Diack's Restaurant

Next month managers at Diack's, a chain of over 40 restaurants in the UK, will show their appreciation for their staff's efforts with a week of events, ranging from serving them free lunch to treating them to ice creams and organising free social events. 'This is our thank you to all our staff. It's what we do,' says Michael Diack founder and Chief Executive. 'It is part of our culture.' Over one hundred employees were invited to lunch recently at the Balmoral Hotel in Edinburgh, to celebrate their long service with the company. Some were commemorating 30 years with the company. As well as a great lunch they each received a present and a bottle of champagne.

Diack's website declares that the company offers 'five-star quality dining' to its customers and 'a first-class place to work for its staff'.

Employees seem to agree that Diack's provides a great service to customers, returning a 90 per cent positive score in a recent attitude survey, and they love working for the firm (80 per cent). People enjoy working with their fellow employees (85 per cent), like the values of the company (75 per cent) and are 'proud to work for the organisation' (80 per cent).

Margo Richards applied for a job with Diack's after hearing from a couple of her friends who worked with the company that 'Diack has a reputation for looking after their employees - and they do.' Margo has been with the company for four years now and she hasn't been disappointed. At 24, she leads a team of waiting staff at one of the company's biggest and busiest restaurants, in Oxford St., London. As well as free meals, a smart uniform and somewhere comfortable to relax, staff get generous fringe benefits including free gym memberships and health insurance. Margo says she likes the team spirit in the company and, in an industry which is notorious for its stress levels, she appreciates the efforts management make to minimise stress and help employees to handle it by providing free advice and counselling. Most employees of the company seem to agree, reporting in the attitude survey that they 'have not had stress-related symptoms arising from their job in the past 12 months' (80 per cent) and they feel 'a strong sense of family in their team' (70 per cent).

Diack's culture is team oriented. Restaurant managers have weekly face-to-face meetings with their staff and teams meet daily to discuss menus, bookings and other developments. 75 per cent of employees reported that they 'always know what is expected of them'; 70 per cent believe 'they can make a valuable contribution to Diack's success' and the same percentage think 'they can make a difference within the organisation'.

Every employee (including Mr Diack) has a personal development plan which is reviewed throughout the year, and staff of all levels take part in discipline-specific training programme. Jo Morrow, director of human resources for Diack's, says 'joined-up people policies mean people are not forgotten. We have training and development that helps them in their current jobs and in growing their potential for the future'. Even executives, who are obliged to complete a minimum of 40 hours of core training a year, find it beneficial (85 per cent). 'I have been a general manager for 20 years and it makes you realise there is so much more to learn and there are so many different ways of doing it,' said one.

Diack's believes in corporate social responsibility and serving the community is seen as an important part of doing business. Restaurant employees are encouraged to get involved in local projects such as clearing litter from beauty spots and raising funds for charities. Staff think Diack's makes a difference to the world (60 per cent) and is very green (70 per cent)

Case study

Analyse the above case study.

1. Identify the key OB theories that are addressed.mention at least 4 or 5 theiories

2. Discuss their application within the case study.

3-Reinforce your analysis with examples from your own experience example for every theory