Presented to Prof. Julita Bokingo Master in Business Management MSU Iligan Institute of Technology Iligan City 9200, Philippines
____________________
In Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements in MANAGEMENT CASE WRITING
____________________
SANDEE ANGELI M. VILLARTA
31 March 2014 CASE TITLE: JACKOS RESTAURANT POLICY RE - ESTABLISHMENT AND IMPLEMENTATION
1. Introduction
The importance of written policies in every firm cannot be overemphasized. Relying upon understood or unwritten policies may lead to, among others, misunderstanding, difficulty or inconsistent implementation thereof, labor conflict and discordant relationship among covered employees. Violations of written business policies usually are grounds for giving sanctions for the violators but only after due process. If business policies were only based on verbal agreements, management will have the difficulty of implementing them as employees may choose to question them for being allegedly authored only by the managers or supervisors who happen to implement them. The employees may claim in defense of an alleged violation that they never know such policy or the same is nonexistent and existed only in the figment of the managers or supervisors imagination or that the managers or supervisors concerned interpreted the policy whimsically and capriciously to suit their own intentions adverse to the alleged erring employees. This situation will surely give rise to resentment and frustration of the erring employees which will demoralize and affect their work productivity.
Absent the formal written policies of the firm, the following possible scenarios might occur: Misunderstanding, misinterpretation and even abuse in the implementation of verbal policies; Prone to inconsistencies, which will result in grievances and even lawsuits; Demoralized employees; Resentful and frustrated employees; Less productivity.
The above consequences are not far from truth thus, a written policy manual is absolutely necessary and legal matters pertaining thereto have also to be incorporated to enable the business to cleverly avoid such consequences or prevent the same from coming into existence. Accordingly, managers and supervisors are properly guided on their actions and can act decisively, fairly, legally and consistently. Employees on the other hand will also know that the managers and / or supervisors are acting in accordance with said policy.
2 Company Background
Jackos, is a family-owned carwash and food business operating locally along the National Highway in Brgy. Hinaplanon, Iligan City. Originally the family business offers carwash services in June of 2009 and subsequently began its kan-anan, local term for diner, in July 2009 with a lower deck expansion in May of 2010. Although the business is registered under a single name, the operations and records are kept separate.
In December 2012, the carwash center and restaurant were struck by typhoon sendong that severely affected the building structure that they had to close and stop its operation temporarily. The following year, 2013 Mr. Jacosalem, the owner, decided to reinvest to renovate the whole place. In the month of February, 2013, they resumed their business.
Jackos Carwash Centers services include foam wash and manual spot-free rinse car washing to detailing of vehicles of all sizes. In addition, three kinds of service packages are available at discounted rates that include foam wash, tire blackening, and vacuum cleaning of its interior. Customers are also presented with an option to create their own car wash service package from among the available individual services.
Jackos Kan-Anan is a casual restaurant, offering eclectic Filipino and classic cuisine and warm hospitality in a convenient yet soothing dining feel without pinching your pocket. It serves fast food (turo-turo) and short orders. Jackos Kan-anan also accepts catering services within Iligan City and neighboring municipalities.
2.1 Organization Vision/Mission Statements
Jackos envisions to be:
A world-class firm renowned for its commitment to excellence in product quality and customer service and for its contribution to the welfare of its stakeholders through operations driven by integrity, innovation, continuous improvement, and social responsibility.
The carwash business of Jackos can be summarized by its mission statement:
We provide premium quality carwash at a fair and reasonable price that represents value to the consumers. We strive for excellence and aim for maximum customer satisfaction by providing outstanding customer service and a safe, healthy, and rewarding workplace for our employees.
The restaurant business of Jackos can also be summarized by the mission statement:
Our restaurant is a place with a relaxing atmosphere, great food, and excellent service, where people come to relax, have a good time, and enjoy a great meal. We ensure maximum customer satisfaction by providing top-notch food products and services as well as a safe, healthy, and rewarding workplace for our employees.
2.2 Organizational Structure
Jackos is a family business owned and operated by Mr. Jacosalem. He oversees all business activities, both in the carwash and diner. He is the key decision-maker of the firm. In his absence, his wife takes over all managerial responsibilities. As the organization is relatively young, there are only a few members (Figure 4). This leads to some overlapping of job roles. Cross-training is conducted to ensure that operations carry on in the absence of a key player.
With regards to family members within the organization, apart from the husband/wife tandem at the top of organizational chart, only the cashier is a relative. The son and daughters are not actively involved in the business. Their roles are limited to delegated tasks. They sometimes participate in the decision-making process, but they do not necessarily have authority over the members of the organization.
3 Organization Chart
Owner/ Manager Supervisor Cook/Team Lead 1 (Diner) Service Crew 1 Service Crew 2 Dishwasher Utility Worker Cashier Team Lead 2 (Carwash) Carwash boy 1 Carwash boy 2 Three teams are recognized in this organizational structure:
(1.) Management Team, composed of the general manager, supervisor, (and cashier). The cashier is not a managerial position per se. However, in the case of Jackos, because a family member holds the post, there is perceived power and authority even over the supervisor.
(2.) Diner Team, composed of the cook, 2 service crew, dishwasher, and utility worker;
(3.) Carwash Team, composed of the carwash crew and their team leader;
(4.) Details of the job description are presented as Appendix C of this paper.
3 Presentation of the Problem
Jackos Situation: There were three major problems identified based on conducting a series of interview with the representative of Jackos, Ms. Lovette Jam Jacosalem (daughter), who is assigned to do social media marketing of the business. Several points were mentioned during the interview; however this case will focus on the human resource aspect of the business. The following are the identified problems: a. Hiring and Firing Policies b. Cash Advance Policy c. Attitudes of employees in the workplace
The human resource practices of a certain firm include all the human resource aspects of that firm including the: Hiring and Firing Policies, Procedures and Employee Training and Development which are two of the three identified problems of Jackos. Employees Attitude Problem will be under employee training and development.
Hiring and Firing Procedures and Policies. According to Ms. Lovette, Jackos does not have any formal policy and procedure in hiring employees, as well as firing undesirable ones. Though the business as per definition is considered as a small enterprise having 10 employees currently employed, they still desire to establish and implement sound hiring and firing procedure and set policies. This is so because they had hired incompetent team leaders, and illiterate workers. With regards to firing employees, Ms. Lovette also mentioned that Jackos does not have proper procedures and corresponding policies. Firing also includes voluntary resignation of their workers which Jackos has a negative experience before. Workers who quit their jobs left their positions unfilled, and with credit records (payables) in the business.
Cash Advance Policy. In the case of Jackos, when their employees need immediate cash for an emergency (e.g hospitalization fee for a family member; tuition fee of children; etc) they grant them cash advances. They even implemented a recent policy for cash advancing of employees last January 2014. However, as Ms. Lovette also mentioned, that they have implemented such policy before, but it was not religiously followed. Cash advance of one employee reached Php15, 000 that would seem very difficult for the employee to pay considering that he / she earns Php8,000 monthly and has financial obligations with his / her family and etc. They had also experience before when their employee quit his job, and wasnt able to pay his / her credit from cash advances.
Employee Training and Development Policy. Jackos is also experiencing a problem with regards to their employees attitude. This may be caused by lack of training and seminars about customer service, proper work attitude, among others. Ms. Lovette explained that workplace harmony and employee productivity are affected by the negative attitude of employees shown in the firm during working hours. This problem also has domino effect to other employees shown by the loss of their productivity.
4 Proposed Solutions and Recommendations
Based on the interview conducted, three problems were identified. And to address the said problems, the following are the suggested solutions:
a. Hiring and Firing Procedure and Policies. Small enterprises like Jackos may not need a formal procedure in acquiring and letting people go in their organization. It may seem impractical if the management will require more than one interview and/or exams to fill a position such as cashier, chef, service crew, dishwasher, utility worker, and carwash boy. But Ms. Lovette Jacosalem also thought of requiring an exam before officially hiring an applicant to avoid future dilemmas like employing hard headed and difficult to deal with service crew, or an illiterate cashier who doesnt how to operate computer and do simple calculations. With regards to firing employees, Ms. Lovette also mentioned that Jackos does not have proper procedures and corresponding policies. Firing also includes voluntary resignation of their workers which Jackos has a negative experience before.
The proposed solution for this problem is to adopt a formal policy on hiring and firing including resignation of employees.
Advantages: By having a minimum requirement for hiring applicants which shall be through a sort of formal procedure in hiring, requiring an applicant to undergo interview and exam for the team leader and cashier positions, Jackos may successfully prevent the occurrence of future problems should undesirable or unqualified applicants be hired.
With the right hire and fire policy including resignation of employees, Jackos productivity will not be put to jeopardy. Employees will only be allowed to leave the firm only if they have settled their financial obligations, if theres any. For those who may resign without debts from Jackos, they have to file their resignation or inform jackos of such intent at least one month from the effective date of their resignation. This procedure and time frame is provided by the Labor Code of the Philippines and must be incorporated in their hire and fire policy and be made known to the applicants.
Disadvantage: With no formal policy on hiring and firing of employees, dilemmas might be encountered in hiring an applicant. The firm might hire someone not eligible for the vacant possible.
b. Cash Advance Policy. Firms may help their financially hard put employees. It is common knowledge that financially deficit employees resort to usurious money lenders that further aggravate their financial crunch. For example, payday loans can provide fast, seemingly easy cash advances, but consumers may not realize that theyll be facing exorbitantly high interest rates and harsh penalties for late repayment of the loan. Some people turn to credit cards for help (but this option does not apply to all, especially for employees in a small enterprise who are low wage earners).
Since Jackos management has the heart of helping its employees, when in need of cash, and it has recently implemented cash advance policy (see Appendix A), the proposed solution is to ensure that the established policy is properly implemented and followed for the business not to suffer from cash shortage and hence conduct its business as usual.
c. Attitudes of employees in the workplace. Human resource practice: Training and Development must be present whether in micro, small, medium and large enterprises. Training does not just develop employees skills and knowledge, but it includes developing the right attitude towards co-workers, the management, and customers. Jackos has to conduct sort of lecture series on proper or right attitude towards work, customers, co-workers and to the management and to let their employees feel and see they also are stakeholders of the business.
Advantages: An employee who receives the necessary training is more ready to perform his / her job. He / she becomes more aware of safety practices and proper procedures for basic tasks. The training will also build the employee's right attitude not just to other stakeholders but as well for the respect for themselves this being a positive attitude that will also positively affect others. The adage that the employees are the firms best assets still hold true even in the midst of rapid technological advances.
Disadvantages: Training presents a prime opportunity to expand the knowledge base of all employees. Many employers, however, find the development opportunities expensive. But expenses have to go its way for it is not without return when properly managed except when trainings given are not in line with the firms vision, mission and goals.
Appendix A CURRENT CASH ADVANCE POLICY
Appendix B REVISED (PROPOSED) CASH ADVANCE POLICY
Employees who are earning Php 8,000 ( + commission) monthly are qualified to have a cash advance of Php 500 / week. - A portion of the amount CAed will be deducted to the employees salary. Employees who are earning Php 3,000 ( + commission) monthly are qualified to have a cash advance of Php 200 / week, provided that he / she agrees to have an automatic deduction every pay day with a total of 40 % of the amount cash advanced, Php80.00 - A portion of the amount CAed will be deducted to the employees salary.
Employees who are earning Php 8,000 ( + commission) monthly are qualified to have a cash advance of Php 500 / week, provided that he / she agrees to have an automatic deduction every pay day with a total of 40 % of the amount cash advanced, Php200.00. - Maximum cash advance: Php2,000.00 Employees who are earning Php 3,000 ( + commission) monthly are qualified to have a cash advance of Php 200 / week, provided that he / she agrees to have an automatic deduction every pay day with a total of 40 % of the amount cash advanced, Php80.00 - Maximum cash advance: Php800.00 Emergency: Employees are allowed to cash advance more that Php1,000.00 provided that they inform the management 3 days ahead of time, and if he / she agrees to have an automatic deduction every pay day with a total of 40 % of the amount cash advanced, Php400.00 (amount borrowed: Php1,000.00) Appendix C Job Description
General Manager The General Manager directs and oversees all operations of the carwash and diner business, including human resources, production, finance, and marketing. He carries out the business goals and objectives specified in the business plan, working towards the attainment of the company vision. He also acts as the Human Resources Manager, in charge of employees welfare, as well as recruitment and training of personnel. Additionally, the General Manager acts as the Marketing Manager and executes the marketing plan and monitors the results of implementations.
Operations Manager The Operations Manager keeps an eye on all business activities and implements necessary changes for the improvement of the products and services offered to ensure customer satisfaction and even delight. He is responsible for implementing store policies, marketing strategies, operating procedures, customer service, staff training and development, and the determination in achieving the budgeted goals, profit and business growth. He coordinates tasks with other departments to ensure that operations run efficiently. He works with management to ensure that new hires receive orientation training. He is also responsible for counseling the personnel on work-related concerns and issues to ensure job satisfaction, safety, efficiency and productivity. In an event of shortage of manpower, the Operations Manager reassigns posts and if so dictated by circumstances assume the role of the lacking manpower. In the absence of any family member to act as the general manager, the Operations Manager assumes responsibility for the entire operation of the carwash and diner. He acts as the Purchasing Manager, whose task is to complete info and records to draw up purchase orders for procurement of materials and services. He determines if inventory quantities are sufficient for needs, ordering more materials when necessary. He is responsible for taking bulk orders and/or reservations for functions and events and coordinating with the Financial Manager for final booking.
Financial Manager The Financial Manager is in charge of all areas pertaining to fiscal coverage. He is responsible for the higher function of designing and modifying the system of accounts. He analyzes financial information and prepares financial reports to determine and maintain records of assets, liabilities, profit and loss, tax liability, or other financial activities within an organization. He also performs other functions, including paying for company supplies and equipment, preparing paychecks or pay envelops, making out sales tax reports, or readying cash and checks for bank deposit. He coordinates with the Operations Manager to list all bulk orders and/or reservations for functions and events. He issues official receipts, delivery receipts, and charge invoices. For deliveries, he ensures that all food containers, utensils, and linens are documented and returned. He receives and summarizes daily reports from the cashiers. He assumes the role of the cashier as may be needed.
Cashier Jackos employs two cashiers on a shifting schedule. The cashier handles all customers payments. They collect payments for goods and services for both the carwash and diner operations, make change, and hand out receipts. At the end of the shift, they must balance the amount of money received with the total sales recorded. The cashiers are also in charge of reservations and orders through phone and take-out orders. They coordinate with the Financial Manager for listing of all orders.
Cook The Cook is responsible on how the food is presented and he creates decorative food displays. He prepares and cooks food on a regular basis as well as for special guests or functions. He supervises and coordinates activities of workers engaged in food preparation. He checks the quality of raw and cooked food products to ensure that standards are met as well as the quantity and quality of received products. He also estimates amounts and costs of required supplies such as food and ingredients. He inspects supplies, equipment, and work areas to ensure conformance to established standards, and reports these to the Operations Manager. He also instructs other workers in the preparation, cooking, garnishing, presentation of food, and he monitors sanitation practices to ensure food cleanliness and safety. He prepares and submits to the Operations Manager requisition of food ingredients and other supplies needed to ensure efficient operation.
Service Crew Service crew must be able to assist the cook in food preparation, serve the food, and take orders. He must be well-mannered and dressed in suitable non-offensive clothes. He also helps customers with any queries and assists in their needs. He is also responsible in keeping the store clean at all times. He prepares all orders, including utensils and linens, for deliveries. He also ensures that all food containers, utensils, linens, etc are documented and returned.
Utility Worker The Utility Worker helps and ensures that the store be always kept clean. He is also responsible for making minor repairs on equipment and facilities. He takes away the trash and places them in designated pickup areas. He also does other miscellaneous jobs such as setting up decorations for special events, laundering rags and aprons, stacking and arranging chairs, etc.
Utility Driver The Utility Driver is in charge of deliveries of all off-site orders, including replenishment of stocks in all Jackos branches. He assists in the procurement of ingredients, supplies, etc. In the absence of deliveries, he assumes the roles of utility worker and/or dishwasher.
Dishwasher The Dishwasher is responsible for washing dishes, glassware, pots and pans, and other equipment. He is also in charge of cleaning, mopping, sweeping, and dusting kitchen facilities.
Carwash Team Leader The Carwash Team Leader is in charge of supervising the activities in the carwash area. He coordinates and divides tasks to ensure proper division of labor. He makes sure that new hires receive the necessary training. He is also responsible for counseling the carwash crew on work-related issues and concerns. He must work closely with the management team to ensure that the carwash crews are provided with the necessary resources to effectively perform their jobs and to ensure that they clearly understand their job roles, responsibilities, and performance expectations.
Carwash Crew Carwash crew is in charge of cleaning all cars according to customers specifications. He helps customers with any queries and assists in their needs. He is also responsible in keeping the carwash area clean at all times.