Maximising profits and meeting objectives Essay

J D Wetherspoon owns pubs right across the UK. It is now the UK’s fastest growing company. They serve good quality food at knockdown prices. They also clear your plates away quickly afterwards and ask if the food was to your satisfaction. Wetherspoon’s employs approximately 11,200 staff who work either part or full-time. The company believe that there is a direct link between the high performance of their staff and their approach to staff recruitment, training, development, and motivation. Each pub operates with skilled management, who are fully supported by bar and kitchen staff. Their mission statement is ‘to have by far the best CBSM (cleanliness, beer, service, maintenance) standards in the pub world; to be the best company to work for; and, by doing these things to be the most profitable.’ McDonald’s McDonald’s have over 1000 restaurants across the United Kingdom. Three quarters of these are run by managers on behalf of the company and the other quarter being run as franchises. McDonald’s is the world’s largest franchising company, with seven out ten outlets being a franchise, and being owned and run by independent entrepreneurs. McDonald’s sell burgers and chicken with a variety of different desserts and hot and cold drinks, served by friendly and helpful team members. One of McDonald’s stated aims is ‘to provide a friendly service in a relaxed, safe, and consistent restaurant environment.’ J D Wetherspoon J D Wetherspoon uses Maslow’s hierarchy of needs as the bases of their motivation techniques. Maslow’s hierarchy of needs gives the managers clear and useful insights into how best they should motivate their staff. J D Wetherspoon aims to provide each individual employee with the skills and knowledge, which will help them to gradually climb the ladder of hierarchy permanently. Maslow’s pyramid can help Wetherspoon’s with this. They believe in creating a work force, which is committed and motivated. This workforce should be made up of people who can achieve personal fulfilment via the freedom that they get through their work. Realising that they will not be able to keep all their employees for all of their working life, J D Wetherspoon wants them to grow a sense of loyalty to the company They promote their staff through the different levels of employment status in the business, from bar/kitchen associates, to pub managers, to general managers to help motivate them. They pay each of the employees more than their competitors are paying their staff, so that the all associates (employees) feel motivated and will stay with the company for as long as possible. They believe that once their employees know that they are being paid more than the minimum wage for their work, they will become more motivated. The company bases its pay on reviews of performance of each of the staff; the better the performance the better the pay. The company also provides a bonus scheme for its workers. Each member of staff receives a bonus depending upon the performance of the pub in which they work. To get each member of staff to work to their full potential, the business runs many incentive schemes. One example of this is a monthly draw for examples of excellent customer care. The winner will receive an all expenses paid holiday for two in New York. Along with this, the business offers a share option scheme to each of its employees, enabling them to buy shares in the company at an assured price. The company do this in the belief that it will make the staff have a sense of belonging in company and will want to see the company succeed. McDonald’s McDonald’s method of motivation involves using rewards, goals, and promotion prospects for their members of staff. Although the company motivates their staff via reward methods, goals and promotion prospects, they use F.W. Taylor’s Scientific Management motivation theory. McDonald’s splits their staff into teams, so that there is a team of people in each of the areas of the restaurant. There are also team members who walk round the restaurant and clear tables of empty food boxes and drinks cartons. Julie Room, a General Manager from a McDonald’s restaurant says that McDonald’s are continually hiring new members of staff, as their staff members ‘are always leaving.’ McDonald’s have high promotion prospects for their staff, with all the managers who work for the company once being crewmembers, and 80% of the top managers were once crewmembers. The president of McDonald’s Ltd, also worked as a crewmember in a restaurant. This gives the current members of staff aspirations for the future. To help each member of staff, the company trains them in the restaurant that they will work in. Each staff member is trained in all 16 areas of the business including grill, buns, dressings, filets, and pies, drive-thru, front counter, and back room. This is all on the job training. This means that the staff can experience job rotation within their work. This leads to job motivation for the staff. Therefore, the team members are more likely to stay with the company for longer. This is very similar to the motivation theory of Douglas McGregor. J D Wetherspoon J D Wetherspoon’s management is of a democratic style. The management encourages the staff to take part in decision-making through the multi-channel communication system, which the company has in place. Wetherspoon’s believe that many of the projects that they adopt stem from the ideas put forward by their ‘associates’. This is because they are on the ‘front-line’ of the company. They can see where things need to be improved and changed. These things tend to obvious to the people who are in contact with customers on a day-to-day basis but are not quite so obvious to the managers, higher up in the business who are very rarely seen by the customers. The changes and improvements that the associates would like to see are communicated to their line manager, who refers them to the pub/restaurant manager. Within a few weeks, the ‘good ideas’ are put into practice to make to the pub/restaurant appear better to the public and possibly to attract more customers. Every fortnight, they hold a ‘big meeting’ where over 100 employees attend. This includes people like the company chairperson, company directors, and pub managers and some associates from many pubs/restaurants. Here, all the employees can voice their opinions on the company’s over all performance and the ways in which they think it can be improved. Everyone who attends, gets to vote whether a certain route for a promotion of an offer the company is participating in, gets the go ahead or not. Many of the people who work for Wetherspoon’s carry a high level of commitment and many are proud to work for Wetherspoon’s. The company strongly believes that one of the key factors, which differentiates the company from its rivals, is the high quality of customer service/care that is achieved, from employing a number of committed employees. McDonald’s McDonald’s management style is more autocratic. This is because the members of staff are told which part of the restaurant they will be working in and they are told what they have to do. However, some of the approaches that McDonald’s use can be seen in McGregor’s Theory Y. This is people centred and the managers are more democratic. The managers give the teams responsibility for each of the sections, awarding them appropriately, as they meet and exceed targets. They also believe that their staff want to work and are not lazy. However, the members of staff at McDonald’s can also come under McGregor’s Theory X. This is because the teams have to be controlled and monitored. They have to be told what to do and are often watched to make sure that they are performing correctly. They are often seen to ‘slack’ and to be lazy. Thus, they need some motivation to inspire them to work. It is only the managers that get a say in what the company does. The employees, which are seen everyday, unlike the managers, do not get any input into company and the decisions it makes what so ever. Therefore, the team members feel undervalued. This can then result in the management team lacking in motivation to motivate their staff. J D Wetherspoon Wetherspoon’s business culture is one orientated around their associates at the lower levels. This is because these people see the areas that can improved. The managers rely on these people to report any problems and successes. Wetherspoon’s encourages their staff to challenge existing ideas and practices to continually improve the company. The changes that are raised are adjusted little by little rather than in one big change. Many of these changes are suggested by the employees, who base them upon their experience whilst at work. However, these sorts of things can only occur in an open culture. Nothing is disclosed within Wetherspoon’s approach and is based upon the understanding and the belief in some of the key ideas of human motivation. Their approach to the way things are done resembles Charles Handy’s Role Culture. This is because of the structure that the company takes; this is much like a pyramid with the chairperson at the top and the associates at the bottom, very rarely speaking to one another (see below). McDonald’s McDonald’s business culture is orientated around the tasks that the staff have to carry out. This is because without these people the company could not function efficiently. These people also see the day-to-day running of the business, the taking of the money, serving of the food etc. The approach that the company takes resembles Charles Handy’s Task Culture. This is because of the company structure. The Task Culture is represented by a matrix, which looks like a grid (see right). The company splits its employees into project teams. Within these teams, they have to solve problems, which may arise. In addition, everyone can cross boundaries within the business. This means that they can work in other departments as well as the one they are employed in e.g. some one working on the front counter, could work in the kitchens. This culture also uses individual talents in each area i.e. people on the front counter need to use people skills, need to have good communication skills and confidence, whereas on the other hand, the people who cook the burgers need to be good at time keeping, cooking the burgers, and keeping up with the demands. J D Wetherspoon The company is committed to providing the highest standards of training and development to all employees. They aim to encourage, motivate, and support all the employees to achieve the company’s mission statement and to fulfil the personal ambitions. There are different programmes, which the company use to train and develop. Generally, when people start working for the business they start as bar/kitchen associates. They start with the training for this job, as they progress in the business, they receive development training. This is for team leaders, shift managers, kitchen managers and pub managers. Each of the positions have their own set of training programmes. For example, for someone to train as a shift manager, they have to go through twelve types of training; induction, food hygiene, health and safety, kitchen training, customer management, personnel policies and procedures, people skills, interview skills, and stock management. They also have to do a National Licensee’s Certificate. Whereas to train as a bar/kitchen associate, they have to do food hygiene, health and safety, and kitchen training. J D Wetherspoon’s develop their staff. They do this because the staff that already work for the company know the way the business works. Also, training staff that already work for Wetherspoon’s, to higher positions in the company can mean that the costs of recruiting and training new staff will be reduced. It also helps to ensure staff loyalty and can reduce many future uncertainties in the company. This can then, in addition ensure that the company will not run out of skilled people; i.e. a bar/kitchen associate who has been promoted to a shift manager can always help out in the kitchen because they would have had the correct training to be able to work in the kitchens. Therefore, they have the skills and the company has not lost them. Training existing staff can help gain a competitive advantage. This means the company can gain more customers and more customer loyalty. In theory, and in many cases, in reality, this can help to motivate the managers, which in turn will help them to train their staff better, and can motivate them too. The company’s training and development programme is a combination of on and off the job training courses. The company’s training centres round career development. McDonald’s McDonald’s hire their staff on a three weeks probationary period. The company have the right to end employment of at any time during these three weeks. It is only after these three weeks, and if their performance has been acceptable, that the member of staff becomes part of the team. It is said that the company takes six months to train a full-timer and 11 months to train a part-timer. This is because of the sixteen areas in which everyone has to be trained on. These include the grill, buns, dressings, filets, and pies, drive-thru, front counter, and back room. They also have a buddy system. This is where a new employee to the company is paired with someone else who has been with the company for a while and have experience. This person will be one of the training squad and will look after the new team member for their probationary period. Eventually the trainer will decide whether or not the new team member is capable of carrying out the work in the area. When this has been decided the staff member would have received a gold star (this system existed in 1999, it no longer exists). The company thought that the teams found this system of rewarding good work, motivational. McDonald’s, like J D Wetherspoon’s like to develop their staff. In the article by Susan Curtis, it says that â€Å"there is a set hierarchy of jobs for crew members to work their way up: (1) Crew member (2) Five – star crew member (3) Training squad member (4) Hourly-paid floor manager (5) Salaried floor manager (second assistant manager) (6) First assistant manager (7) Store manager (8) General manager (only in larger stores).’ They develop their staff for the same reasons that J D Wetherspoon’s do. They do it to save money and to give staff more opportunities within the business. J D Wetherspoon J D Wetherspoon’s encourage their staff to work in teams. This is because team working means that there is a more efficient and effective production team. It is also believed that working as a team, can satisfy the social needs of people. Many managers delegate power among the people who work underneath them. This is in the belief that delegation meets the employees’ ego and self-actualisation needs from the motivation theory of Maslow. In addition, working as part of a team means that people can job rotate, to give them a bit of variety. This means that they can be more motivated towards their job, knowing that there is a possibility of job rotation within their teams, even if it is cooking a different part of a meal. Wetherspoon’s encourages this because they want their staff to achieve as much as possible in their work. They also want their members of staff to have a sense of belongingness to the company. Wetherspoon’s recognise that the feeling of belongingness is an employee need and therefore they set out to meet it. McDonald’s McDonald’s also encourage their staff to work in teams. This is because they, like J D Wetherspoon’s, have a more efficient and effective work force this way. McDonald’s staff are encouraged to work as teams so that all the work is covered and completed, whether it is morning at breakfast, mid-day at lunchtime or in the evening at ‘tea’ time. This also helps to satisfy the staff at McDonald’s and helps to maximise the involvement of the staff. The teams are usually functional. Also within the teams, the staff can swap jobs with someone else and change department that they work in. Team working means that the staff can become multi-skilled. This makes it easier to do someone else’s job. They can also meet shared objectives, i.e. serve each customer within a minute. J D Wetherspoon J D Wetherspoon’s is a pub/restaurant. They sell both drinks and food. This means that they need enough stock to supply their customers. The company have to ensure that each of their pubs has enough beer barrels in their cellar and enough wines and spirits to last them at least a week. The company will have at least a delivery of beer every few days or so as the beer will go off very quickly once the barrel has been opened. The company always has just enough stock to cater for all their customers, whether they be eating or drinking. They bring many different types of beers to their customers throughout the year via beer festivals. Wetherspoon’s work along side Cask Marque (a quality standard for real beer) and CAMRA (Campaign for Real Ale). This means that the company brings in new beers and rotates them throughout the year to offer their customers some variety. They also offer many spirits and wines as well. All these alcoholic beverages are kept in stock with strict quality standards, upheld inside the pub. This is to make sure that the customers can enjoy their drinks. This applies to the beers especially. The company offer fifty plus different meals per day, they therefore need to make sure that they have enough ingredients for these meals. They need to make sure that the stock they have does not go out of date to quickly either. They have many meals on their menu, which contain meat (beef, pork, chicken, and lamb) and fish. To keep this from going off they need to put the meats and fish in a chiller. They have to order enough of each ingredient for each of the meals on their menu, as if they are to sell many of the same meal. They do this for both the beverages and food so that they never run out of stock. If they were to run out of stock then there is a possibility of losing customers and future customers. The method of stock control that they use, in my opinion is ‘Just in Case’. This is because they can never be sure how much of each meal option they need to make and they never know how much of a particular beer or spirit they are going to sell, so they need enough stock just in case some one buys a meal or a drink. McDonald’s McDonald’s, on the other hand, operates in a different way. They stock up on all their burgers, salads, deserts, and fries although they use J.I.T. The restaurants are always very busy during the day. Therefore the company gets through many burgers, and fries each day. They have to rely upon their suppliers to deliver in time for ‘rush hours’ i.e. lunch time as they know they will need more stock. They estimate their level of sales for each item on the menu using previous figures, doing this they can predict how much they need to order. To use J.I.T. McDonald’s need to know exactly what they need. They need pretty good knowledge of their customers requirements. They also need to have excellent relationships with their suppliers, and need to have accurate understandings of production requirements. J D Wetherspoon J D Wetherspoon have to assure quality in both food and the drink. They ensure this by buying the highest quality ingredients for their meals from their suppliers. To guarantee this, they make sure that they build strong relationships with the suppliers. They also have a ‘food guru’, who works closely with the food team. Once a month he reviews the company’s menu and the ingredients which they use, and he gives his personal ‘seal of approval’ if he believes they are at the highest standard that people would expect from J D Wetherspoon’s. To ensure that the beer they sell is to the highest standards, they employ beer tasters. These people test the beers on four areas; appearance, aroma, taste and aftertaste. These are usually marked out of 10, so each beer can get a maximum of 40 marks. All of the beers which the company supply must meet their tasting standards, before any orders can be placed. Whilst in stock, there are strict quality standards in place which are maintained within the free house, to ensure that customers enjoy the beer at its best. This process also applies to the wines and spirits. As with the beers, the wines and spirits have to meet the company’s high standards. The wines and spirits are also tested for appearance, aroma, taste and aftertaste and again if they don’t meet Wetherspoon’s standards then they are not sold in any of the pubs/restaurants. They also train their staff to a high standard of work to ensure the quality of customer service. They do this by training their staff in customer management and in people skills. McDonald’s Serving more than 2.5 million customers each day makes quality a consistent goal. They work with leading suppliers across the UK – from potato farmers in Lincolnshire and Norfolk to dairies in the South and Midlands – to bring customers the tasty products that customers expect from McDonald’s. McDonald’s attempt to certify quality from crop to counter. Therefore they require the highest standards and specifications, not just for product ingredients; every detail of production, transport, delivery, preparation and service is carefully monitored. A focus on quality pervades every aspect of the business. Their standards top the food industry, and they continue to work with government and health officials to investigate improvements to their foods. Both companies have their different approaches to maximising profits and to meet its objectives. The way in which each company goes about it is effective to them. Both companies are, although in the same area of trade, are completely different. They operate in different ways, have different kinds of people working for them and generally have different clientele. The people who work for McDonald’s are generally those who can work in the conditions that are found in a McDonald’s restaurant. They tend to be able to deal with pressure a little easier then those working at Wetherspoon’s and vice versa. These people have a different kind of objective to aim towards, that is appropriate to the different companies. Again the approach each company uses helps to achieve these very well and can sometimes help them to exceed them. The companies approaches, however, both lead to them maximising their profits. This is because of the efficiency and effectiveness of the staff in both companies.