Homework answers / question archive / Karasiuk took the HFTM program in the late 90's but upon graduation joined Wrigley's Gum as a Salesperson

Karasiuk took the HFTM program in the late 90's but upon graduation joined Wrigley's Gum as a Salesperson

Management

Share With

Karasiuk took the HFTM program in the late 90's but upon graduation joined Wrigley's Gum as a Salesperson. Wanting a career change, Karasiuk saved up his money and decided to try a hand at his life-long dream of owning his own restaurant.
 
Karasiuk acts as the General Manager of the property which has enjoyed some early success since he purchased it. Karasiuk's major role as the General Manager seems to be handling Human Resources, mostly selection and hiring. He has two veteran servers that act as supervisors when Karasiuk is not in the building. He has considered hiring an Assistant Manager to help him, one with expertise in handing human resources but he is not sure he can justify the salary which would be about $45 thousand a year.
 
Sales were up 20% in his first year of ownership but have been 'flat' in the second year. He attributes the first-year increase in sales to the hiring of a new Chef, Bill Julie, who not only improved the food but seemed to form a high level of morale in the kitchen. Julie left after the first year due to his wife being transferred to British Columbia. Since then Karasiuk has struggled hiring three different Chef's to run the kitchen at the Challenger.
 
The current Chef is named James Brown and although he is very talented at cooking, he seems to be very negative and hard on all the staff. Along with the high turnover in the Chef position, the rest of the kitchen has incredibly high turnover (200%) and has found itself 'short' two cooks the last month. Perhaps the worst situation is that they currently have no dishwashers, the last one quitting and walking out on a busy night the previous week. This means that all the other staff are having to 'chip' in during service to get the dishes done. Because they are short cooks, Karasiuk and Brown have asked the servers to start helping in the dish area at the end of service. This has now led to a decrease in morale for servers, who to this point had been very happy with their job. Although servers still make good tips ($15/hour on average), the added requirement of washing dishes has some of them contemplating leaving to another restaurant in the city where they can make the same money without having to wash dishes.
 
Karasiuk has noticed that the quality of the food and service slip the last few months as the restaurant is under-staffed and everyone is stressed and overworked. There have been 4 one-star reviews on Trip Adviser this month, and Karasiuk has decided to get some help before The Challenger really starts to suffer. Karasiuk has put employment adds on Kijiji without much success. Due to his lack of experience he doesn't have any other ideas on how to recruit staff.
 
Karasiuk has approached some friends at HFTM and asked for help. Although Karasiuk graduated from the program he feels at a disadvantage because he never really worked in the industry before owning the Challenger. He really believes in making his guests are taken care of, he understands the customer is the first priority but feels his knowledge of 'progressive' management practices is nonexistent and is hoping for some help from students. The school has assigned the HTM1700 class to assist Karasiuk in helping turn around the situation at The Challenger.
 
 Key DATA
Covid: This example is set in a pre Covid-19 world so don't consider it as a factor.
 
Sales: In 2019 the Challenger did $3.1 million dollars in sales
 
Profit: The restaurants Net Income before EBITDA was 10% in 2019
 
Staffing: To operate effectively the staff needs 10 cooks, 20 servers, 4 bartenders, and 4 dishwashers
 
Servers: Make minimum wage plus keep 100% of their tips.
Cooks: Start at minimum wage ($14/hr) but get $0.50 increases every 6 months if they stay
Dishwashers: Make minimum wage ($14/hr) 
City Unemployment Rate: 1.9%, the lowest of any city in the country Living Wage: A living wage in the city is $17.00/hr. Karasiuk pays his Chefs $50 thousand dollars, considered low by about $20 thousand in today's market
Formal Management Practices: Karasiuk has little formal management practices in place: There is little formal training, when someone is hired in the dining-room they follow an experienced server for three shifts before taking their own tables. People hired in the kitchen have no training because they are so shorthanded. Employees have no benefits except for a 10% discount if they come in for a meal with their friends or family.
-what's the key problems and issues
-Evaluate these pieces by discussing what is working and what is not working. why are theses working or not working?
-specific and realistic solution(s) or changes needed with explainations.
-what are the specific strategies for accomplishing the proposed solution.