Observation paper Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

Observation paper - Essay Example Olive Garden has an organizational culture that emphasizes family values and continuous employee growth. Martin (2002) defined organizational culture as composed of different manifestations, including stories, rituals, practices, language, and physical arrangements (as cited in Keyton, 2011, p.20). As an employee of Olive Garden, the student has firsthand experience of what it is. In terms of stories, employees talk about their family at work and their work with their families because that is what Olive Garden wants to achieve- a sense of family bonding within the company. The organization’s rituals are composed of daily operations, including keeping the place clean and homey and the guests delighted and satisfied with the service, ambiance, and food. Olive Garden wants to make guests feel that they are just dining at home, so the atmosphere is quite casual, although it has employees that serve food and take care of customers. As for the company’s formal practices, empl oyees are well-trained to provide excellent customer service. All of them are hired because of their smile and ability to be patient and friendly toward customers. Olive Garden restaurants usually have good locations and tend to be jam-packed. Servers are trained to remain patient and accommodating even during these times. Informal practices include managers who check on the quality of service of employees and customers’ satisfaction levels and servers who go the extra mile to please clients. The jargon of the company is a mix of Italian and American words that employees use with one another. These words emphasize working together, especially during peak time. The physical arrangement of the restaurants is arranged to accommodate small and large groups, including families. The layout is spacious, and so it is normal to see young kids running around. Olive Garden is not perfect though, and it has some management problems. First, because of the â€Å"family† culture, som e managers tend to have favorites. These favorites are given more flexible (or the most sought after) schedules and busy stations where tips are most likely to be received. Second, the pay is good but not competitive and opportunities for promotion are limited. Some of those who have been loyal to Olive Garden have left because they want career advancement, but not all are given the opportunity to move up. Several think that Olive Garden is not as â€Å"family-like† as it wants to be. Some employees are not supporting each other too, so a few servers end up doing more work than others. To resolve these problems, four recommendations are offered. First, the management must lead through ensuring that the vision is alive in the company through providing fair treatment to all employees. The vision of the company emphasizes the improvement of the quality of lives of internal and external customers and this cannot be achieved when favoritism is present. Zacarro and Banks asserted t hat leaders must be able to use the organizational mission and vision for setting collection action (Gill, 2011, p.104). To influence