Human Resourse Paper

Human Resource Management (HRM) represents a form of collective relationship between employees and management, with a focus on the objectives and outcomes of its function, taking into consideration employee development and relationship. As stated by Beer et al. (1985), the primary function of HRM is setting business objectives and plans. Strategic planning processes are essential to reducing potential gap between the practical implementation of HRM and strategic rhetoric on HRM (Maxwell & Farquharson, 2008).

According to Andrews (1998), corporate strategy refers to the pattern of decisions in an organization that reveals and determines its objectives and goals, produces the principal plans and policies to achieve these goals. It also defines the nature of economic and non-economic contribution it intends to make to its employees, customers and shareholders, the range of business it is able to pursue, and the kind of organization it intends to be.

RestaurantCo's corporate strategy is aimed at building company value alongside increased investment in the restaurant environment, with a program of refurbishments and new restaurant openings, while encouraging branch managers to treat the restaurant as if it were their own small business. To counter problems surfacing from their expansion and cost savings plan, and to improve customer service, "Mystery Customers" were introduced to judge local managers based on the branch's service which were linked to performance-related bonuses for them. This contradicts the intended autonomy of branch managers at local level.

The restaurant industry is known to be one of the hardest businesses to operate successfully, due to reasons like high turnover, low pay, and long and inflexible hours (Heffes, 2004).

One theory that RestaurantCo can adopt to improve its efficacy and performance is the Hawthorne Effect. The main idea of the theory states that changes in the working environment may be related to special social situation and treatment that they receive (John, 1950). Changes in the social environment such as clearing floors of obstacles and better air conditioning can lead to improved productivity and efficiency and thus aiding RestaurantCo to achieve its objectives.

RestaurantCo should also review and monitor its human resource strategies for consistency with its vision, mission, values and goals as Ramsey et al. (2000) states that an organization's ability to manage human resources will indirectly affect its performance, through a series of variables such as attitude (commitment), behavior (turnover) and performance (productivity). Management at RestaurantCo has adopted a style of 'leading by example' which meant managers engaged in all work areas if required, including working in the kitchen alongside chefs or as waiting staff on the floor. This particular style has led to close interaction between employee and management and aided in promoting informal EIP with day-to-day work tasks (Stinglhamber & Vandenberghe 2003).

Purcell & Kinnie (2007) states that HRM is frequently tantamount to the HR department, and Cunningham & Hyman (1999) states that line managers have a substantial responsibility in the implementation of HR management practices in most organizations. Line managers' behavior in implementing HRM is essential for improving employee commitment, job satisfaction and extra role behaviors (Harney & Jordan, 2008).

Key qualities RestaurantCo looks for in manager recruitment are first-rate leadership skills, flexible approach to work and ability to relate to people. This shows that line managers have to be people oriented and possess superior leadership qualities which helps them at workplace level, not only towards customers but also their own employees and proves that line managers are key to the success of establishing social exchange relationships within the organization. Good customer service makes restaurants and other businesses successful while poor service can result in failure (Aguilera, 2001).

Bao (2011) observes that due to overwhelming competiveness from globalization; Multi-National Companies not only seek innovation, speed and adaptability but also the need to manage HR strategically to gain sustained competitive advantage. RestaurantCo demonstrates this by conducting regional road shows to help HR and senior management communicate detailed plans and key initiatives. This act of self improvement further demonstrates the organization's intent to enhance the links between corporate strategy and management practices.

The case study highlights how individual style of branch managers took prominence over formal, top-down HR policies and practices. As a result, HR policies and practices were not followed or changed, leading to inconsistent and weak management practices. To resolve this issue, RestaurantCo needs teamwork and leadership; with managers trusted to make decisions and employees committed and responding to their managers' decisions, which was not prevalent in the organization.

Henri Fayol believed by focusing on managerial practices (enlightening managers on how to fulfill their duties and the practices they should engage) he could increase efficiency and minimize misunderstandings in organizations (Pietri, 1974). According to Rodrigues (2001), five elements of management were outlined by Fayol to depict the kind of behaviors organizations should engage; RestaurantCo should apply this theoretical model so as to effectively meet the objectives of the organization.

RestaurantCo should create a plan of action for the future while determining the stages of the plan and technology necessary to implement it. Once the plan is designed, managers of RestaurantCo need to provide the resources necessary to carry it out, which includes capital, raw materials and human resources. Furthermore, managers need to possess a strong understanding of their employee's strengths and weaknesses to implement the plan. Managers at top level must also complement all the activities to smooth the progress of organizational success while maintaining constant communication with managers at branch level. Last but not least, managers must evaluate the response from employees to ensure the plan of action determined is feasible.

These recommendations can be attained easier through the understanding and usage of the High Performance Work System (HPWS) - an explicit combination of HR practices and policies, operational structures and processes which enables employees to maximize their decision making ability, passion, commitment, knowledge and skills which in turn leads to innovation, flexibility and improvements (Messersmith et al., 2011)

With this, RestaurantCo can improve on their HR policies on areas such as succession planning for executive roles and other significant non-executive