strategies are over-arching thoughts on how best to reach your target audience. They are not plans. These ideas should target projects, industry and customers you hope to reach. These strategies should seriously consider the distinguishable market advantage your restaurant has available to use to their advantage. After a restaurant decides on its’ market strategies the next question is. How can the restaurant use their strategies and advantages to over-come the competition, find its’ true audience to create and maintain success. It is only when solid strategies have been put in place that the restaurant should start creating a marketing plan.

A marketing plan is a specific method of using resources to reach the customers. A marketing plan is putting strategies to work by exploiting the industry advantages your restaurant has identified to hit your target audience. Most restaurants will look at the resources and staff they have and outline the steps they would like to take to market to that audience. For example, if your restaurant targets senior for an early evening dinner, a strategy of using Instagram or Twitter may not reach that audience. It is also important to remember that as a restaurant grows and evolves so will your strategies, but to an even greater degree, your marketing plan will. A good restaurant management staff constantly evaluates which a part of the plans are most and least successful. By monitoring they can quickly adjust their plan to better target their specific strategies, or change strategies altogether.

As an intern, begin by observing your work environment more closely. Does the restaurant in which you are doing your internship have marketing strategies? What are those? Does their marketing stop there? Did your restaurant create a strong plan of action based on their strategies?

Does it look like it is being successful? If the plan is not being successful, why is that the case? Observing the managements marketing strategies and plans by answering these questions will give you greater insight how well rounded the restaurants over-all business model is from a sustainability point. It will also prepare you to use best practices should you choose to open your own business in the hospitality industry.

Questions for reflection

1. Discuss the differences between a marketing strategy and a marketing plan.
2. What do you need to know to market the restaurant properly?
3. How will a marketing plan help you market the restaurant properly?

Internal Controls

Now that we have examined all the different areas that create the organizational structure of the restaurant in which you are interning, it is time to figure out how to monitor these areas and make sure they are staying true to the restaurants’ vision and culture.

These internal controls will look very different at each restaurant. In fact, they will even be different from the examples provided throughout your course work.

Area	Assumptions	Outcome
Internal Controls	Menu pricing, purchasing, tracking, waste and inventory control may indicate similarities or differences from classroom instruction	Improving profitability through proper planning and operational control.
	Things to think about: Who orders for the operation? Is product waste tracked and evaluated? What F & B costs are acceptable? How are purchase amounts determined?

Internal controls are systems put in place to improve profitability by monitoring and assuring the correct use of operational controls. Whereas some control are universal to all restaurant, those with greatest success know the importance of putting systems in place. Not just for the ability to quantify and qualify the results of all the restaurants’ planning and execution, but it will also help manage and discipline employees without appearing harsh and unfair. The more internal systems the restaurant has the more individual time management will have time for the training of interns and employees. Once the interns are properly trained the internal controls can act as the frame work maintaining the important on the job training as well as your professional growth. Some examples of internal control mechanism are: employee handbooks, inventory, purchasing, menu pricing, tracking waste, tracking labor cost. These are all part of evaluating and maintaining the success of a restaurant. The more detailed and easily understood these monitoring devices are the more synergy you will create between staff and management. The end result you should see while observing your restaurant is a more motivated staff that understands their duties and how to be successful.

Questions for reflection

1. Why are internal controls necessary for a successful a restaurant?
2. Give five examples of internal controls.
3. What do internal controls allow you to monitor?