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Frankies and Johnnys

With reference to the material covered in Term 1, suggest why the problems have occurred in Frankies and Johnnys. This part of the assignment will focus on the reasons behind the problems that have occurred in Frankies and Johnnys. Before the expansion, Frankies Restaurant (as its proven) was very successful. The staff having worked together for a long period, knew each other very well and was satisfied with the way things were going. It is clear that they had moved through the stages of group development and were at the performing stage, where the staff would be the most productive. By this stage, group norms would have been developed and stable, making it easier for the new young staff (students) to adopt them and fit in. (Tuckman and Jensen, cited in Huczynski & Buchanan). Steve, the restaurant manager, was very helpful when the restaurant was busy and the staff were encouraged to suggest ideas for improvement. According to Mintzberg this type of management could come under democratic leadership approach, where the manager communicates with the staff when making decisions and also tries to help the staff when needed. The expansion brought with it many problems. Firstly, three of Frankies staff moved to the new restaurant (Johnnys). This action resulted in the staff moving from the performance stage to the adjourning stage (members may move or be moved to other situations). This meant that the group would have to start from the first stage of development, which is forming (Tuckman and Jensen, cited in Huczynski & Buchanan). This change in the group stage could result in the security members once felt being lost and staff feeling uncertain about the purpose of the group and its structure. The second problem occurred, when Steve (manager of Frankies) transferred to Johnnys (the new restaurant) and a new inexperienced manager (Miriam) took over the restaurant. Miriam in contrast to Steve is very domineering and took strong charge of the restaurant, often telling staff what to do. According to Mintzberg (1989), this type of authoritarian leadership approach, is where the manager gives order on what to do and how he/she wants it to be accomplished. However, the staff at Frankies are very experienced and are used to taking their own initiative. Therefore, having a very authoritative manager who always instructed them on what to do

08260115 and losing their feelings of contribution and control may have resulted in the negative reaction Miriam received from the staff. At Johnnys, Bruce (the owner of Frankies and Johnnys) became aware of many problems. Firstly, the old chef (Sarah) began complaining about the new parttime chef and the new kitchen staff not putting enough effort into the job. This type of social loafing (groups are full of tension, conflict and problems and unless they are well managed they can reduce performance) (Ringelmann, cited in Baron & Kerr) is possibly occurring as a result of the new members not adapting and fitting in with the norms developed by the old members (working together effectively as a team). The manager (Steve) did not interfer with this issue, and rather did the staffs jobs for them, resulting in him falling behind in his own work. It is clear that Steves management style, while being appropriate at Frankies, is not appropriate with the new staff at Johnnys. According to McGregor (theory X and theory Y) Steve is more of a theory Y, than theory X, and he assumes that people can be creative and have the capacity to solve problems. That is, he assumes, possibly based on his experience at Frankies, that the kitchen staff will be able to solve their own problem. This also can be related to the lack of communication Steve has with the staff at Johnnys. Whilst at Frankies, Steve did not need a high level of communication (in terms of instruction) with staff, as they were well experienced. to be providing. Another apparent problem was an increased level of staff absenteeism. It was noticed that some staff who had moved from Frankies to Johnnys did not turn up at work on regular occasions, resulting in poor customer service due to the staff shortages. However, these staff had never before displayed similar problems whilst at Frankies. This shows that the staff were no longer motivated to come into work. The decrease in motivation of staff at Johnnys (particularly the old staff), may have been a result of the change to the work atmosphere, and the lack of group norms, which the old staff were used to when at Frankies. Again with reference to material covered in Term 1 suggest how the problems in the two restaurants might be overcome. According to the case study, it is obvious that the major problem both restaurants are facing is the management style, as it is suggested in situation leadership theory (Hersey and Blanchard, cited in Schermerhorn, Hunt, and Osborn, 1991), Miriam (Frankies manager) uses the 2 However, majority of the staff at Johnnys, are relatively inexperienced and need more instruction, which Steve does not seem

08260115 telling style (S1), this type of approach is best for people who are unable and unwilling to take responsibilities. As mentioned above the staff at Frankies are every experienced and confident (R4), and therefore this type of management style should not be used against them. According to the situation leadership theory, with these type of staff the manager should use the delegating style (S4), this provide little in term of direction and support for the task to be done, this also allows them to be able and willing to take responsibilities for what need to be done, This could potentially be one of the reasons why the staff at Frankies are unhappy with the situation. The same problem is occurring at Johnnys restaurant, as the management style does not suit the staff. Steve uses the delegating style (S4) approaches to member of staff that are not so experienced, not confident, and unwilling to take responsibilities, therefore, according to Hersey and Blanchard (situation leadership theory) the staff at Frankies could come under low readiness (R1) meaning that they are unable and unwilling to complete the task. As it is suggested in this theory, for low readiness (R1) the best approach the manager should use is the telling style (S1). In this case the manager Steve, need to use a different type of approach rather than delegating (S4) to motivate and make the staff willing to complete the task successfully. However due to the fact that managers personalities and characteristics will influence on the type of style they will adopt. Therefore this could be difficult for both managers to change their style of management (learnmanagement2.com). According to the statements above, another suggestion that could improve both restaurants is moving Steve back to Frankies and making Miriam to be the new manager at Johnnys. This is because Steve has a delegating style (S4), which is more suitable for Frankies staff as they are more of a high readiness (R4), and Miriam who has a telling style approach, therefore is more suitable for Johnnys, as the staff there has a law readiness (R1). According to this theory, this could have an immediate impact on both restaurants, not only because the management style suits each restaurants, also it could increase the motivation within the group and help the team boding. According to the case study Miriam organised activities such as, having tea and lunch together during the closing times, this helped improving the team cohesion within the group. Therefore by Miriam managing Johnnys it could do the same activities there to improve the motivation and team cohesion. 3

08260115 Another suggestion to improve both restaurants is the staff motivation. Herzbergs job enrichment can be related to this situation, as he mentions employees need to be recognized, and take responsibilities to be motivated in all organisations (Huczynski & Buchanan, 1991). In relation to Frankies, Miriam does not allow her staff to be recognized and be able to take responsibilities; this could de-motivate the staff and force them to leave the job. Therefore Miriam should allow her staff to be more in control and giving them more internal rewards, such as promotions and more responsibilities, as most of the staff are experienced. Furthermore, another way to improve the current situation in both restaurants, particularly Johnnys, external rewards should be implemented. It is proposed that group based rewards, such as group activities i.e. monthly bonuses or staff parties, as well as individual based rewards such as employee of the months should be put into practice. According to Herzberg (Hygiene factors cited in Huczynski and Buchanan) external rewards, such as high wages, job security, work condition and status are important in all organisations. Group based rewards will encourage better team work, however social loafing will be avoided with individual based reward. A way to improve the management style its to do further training

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Bibliography

Bach, S., (2005). Managing Human Resources, 4th Edition, Oxford, Blackwell.

Baron, RS., & Kerr, NL., (2003), Group Process, Group Decision, Group Action, 2nd Edition, Buckingham, Open University Press.

Huczynski, A., Buchanan, A.,(1991), Organizational Behaviour, 2nd edition, Hertfordshire, Prentice Hall International.

Mintzberg, H., (1989), Mintzberg on Management, inside our strange world of organization, New York, A Division of Simon & Schuster Inc.

Schermerhorn, JR. Hunt, JG. Osborn, RN., (1991) Managing Organizational Behaviour, 4th Edition, USA, John Wiley & sons, inc.

One more reference Javier got the book

http://www.learnmanagement2.com/leadership%20styles.htm Retrieved January 20th 2010