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JMU Special Events Catering Performance Improvement ProposalLTLE 380Spring 2015Emily Brodzinski, Chelsea Dunkle, Aileen O’Hearn, Madeleine Sandridge, Ashley WilhelmTable of ContentsOrganizational Analysis ………………………….………….. 3Background …………………………………….……….. 3Mission and Vision Statements ……………..……….. 3Organizational Chart ………………….……….……….. 4Job Descriptions ……………………….……………….. 5Systems Analysis …………………….…………………. 7SWOT Analysis …………………….…………………….. 9Performance Diagnosis Matrix ……………………….. 10Process Analysis ………………………………………………. 12Task Analysis …………………………………………………… 13Task Inventory ………………………………………………….. 14Data Collection ………………………………………………….. 14Interview …………………………………………………… 14Survey Results ……………………………………………. 17Original Survey ……………………………………………. 23Proposal …………………………………………………………… 25Costs and Benefits ………………………………………………. 25References ………………………………………………………… 26Organizational AnalysisBackgroundIn July 2001, JMU Dining signed a contract with Aramark as opposed the university’s former provider, Sodexho Marriott. JMU has been using Aramark as its food provider ever since then. SPEV (Special Events Catering) had already existed for quite some time. Catering operations moved to Chandler Hall in 1979, and then to its current location, Festival in 2002 (Torisky, 2007). SPEV essentially provides catering for events held by the university. Most of their clients are JMU organizations, however, they can cater for clients outside of the school occasionally, such as for various weddings during the summer. Mission and Vision StatementsAramark Mission Statement: “Our mission is to deliver experiences that enrich and nourish Lives. From our food and facilities businesses to our uniform and medical technology maintenance businesses, we deliver experiences that enrich and nourish lives every day. As a company, we have five focus areas: our consumers, our clients, our employees, our shareholders and the communities in which we work and live.”Aramark Vision: “Our vision is to focus on growth for our consumers and clients with a combination of innovation and service to accelerate growth.” Source: Our business purpose. (2015). Retrieved March 14, 2015 from Chart-342900554037500Job DescriptionsSystems AnalysisFigure 1Figure 2Aramark at JMU is comprised of DHall, EHall, various retail locations (ie. Top Dog, Dukes), outside vendors (ie. Chick Fil A, Starbucks), as well as Special Events Catering. Within SPEV are several areas including management, the sales team, service staff, and kitchen staff. Our project primarily focuses on the service department of SPEV. SWOT AnalysisStrengthsFlexible scheduling; understanding of students’ workloadWork with people your ageEmployees feel they have the tools and resources needed to do their jobs wellComprehensive food safety trainingWeaknessesInconsistency in carrying out policiesCliques among veteran workersFavoritismPoor communication between upper management and employeesComplicated hiring processPoor morale among managersOpportunitiesOpportunity to create straighter lines of communication Opportunity to promote inclusion among employeesOpportunity to streamline their student hiring processOpportunity to stress the importance of consistent policiesThreatsOther catering companies could take businessAramark could lose their contract with JMUPotential health code violationsPerformance Diagnosis MatrixOrganization LevelProcess LevelTeam LevelIndividual LevelMission/GoalDoes the organization mission/goal fit the reality of the economic, political, and cultural forces?Do the process goals enable the organization to meet organization and individual missions/goals?Do the team goals provide congruence with the process and individual goals?Are the professional and personal mission/goals of individuals congruent with the organization’s?System DesignDoes the organization system provide structure and policies supporting the desired performance?Are processes designed in such a way to work as a system?Do the team dynamics function in such a way to facilitate collaboration and performance?Does the individual clear obstacles that impede his or her job performance?CapacityDoes the organization have the leadership, capital, and infrastructure to achieve its mission/goals?Does the process have the capacity to perform (quantity, quality, and timeliness)?Does the team have the combined capacity to effectively and efficiently meet the performance goals?Does the individual have the mental, physical, and emotional capacity to perform?MotivationDo the policies, culture, and reward systems support the desired performance?Does the process provide the information and human factors required to maintain it?Does the team function in a respectful and supportive manner?Does the individual want to perform no matter what?ExpertiseDoes the organization establish and maintain selection and training policies and resources?Does the process of developing expertise meet the changing demands of changing processes?Does the team have the team process expertise to perform? Does the individual have the knowledge and expertise to perform?The Performance Diagnosis Matrix shows that the probable cause of our main issue at SPEV occurs mainly in the team level of the chart. The mission/goal, system design, capacity, and motivation performance variables in the team level are all concerning issues. We also have issues across the individual level in mission/goal and motivation and the organization level’s mission/goal. Team Level Mission/Goal:The team goals are not in congruence with the process and individual goals since there are not shared goals among managers and employees. Team Level System Design:Currently, the team dynamics among servers is not as collaborative as it could be. It was indicated in our survey that favoritism and cliques among veteran workers is an issue. Team Level Capacity:Combined, the team does not have the capacity to meet performance goals since 16.67% of respondents felt that their job is too hectic and stressful at times. Team Level Motivation:The team does not always function in a respectful and supportive manner. Some respondents expressed that some of the managers do not have positive attitudes and there is little excitement overall. Our survey also indicates that 33.33% of respondents do not feel rewarded for their efforts. Organization Level Motivation:The current policies do not support desired performance since there are policies like no nail polish that are only enforced by certain managers and not by others. On top of this, the culture and reward systems are lacking. Individual Level Mission/Goal:The personal missions and goals of employees are not in congruence with the organization’s since the majority of SPEV’s servers are JMU students who may be more concerned with making a few bucks as opposed to ‘delivering an experience.Individual Level Motivation:The individual does not necessarily want to perform no matter what. 8.33% said that they are not satisfied with their jobs. Process AnalysisWhile collecting data on the service department of SPEV we found that the there is an unpleasant work environment, inconsistent direction from management, and a lack of communication from management. Our data pointed to a negative attitude among workers and a “cliquey” environment, which caused a lack of motivation among employees. There is also a general lack of positive attitude among managers and employees, causing a lower morale among workers. According to our survey, servers at SPEV do not feel supported at work; ? of respondents did not feel rewarded for their efforts.While on the job, different managers chose to enforce different rules, which can cause confusion among employees. Certain policies are not carried out by all managers and employees aren’t always sure what to expect. Some managers also engage in favoritism, which makes servers feel under valued. Servers feel as though there is an unequal opportunity for rewards and benefits because of favoritism from management.In our interview with the student managers, we found that they believed SPEV’s greatest problem right now is communication. The student managers explained to us that there have been issues with managers responding to servers’ emails in a timely manner. This is something that they would like to improve quickly. Task AnalysisPre-Service SetupClock inFind name on event sheet and locate your managerRead through set-up sheet provided by managerGather items listed on on set-up sheet (ie. 50 napkins, 50 forks, etc) and place on a cartTake items to event siteSet tables with tablecloths and all proper settingsMake backup drink AV’sSet up bus station in back hallwayPlace tray stands in the roomGet dressed in black and whites if necessaryGo to pre-service meeting held by manager-on-duty and find out your assigned roleService Check on guestsFill beverages when neededRun food out if you were assigned this taskRemove plates and utensils after each courseBring full trays back to bus and dish stationOffer coffee to each guestClear tables as fully as possible so that only the coffee cup, spoon, and water are left on tablesWait for instruction from manager to begin exiting event roomPost-Service BreakdownOnce guests have left, consolidate items on tablesCollect trashCollect dirty dishes and utensils from tablesCollect centerpiece itemsClear out the bus and dish stationRun dirty dishes through the dish machineRemove all trays and tray stands from event siteRemove all linen from event site Break down drink station from back hallwayTask InventoryTimeclockSet up sheetCartTables and chairsCenterpiecesLinenForks, knives, other utensilsGlassesCoffee cups and saucersTrays and tray standsDrink AV’sWaterIce teaCoffeeSugarCreamerDish MachineData CollectionWe surveyed student servers and interviewed student managers. Interview Questions:How long have you worked for SPEV? What are your duties?Blake: I’ve been here for over two years, but have served as a Student Manager for one year. As Student Managers, Kelsie and I have a variety of work including answering student emails, some work with scheduling, paperwork, interviews, as well as providing orientation to new employees.Kelsie: I started in August 2013 and have also been a Student Manager for a year. I spend most of my time in the Sales Office while Blake works in our Service Office. We really do primarily office work but occasionally work events as well. What training do you provide? Do you feel that enough is provided?We have an Orientation Checklist that we go through with each of our new employees which is something relatively new for us. As far as training goes, each employee is required to complete three modules provided by Aramark’s Human Resources Department. Each module addresses proper food safety handling. There isn’t any training in place that is specific to catering since that would be costly and we feel that we wouldn’t be able to cover every single aspect. We think that enough training is provided. What are some typical issues that you deal with when working with the student employees?We will occasionally hear complaints from students about a rough shift or that they’re feeling overworked. A student might say that they don’t want to work with another student and we can’t always accommodate for that but we try our best. How would you describe the communication from upper management? (ie. is it open, comfortable, any disconnect?) There is sometimes a lack of response to emails and we think this is simply due to the high volume of emails that managers receive. Some emails might get overlooked so students are not always addressed. What do you feel is one of the biggest challenges for SPEV right now?One issue is the inconsistency in our policies as well as how they are enforced. It really depends who you’re working with. One manager might allow their employees to wear jewelry while another does not. Another problem we’ve run into is the paperwork process for new hires. This is a pretty complicated process for us since applications go through HR first before we receive them. When HR sends us applications, we interview the candidates and then send the paperwork back to HR to get references checked. After that, the candidate may be hired. On top of this, we actually don’t interview incoming freshman. This is something that HR does over the summer and we run into problems because the freshman are not told catering’s football policy of having to work every home football game with the exception of missing one. Usually we see freshman quit because of this or they are employed through us but do not work football games. What is your involvement with the hiring and selection process of student employees?The Student Managers are the ones who have the discretion for who gets hired. How many student servers are typically hired each semester?We try to have between 60 to 80 student servers during football season. We’ve found that about half of our servers have been with us for at least a semester and that we maybe hire 20 to 30 new servers each semester. There is pretty decent turnover. We think that difficulty of major plays a role when someone decides to leave. There also seems to be less retention during the Fall semester. Survey ResultsOriginal SurveyProposalWe propose that SPEV implement a form of team building and a recognition or reward program each semester. Examples may include having a SPEV Olympics where students meet outside of work one day and participate in fun contests related to SPEV, such as cart wrapping, napkin folding, etc. Another idea is to have a recognition system in place. Rather than having an “Employee of the Month”, there could be awards for outstanding customer service each month to motivate students to perform better. Additionally, SPEV could have ‘thank you’ dinners for their student servers to show them appreciation. Costs and BenefitsThere are many benefits of team building in the workplace, including better and more open communication. Team building significantly contributes toward employee motivation and building trust among employees, thereby ensuring better productivity. Managers will also benefit by being able to identify particular skills that may emerge during team building activities. On top of this, team building promotes an inclusive workplace, which will lower costs due to fewer turnovers. Today there is a $46 billion market for employee recognition (gold watches, pins, thank-you awards, plaques, etc.), and research shows that companies spend between 1-2% of payroll on such stuff (Bersin, 2012). Although there is a cost involved, reward systems provide the “glue” for keeping the entire team model together. Rewards and recognition can motivate team members to achieve their vision and can also enhance relationships by encouraging cooperation and working toward common goals. Bersin & Associates, a membership-based company empowering human resources, talent and learning organizations to drive bottom-line impact through world-class research and advisory services, today announced new research that shows companies with recognition programs highly effective at improving employee engagement have 31 percent lower voluntary turnover than their peers with ineffective recognition programs (Bersin & Associates, 2012). So how much should a company spend on a recognition program? According to Ron Cacioppe (1999), it was found that the budgeted cost of programs ranged from 0.3 percent to 1.5 percent of payroll, with 1 percent being typical. The size of the award may vary significantly, but the average is close to the $100 range. References Torisky, D. (2007, July 1). History of Dining Services at James Madison University. Retrieved April 5, 2015, from business purpose. (2015). Retrieved March 14, 2015 from , J. (2012, June 13). New Research Unlocks the Secret of Employee Recognition. Retrieved April 16, 2015, from & Associates. (2012, June 12). Bersin & Associates Unlocks the Secrets of Effective Employee Recognition. Retrieved April 16, 2015, from , Ron. (1999). Using team – individual reward and recognition strategies to drive organizational success. Leadership & Organization Development Journal. Vol. 20 Iss: 6, pp.322 - 331 ................
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