Employee Performance Management
The hotel and catering industry is one of the busiest industries worldwide. To make their services smooth and enhance their guests’ experience, catering establishments have to acquire human resources. Waiters and waitresses are essential human resources in restaurants. They run the food and beverage sections, welcome guests, take their orders and serve them. They are responsible for guests satisfaction by ensuring they get an enhanced experience while in the restaurants.
Waiters and waitresses’ performance standards are similar to those of other workers in other sectors. These performance standards outline what is expected of them, such as their role and how to act while in the workplace. Although these standards are primarily given to new employees to help them understand their responsibilities and functions, they guide all the rest of their activities. Communication skills are one of the most crucial standards required of waiters. They should be able to convey appropriate information and transparently as possible. Clear, accurate, and concise language promotes communication with guests and other employees, thus enhancing productivity.
Additionally, waiters should be good at time management to ensure they undertake their tasks without delay and as scheduled. Customers often grow impatient demanding high time management skills among waiters and waitresses. Waiters should demonstrate ethics such as integrity, honesty, and courtesy in pursuit of their roles. Also, teamwork is expected among them to ensure all activities are coordinated and for motivation purposes. Problem-solving skills define the ability of waiters to solve problems arising in the course of their work. They are required to demonstrate flexibility and openness to alternate ideas and solutions when a problem arises. Accountability is also a critical performance standard established through minimum supervision, clear understanding of roles, urgency, and ownership of tasks. These performance standards should be observed unconditionally to ensure the smooth running of the workplace.
The management of any organisation is responsible for ensuring the effectiveness of performance measures. While different managers employ different strategies of ensuring performance standards are adhered to, their goal remains the same; to improve employees’ productivity and experience of customers. Setting clear performance standards should be the first step to ensuring their effectiveness. Clear standards guide on what should be done, ensuring they are followed to the dot. Performance coaching is an efficient way of getting the best out of your employees. Conducting performance evaluation is the best indicator of areas requiring coaching to ensure employees stay on performance standards. Even with high performance, coaching ensures that these standards are observed since training is the only way to follow the right procedures.
Getting rid of poor performers is also a method of ensuring the effectiveness of performance standards. For example, if a waiter cannot observe basic communication requirements such as courtesy, getting rid of the staff will set expectations for the rest of the members. Besides, constantly reviewing performance standards ensures that they match the set expectations. The more precisely the expectations can be met by adhering to performance standards, the more effectively. An example includes telling the employees about existing policies, values expected, and success to be achieved. Consequently, employees will adhere to the set performance standards to ensure they meet the set target.