Prairie View Country Club

Prairie View Country Club is located in a city of 35,000. Metro Oil, the city's largest employer, dominates the city's economy and the economic well-being of the club. Metro Oil is one of the largest oil companies in the world and Prairie View is the home of Metro Oil's International headquarters. Metro Oil is generous in its support of the club because the "Club" is the only place in the city that they can "properly" entertain the individuals from around the world that visit the company on a daily basis. The reason for the large membership is the number of members that hold memberships by virtue of their position with Metro Oil.

The executives of Metro Oil, many of who are on the Club's Executive Board, and all of who are club members, have begun expressing their dissatisfaction with the food served at the club. These individuals, as do most of the club's members, regularly travel the nation and the world on behalf of Metro Oil. Through their travels they are exposed to many cuisines and trends in cuisine. They have well developed palates and enjoy the variety and change they experience when traveling. This has presented an ongoing challenge for the management of the club. The club has maintained a reputation for high quality food that is well prepared for many years with its long-standing menu of steaks, chops, local freshwater fish and traditional local dishes. Management's, including the chef's, efforts over the years to change the menu has been frustrated by the lack of trained personnel in the local area and the inability to attract trained culinarians to Prairie View. The club has consistently offered above average wages to attract individuals from outside the area, but the lack of a career path has still kept them from attracting trained, skilled culinarians.

The Executive Board in its last meeting informed the General Manager and Chef that they wanted changes made in the menu and they wanted it accomplished within six months or they would look at finding a new management team for the club. The General Manager and Chef immediately worked to develop a plan to make the changes that had been mandated. The first step was, with the approval and support of the Board, the General Manager and the Chef did a whirlwind tour of the major culinary pacesetting cities in the United States. In a two-week period they traveled to San Francisco, New Orleans, Chicago, and New York. They spent two days visiting and eating at the top restaurants in each city. Additionally, they spent an extra day in Chicago, New York and San Francisco consulting with faculty from the prestigious culinary schools in those areas.

The General Manager and Chef utilized the information and experience from their trip to develop a new menu that incorporated different cuisines, new types of dishes and presentations, as well as, new ingredients, but that still contained the most popular of the club's traditional items. The challenge was to train the existing staff to provide the new items to the club members at the same quality level that had always been the hallmark of the Club's food.

The training needed to familiarize the culinary team with the cuisines and products being introduced including their storage and handling, as well as, how to prepare the dishes. An aggressive timeline was developed for the training and it was determined that the culinary team members would be paid for participation in the mandatory training.

The General Manager and Chef knew that the integration of the training into the Club's normal operation was a major challenge. The operation of the kitchen had to continue with no reduction in quality while the training was taking place. The extent of the changes that would take place had not been formally announced and the resistance of the culinary team to change was clearly evident. Many members of the team had already questioned the value of training that would not increase their wages or increase their opportunities for advancement.

Case Study Questions

As the human resource professional for the club the general manager and chef have come to you with their concerns since you are arranging for the training. They have tasked you with developing a training program that will achieve the desired results without disrupting business or impacting the current level of service and quality of food.

• What recommendations will you make to the general manager and chef?
• What are the top three things you, as the human resource officer, can do to bring a successful conclusion to the process that has been started.
• What are the top three things the general manager can do to bring a successful conclusion to the process that has been started?
• What are the top three things the chef can do to bring a successful conclusion to the process that has been started?
• Success should be measured how in this situation?