Task 1: Know how human resources are managed

In this report, I will investigate ways in which a selected business manages its existing human resources, relating to things such as targets, levels of formality and maintenance of operation.

For this report, I have chosen The Boat Inn. The Boat Inn is a local pub and restaurant with a small number of employees and various functions.

Staffing to meet changing business demands is a management strategy that may involve hiring more to cope with growth, or to make redundancies. A business may want to hire people with particular speciality or skill that will be beneficial to their job function, such as knowledge in ICT. The Boat Inn pub/restaurant manages its existing human resources by staffing to meet changing business demand. If there is a lot of business, they will have to hire more staff in order to deal with the large amount of customers. They do this pro-actively as they hire part-time before the Christmas season. They do this by putting ads in the local paper and a sign up at the bar. As ICT equipment has changed, the employees have required the training in order to use things such as electronic tills. The change to the daily running of the business is limited but affects employees through training and improved systems.

Co-ordination of team resources involves managing teams in order to be more productive. This includes making sure there is a good manager to staff ratio, or making sure orders go through without communications delays. Staff planning involves making sure that there is a good spread of staff throughout locations and times; that there are waiters reaching each table as soon as possible, and that there is a rota so an adequate amount of staff on each day. At busy times such as Sunday lunch time and Fridays, employees are managed so that more employees are working, and shifts are appropriate. Team resources are co-ordinated in order to meet targets such as keeping customer waiting time down and improving quality of service. This includes setting procedures for number of table bookings. Food orders go straight through to the kitchen and meals are then delivered to the tables. There are enough people trained in order to cover sickness and holidays, so the business will not suffer serious consequences from shortness of staff. Team performance is monitored by the Pub manager. New employees are monitored by existing personnel until they are confident in their tasks.

Monitoring of human resources involves formal types, such as CRB checks, absence levels and sickness levels. Businesses have a policy to deal with absenteeism etc. that employees must be aware of. Informal monitoring involves the employer making subtle judgements and trying to correct or improve a human problem before firing. It must be done sensitively and is to achieve workforce optimisation. The Boat Inn manager will make informal warnings on issues such as lateness before firing. A formal warning will be given in the event of redundancy or sacking with good reason. Informal monitoring involves the manager overseeing the work of employees. They may set team targets, ie targets for each shift for no. of customers dealt with. They may have personal development targets for new staff.

Liaison with other departments is the communication between areas of a business. Good communication is vital to maintain a successful business. At The Boat Inn, liaison is all done in person due to the size of the business. The kitchen liaison with the manager on stock levels, for re-ordering on time. The kitchen and outside eating areas may need good liaison to ensure meals get to the customer quickly and efficiently.

Establishment of professional culture involves levels of formality. This includes a purple labelled t-shirt as uniform they manage lateness and punctuality. Separation of professional from private activities is managing staff so that employees with relations aren’t on the same team if it’s going to effect productivity. Provision of appropriate incentives could include providing company breaks or events, or staff rewards. The Boat Inn does not have any additional incentives or goals for the employees, although tips are kept by the employee serving the customer. Separating professional from private activities includes staff not socialising unprofessionally whilst at work and not on break. The Boat Inn management does not allow socialising with customers whilst there is work to be done.

Encouragement of creativity and initiative is management to increase employee motivation and may help to decrease requirement for team managers by allowing employees to solve problems and think things out for themselves. Problem solving can involve kaizen principle. This involves everyone seeking to make improvements so that the quality of the product or service can continually improve. Applying this method or not depends on the culture and structure of the organisation. The Boat staff may be encouraged to be creative in producing meals to give a better appearance to the dish to improve sales.

Managing outsourcing is using external companies to perform functions, in order to better reach an objective, such as cutting costs. This is achieved because internal workers require costs such as retirement pay, sick pay or possibility of compensation. With outsourcing, the external company pays for these things. With The Boat Inn, decisions are made internally as outsourcing is more costly in this case. They may have considered outsourcing cleaning as specialised cleaners could work faster and more efficiently than general staff, and are less costly and risky than managing their own cleaners.

Maintenance of operation involves adequate resources to meet tasks. The Boat Inn gets job adverts publicised and puts up a notice in order to re-hire when there is an increased demand for staff, such as in a busy season or from an expansion. They require food and ingredients in stock, as well as drinks and equipment. They are ordered by management and assistant management. The kitchen has a budget for each meal to keep profitable.

Some equipment is required by law, such as provisions in compliance with the Health and Safety at Work ect. Act. Adequate safety equipment is required. Requirements for new equipment arise from re-hiring and changes to law. The Boat Inn is managed in that a new requirement is reported to the manager and an order is placed accordingly. Rehiring includes the need for reordering the uniform t-shirt with company name. The employees of The Boat Inn require safety equipment. There is a fire extinguisher in the building and safety equipment in the kitchen. Other equipment is required for the operation of the business, such as ovens, utensils and tables. These supplies are maintained by management.

Working capitol is the budget available for the daily costs that may arise. It is calculated by current assets minus current liabilities. Influences include the level of sales made, payments made and inflation. The Boat Inn has a small working capitol for minor repairs or replacements. Orders are made by the manager, with regular monitoring of kitchen supplies. Management monitor the working capitol to make sure they have enough for bills. They may arrange trade credit for supplies.

Facilities involve the entire physical infrastructure required to integrate, operate and maintain equipment. In order to facilitate the chef’s job, there is adequate storage for ingredients and equipment, as well as sinks and work area. These may be governed by legal requirements such as in Health and Safety at Work act. Facilities may be for staff as well as customers. The boat inn has toilet facilities for customers and staff. They have hand washing facilities for staff.

Administration is a group of functions that provide performance information, monitor functions, troubleshooting and problem solving. Problem-solving may be pro-active or reactive. Kaizen is proactive. Fire fighting is reactive and involves solving problems as they arise in order of urgency. With the Boat Inn, administration is maintained by the manager and assistant manager. Problems with new employees may be solved by the supervising employee or the manager personally.