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techniques, models help recruiters and employers identify suc- cess factors. Such techniques include job-analysis interviews, focus groups, questionnaires, job descriptions, etc. (p. 75).
Hospitality venues may identify such success factors after being rank ordered by various expert groups. The venue can then establish minimum levels of competency or proficiency for each factor as determined by the group effort, research literature, or input from educators within the hospitality field. Cautioning that competency models are only as strong as their ingredients, Mirabile states: “The most important point about competency models is that the formats be governed by the collective wis- dom of the people that need to build them” (p. 76). Competency modeling is slowly emerging as an area of research within the hospitality management literature (Brownell & Chung, 2001;
Lefever & Withiam, 1998; Lin, 2002). Lefever and Withiam emphasized that “curriculum review now involves regular contacts with industry representatives…As a result, we believe industry and academe are now tied more closely together than at any time in the 75 years that colleges have offered formal hos- pitality-management curricula” (pp. 70–71).
Over the past several decades, competencies deemed signifi- cant and useful in the identification of future hospitality industry leaders have been proposed, identified, evaluated, re-tested, and either refined or refuted by multiple hospitality industry research- ers (Getty et al., 1991; Hsu et al., 1992; Jonker & Jonker, 1990; Lin, 2002; Okeiyi et al., 1994; Sapienza, 1978; Tas, 1983, 1999; Tas et al., 1996). Emerging from this iterative process are competencies related to knowledge, attitude, and ability of the future hospi- tality management leaders. These appear quite often as the key drivers or anchors for future success in the hospitality industry.
As a HR professional interested in creating better and stronger work environments of the future, specific job competencies determined relevant and important for hospitality careers must be identified and measured among our future workforce. Our professional assistance in the development and refinement of the various hospitality management curricula found in college- level programs will enhance the future success of the overall industry based upon employee performance. If we match cor- rectly the first time around, our employees are likely to be more satisfied and content in their positions.
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prospective hospitality industry employees has become preva- lent in not only the academic literature, but also the hospital- ity professional’s repertoire as an effective and worthy tool for matching applicants with future potential career success.
Lodging managers were recently found to expect more from college hospitality management programs than from non- hospitality 4-year degrees In Ricci et al. (2004), it was stated that “practicing professionals currently expect more from col- lege graduates who have studied hospitality” (p. 29). Human skills/interpersonal skills were found to be equally important whether students emerged from hospitality programs or non- hospitality programs continuing a decades-long trend within the research that interpersonal skills remain paramount for hospitality industry professional success among employers.
Ricci and Tesone (2007) found consistency between educa- tors and industry practitioners when examining the compe- tencies expected by hospitality managers with hospitality workers. The findings were combined to one large metropoli- tan statistical area (MSA); yet, the findings were consistent with the broad array of hospitality and business literature over multiple decades (Chung-Herrera, Enz, & Lankau, 2003; Katz, 1955; McClelland, 1994; Tas, 1983, 1988).
With the high expense of employee turnover in the hospital- ity industry (Hinkin & Tracey, 2000; Simons & Hinkin, 2001), job competency instruments may assist HR professionals in their ongoing pursuit of the “right” employees for the “right”
positions. As suggested by Boles, Lawrence, and Johnson (1995), pre-employment application screening and matching of demographics and skills will help reduce employee turn- over. In their lodging oriented study, Milman and Ricci (2004) also discussed many variations (of which job competency pre-employment screening could be utilized) of methods to enhance employee retention and reduce employee turnover.
The literature is replete with the discussion of job competency and competency-based education. The hospitality industry has only recently moved toward incorporating competency- based education and pre-employment measurement to improve organizational profitability, employee satisfaction, and to help reduce employee turnover. By matching the “right employees”
to the “right jobs” initially, job competencies specific to the hos- pitality industry can be a key indicator of future success for such new employees in the field. The hospitality industry is wide and varies considerably between segments (i.e., event planning, air- line, restaurant management). Nonetheless, it appears that inter- personal skills remain paramount across segments and across time. Job-specific knowledge/skills also appear important. As
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HR leaders, we must tailor specific competencies to the nuances of the individualized segment within which we make our pro- fessional livelihood. The development of job competency iden- tification instruments specific to our segment, will assist us in honing our perfection in the identification of such individuals possessing these competencies. Further, we shall work along- side those in academia designing curricula and course materials to help foster and communicate these important and necessary competencies to the future leaders.
The reader is encouraged to help develop instruments ideal for their respective hospitality segments. Only through expert panels, focus groups, and continual refinement will these instruments become ubiquitous among hospitality recruiters.
We have only touched the surface of job competency research and instrument design in the hospitality industry. The reader is encouraged to peruse the literature specific to his or her dis- cipline and to help identify specific job competencies relevant in today’s workplace. The hospitality industry continues to grow and change. Technology, economical, and societal influ- ences are ever-present. With the changing times come chang- ing expectations for our future leaders. Only through ongoing identification and refinement of job competencies can we con- tinue to design instruments to identify the talent our industry needs to continue to flourish and grow.
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Part Two
Retaining human
resources
Organizational culture in the casual dining restaurant industry: the impact that culture has on service quality and customers’ intentions
to return
Dean A. Koutroumanis, DBA
University of Tampa Tampa, FL 33606, USA
C H A P T E R
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Introduction
The restaurant industry is a very complex and unique indus- try, dealing with multiple facets of typical business operations.
In essence, restaurateurs are running two critical components of business operations: manufacturing and sales, all under one roof (Biswas & Cassell, 1996). It is one of a few industries that must coordinate these complex tasks within the confines of the same facility. The manufacturing component has to do with kitchen operations. Restaurateurs must coordinate human resource management practices for this component of business, to hire, train, and develop the kitchen staff to produce food items consistently on a daily basis. Secondly, restaurateurs must coordinate proper human resource management prac- tices in hiring, developing, and executing proper salesmanship and service practices to ensure a positive dining experience (Biswas & Cassell, 1996; Smucker, 2001). Therefore, restaura- teurs must be concerned with both product quality and the level of service quality provided (Bojanic & Rosen, 1994).
The restaurant industry is the second largest employer in the United States, topped only by the Federal government, and employs 12.8 million individuals. Food and beverage sales are projected to hit approximately $537 billion industry wide in 2007 (National Restaurant Association, 2007).
Employee attitude, behavior, and work effort has a high impact on service quality, satisfaction, and customer retention in the service industry (Stamper & Van Dyne, 2003; Davidson, 2003; Schneider & Bowen, 1993). The theory is especially indic- ative in the highly competitive full service restaurant industry.
The importance of customer–employee interaction in the res- taurant industry is magnified because of the high level of con- tact the employee has with the customer for the duration of the dining experience. Organizational culture has a significant impact on employee service delivery (Davidson, 2003), which in turn could affect customers’ behavioral intentions. With organi- zational culture being the “glue” that allows the organization to sustain its unique identity (Cameron & Quinn, 1999; Creque, 2003), one would believe that building a customer-oriented res- taurant would begin with developing the appropriate culture.
In a survey conducted by the National Restaurant Association (2004), restaurateurs stated that 70% of their business base comes from repeat customers. The same survey asked restau- rateurs if it was getting more difficult to maintain customer loyalty. Fifty-two percent of the respondents said yes (Sanson, 2004). According to Crook, Ketchen, and Snow (2003), reasons for this difficulty may be attributed to two factors: (1) increased
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levels of competition and (2) low switching costs, which refers to customers ease in ability to dine at different restaurants if not satisfied with their dining experience. The restaurant busi- ness is a very difficult, highly competitive, and complex busi- ness with a high failure rate, running at approximately 60%
(Sydney, 2003). Additionally, there are high start-up costs associated with opening a restaurant that add to the burden of failure (Crook et al., 2003).
With an increasing number of people dining out today, res- taurateurs are focusing efforts on improving levels of service quality, which will in turn help build frequency of dining.
As can be seen through the National Restaurant Association study, return patronage has a significant effect on the long- term success of restaurants. By gaining an understanding of how to provide the highest levels of service, organizations will be able to see increases in both brand loyalty and market share (Oh & Parks, 1997). Every business strives to build a high level of brand loyalty and repeat business. The restaurant business is challenged even more so than other businesses because of the tremendous number of choices and competition in the industry (Crook et al., 2003). According to Stevens, Knutson, and Patton (1995), if a restaurant does not provide its guests with the service and value they demand, they will leave it for another. The linkage of service quality to this defecting behav- ior was initially studied by Zeithalm et al. (1996) in a variety of industries.
Service firms still have a lot to learn when it comes to under- standing how to execute service delivery, especially in the res- taurant industry. Although there has been research examining what constitutes service quality (Parasuraman, Zeithalm, &
Berry, 1985, 1988; Parasuraman, Berry, & Zeithalm, 1991a, 1991b), the execution and implementation of the construct is still lacking, and the restaurant industry continues to struggle in implementing appropriate service programs. Service organ- izations must build strong customer-oriented firms in order to continue to prosper in the future (Reicheld & Sasser, 1990;
Seidman, 2001).
Is the key to developing this service orientation grounded in the development of the proper organizational culture? This chapter will look at some of the key elements in organizational culture and their linkage to both service quality and custom- ers intentions to return, in hopes of drawing some conclusions.
Based on empirical research conducted by this author, implica- tions of the findings will be discussed and recommendations to practitioners will be made.
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