Problem Statement
The primary problem facing the restaurant is course corrections for customers. Correcting mistakes in any bar or restaurant is critical. If the food a customer orders takes a lot of time before making to the table or the waiter takes the wrong order, it is important for the employee and the management to apologize to the customer. It is essential to honestly accept the mistake and be willing to take another order. Sometimes, however, customers who come to ABC Restaurant have more expectations compared to what they get if a waiter takes a wrong order. As such, customers have the feeling that the employees do not do their best to treat them the best way they can.
Literature Review
Lim et al. (2014) acknowledge that the food industry today faces challenges from consumer-oriented markets which require continuous development and improvement in all related sectors. The strict behavior of consumers has faced companies to invest in the adaption of quality initiatives such as total quality management (TQM), Zero Defects, Six Sigma, and just in time (JIT) among others (Lim et al., 2014; Rao et al., 2014). These initiatives help in preparing safe and quality food and aid in avoiding breaching food legislation and gain more trust from the customers (Lime et al., 2014; Mok et al., 2013). These controls relate to sensory and physical attributes, chemical make-up, nutritional value, and safety of the customers (Lim et al., 2014).
The primary purpose of implementing TQM to a restaurant is providing quality services and TQM products to customers (Psomas et al., 2014). The control, in return, increases productivity and decreases costs in the business. TQM gives a business an advantage in the market place since it helps achieve consumer satisfaction. Psomas et al., (2014) states that implementing TQM in a restaurant business helps influence a wide range of areas positively. It also influences the internal and external environments of the business (Bouranta et al., 2017).
Analysis
According to the customer satisfaction department of ABC Restaurant, wrong orders topped the list of complaints from customers in the year 2015. This department stated more than half of the customers who made these complaints decided to leave the restaurant or the bar section after they received different orders from what they wanted. However, very few were willing to give recommendations on what they would love the restaurant to do to improve its efficiency in service delivery.
Most of the stuff interviewed regarding the issue of delivering wrong orders and late deliveries were unwilling to give reasons as to why this problem was on the rise. The few who were willing to speak reported some customers were harsh when issuing their orders. Others pointed fingers in the long hours they were working and how this affected their concentration at work. One of the employees talked about the management and stated that some workers were behaving this way as a way of getting back to some of the department heads who were ill-treating and disrespecting them.
Recommendations
Dealing with harsh clients is hard. Listening is one of the ways of getting to understand such people and know what they want (Beardwell et al., 2014). In the case that a client gets rude or harsh to a staff member when making an order, it is advisable that the staff member pays attention to what the client orders and pay no attention to any ill things the consumer might have to say (Beardwell et al., 2014). When the staff member does this, they get the opportunity of ignoring anything which may make them forget the order the consumer made.
Another issue which came up during analysis of the issue was ill-treatment of employees by some of the senior officials. Employees are the drivers of any business. As such, it is essential they get the respect from their seniors (Mok et al., 2013). Considering the issue of ill-treatment from senior officials, ABC restaurant should come up with rules which will support punishment of disrespectful of seniors.
Overworking employees is an issue which came up during the interview. According to Dall’Ora et al. (2016), overworking employees leads to poor performance outcomes. In ABC Restaurant it is important that the management revises the working hours of the employees and allow them time to rest and be with their family and friends. Dall’Ora et al. (2016) prove that timely breaks at the workplace have positive impacts on employees’ alertness. The management should also do away with quick returns as they increase pathological fatigue (Dall’Ora et al., 2016; Collewet et al., 2017).
Reflection
Total Quality Management allows a firm to improve its service provision. In the hotel and food industry, TQM is an important tool when it comes to the issue of customer satisfaction. This report offers an understanding of how TQM is useful in dealing with rude clients and disrespectful seniors in a restaurant or a hotel.
Conclusion
Consumer satisfaction is an important aspect of the hotel and food industry. ABC Restaurant is facing a problem of low consumer satisfaction. Overworking employees, rude customers, and abusive seniors are the reason why employees at the restaurant are finding it hard to offer good services. Listening to the orders clients make would help employees deal with the issue of harsh and rude comments from the employees. Also, giving employees breaks at work will allow them to improve their concentration levels at the workplace and reduce fatigue. Coming up with harsh rules would allow the restaurant deal with abusive seniors.
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