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BHMH2115 FOOD SERVICE

OPERATIONS
Week 12: Human Resources Issues in
Restaurants
Restaurant Operations and Control
(Chapter 11:P.298-309, 312-315
Chapter 13: P.349-355, 358-359,301-309
Chapter 14: P.372-387)
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Objectives
• After reading and studying this chapter, you
should be able to:
• Understand organization chart of a restaurant
• Identify the steps in staffing the restaurant
• Determine the legality of potential interview
questions
• List the goals of an orientation program
• Identify benefits and drawback of part-time
employees
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Organizing People and Jobs

• Every restaurant is organized so these restaurant

functions are performed:
➢Human resources management and supervision
➢Food and beverage purchasing
➢Receiving, storing, and issuing
➢Food preparation
➢Foodservice
➢Food cleaning; dish and utensil washing
➢Marketing/sales
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Organizing People and Jobs (cont’d)

➢Promotion, advertising, and public relations
➢Accounting and auditing
➢Bar service
• As restaurants grow, specialization of function
becomes necessary
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Organizational Chart

© John Wiley & Sons, Inc.

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Staffing the Restaurant

• Key words in finding the right people and preparing
them to work successfully.
• Steps in staffing the restaurants:
➢Recruitment
➢Pre-employment testing
➢Interviewing
➢Selection
➢Employment
➢Placement
➢Orientation and training
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Recruitment
• Process by which prospective employees are
attracted to the restaurant
➢Inorder for a suitable applicant to be selected for
employment
• Must be carried out in accordance to employment
laws and regulations and with civil rights
regulations
• Sources: via restaurant websites and social
media, recommendations from existing
employees, internal recruitment, promotion from
within, local career fairs, placing advertisement in
local or community newspaper, head-hunting, etc.
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Preemployment Testing
• Must be valid and reliable
➢Valid test: measures what it is supposed to
➢Reliable test: shows the same results with
repeated testing
• Range of tests to select from
➢Examples: intelligence, aptitude, achievement, etc.
❑Some test for substance abuse and honesty
❑Some use psychological tests
❑e.g. cooks tested on their culinary skills before
they are hired.
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Interviewing
• Seek to identify certain behavioral
characteristics that may determine successful
employment practices
• The purpose of the interview is to:
➢Gain sufficient information to determine the
applicant is capable of doing the job
➢Give information about the company and the job
➢Ask appropriate but leading questions that weed out
undesirable workers
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Ideal Employee Profiles

• Employees:
➢Must fit with the restaurant style
➢Outgoing personalities fit well in the restaurant
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Selection
• Determining eligibility and suitability of a
prospective employee
➢How well they will do the job and fit in with the team
➢Personal appearance, grooming, and hygiene are
important
• Purpose is to hire an employee that will be a
team player and exceed expectations
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Employee Sources
• Current employees via promotion
• Restaurant website
• Facebook, Twitter
• Internet
• State employment service (e.g. Labour
Department)
• Schools
• Vendors and customers
• Youth groups,
• Fraternities, Sororities
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Employee Sources (cont’d.)

• Walk-ins
• Minority sources
• Church groups
• Veterans’ organizations
• Retiree organizations
• TV, local cable
• Community bulletin boards
• Job fairs
• Local partnerships
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Questions to Avoid: Application

Form and during the Interview
• Marital status
• Age
• National origin
• Family relationship
• Mental or physical handicap
• Race and/or sex
• Injured worker
• Religion
• Race
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Questions You Can Ask

• General opener
• your experiences
• Transportation
• Availability
• Hobbies/interests,
• Goals/ambitions
• Sports
• Languages
• Work experience
• Skill and Specific Job Related Questions,
• Other interview Questions
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The Multiple Interview Approach

• Effective when there are plenty of applicants

available
➢During the first interview the candidate may be
given a rating of 1 to 5
❑Only those rating a 5 are given an additional interview
with a second interviewer
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Telephone References
• Follow up by phone
➢More effective than a written request
➢Direct the call towards applicants’ strengths and
weaknesses
➢Verify applicants’ information
➢Few people voluntarily make adverse comments
about applicants
❑Tone of voice and what is not said may be more
important than the words said
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Careful Selection of Personnel

• Three main hiring objectives:
➢Hire people who project an image and attitude
appropriate for your restaurant
➢Hire people who will work with you rather than
spend their time fighting your rules, procedures,
and systems
➢Hire people whose personal and financial
requirements are a good fit with the hours and
positions you are hiring for
• Attitude and appearance are critical: employee
can teach the job skills, not the human and
interpersonal skills
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Screening
• Screen out the substance abuser:
➢Employment records may provide indicators
• Pre-employment physicals and drug
examinations:
➢Permissible as long as they pertain to the job and
conform with regulations
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Orientation
• Explaining to new employees all information
that will be helpful about the company and the
job, policies and procedures, culture and
values, that will help ensure their success with
the company.
• Well-planned orientation programs
➢Help new employees become acquainted with the
restaurant
➢Most labor turnover occurs within the first few
weeks of employment
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Orientation (cont’d.)
• Eight goals:
1. Explain the company’s history, philosophy, mission,
goals, and objectives
2. Make the employee feel welcome
3. Let employees know why they have been selected
4. Ensure that the employee knows what to do and who
to ask when unsure
5. Explain and show what is expected
6. Have employees explain and demonstrate each task
7. Explain various programs and social activities
available
8. Show where everything is kept
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Part-time Employees
• Advantages:
➢No need to pay benefits
➢Flexible schedule
• Disadvantages:
➢Lack of continuity
➢More need for training
➢Less motivation
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RESTAURANT OPERATIONS
AND CONTROL
Chapter 11:P.297-319
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Top-ten list for restaurant manager to

improve business
1. Manage costs effectively
2. Increase sales
3. Be consistent
4. Deliver superior service
5. Manage time wisely
6. Create positive work environment
7. Motivate the team
8. Be a good example
9. Reward as often as possible
10. Discipline consistently
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Control
• There is so much food and beverage in a
restaurant
• Unless management and owners exert tight
control, losses will occur
• Computer program - Chef Tec shows actual food cost
compared with ideal food cost, known as food
optimization
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Calculating the Food Cost Percentage

• Food cost percentage: The cost of food sold
expressed as a percentage of food sales
• Should be calculated at least monthly:
➢Food cost percentage = (Cost ÷Sales) X100
➢Cost= Opening inventory + Purchases – Spoilage –
Employee meals – Closing inventory
• Determining the Food Cost of a Particular Item on a
Menu
• FC%=EDC ÷ MP
• EDC = Edible plate cost, MP = Menu price
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Recycling to Reduce Costs

• Recycling has become business as usual for
65% of restaurants
• Leftover food, paper, bottles, cardboard, etc.
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Liquor Control
• Part of an overall system of beverage controls.
• Liquor is controlled from ordering,
delivery/receiving, storage, issuing, pouring, and
cash receipts.
• Beverage-cost percentage: The cost of beverages
expressed as a percentage of beverage sales.
➢Beer pouring cost: 24 to 25 percent
➢Wine pouring cost: 26 to 30 percent
➢Liquor pouring costs: 16 to 20 percent
➢Combined beverage pouring cost: 23 to 25 percent of
beverage sales
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Controllable Expenses
• Various expenses that can be changed in the
short term:
• Variable costs
▪ salaries and wages (payroll) and related benefits
▪ Direct operating expenses: e.g. music and
entertainment; marketing (including sales,
advertising, public relations, and promotions);
▪ Heat, light, and power
▪ Repairs and maintenance
▪ Administration
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Labor Costs
• The cost of labor expressed as a percentage
of sales
• Depends on the type of restaurant and degree
of service provided
➢16 percent of sales in a quick-service restaurant
➢24 percent in a casual operation
➢Up to about 30 percent in an upscale restaurant
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Labor Costs (cont’d.)

• Projecting payroll costs
• Requires preparation of staffing schedules and
establishing wage rates
➢Staffing patterns may vary during different periods
of the year
• Categories of payroll and related costs:
• Variable (percentage ratio to payroll)
• Fixed (dollar amount per employee on the payroll)
• Employee meals can be treated as payroll costs
or as part of food cost and wages.
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Productivity Analysis and Cost Control

• Various measures of productivity have been
developed:
• Meals produced per employee per day, meals
produced per employee per hour, etc.
• Sales generated per employee per year:
➢Divide the number of full-time equivalent
employees into the gross sales for the year
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Check out
• Organization chart of a restaurant
• Steps in staffing the restaurant
• Potential interview questions you can ask or avoid
• Eight goals of an orientation program
• Benefits and drawback of part-time employees
• Top-ten list for restaurant manager to improve business
• Calculating the food cost percentage
• Liquor control
• Controllable expenses
• Labor costs
• Productivity analysis and Cost control