Reflections On Work Integrated Learning Experience At Sash Japanese Global Fusion Restaurant, An Essay.

Overview of Sash Japanese Global Fusion Restaurant

Discuss about the Designation Initiative and Patron Purchasing.

The corporate environment is quite different from the environment that a student is accustomed to. Ensuring that theoretical knowledge is well developed in the professional field is the duty of a University. The primary aim of the given assignment is to integrate the knowledge that has been accumulated during the study at the program in the corporate field and reflect upon the learning’s.  The report is a reflection of the knowledge which has been acquired though the current studies and in-depth critical evaluations will be made on the workplace practices (Fong et al. 2016). The report will also provide recommendations for the same.

The report will be discussing the overview of the restaurant followed by the explicit details about the internship procedure and duration. The next part will be a critical reflection of the professional impact of the Placement and Integrating the University Studies with the restaurant`s work environment (Lee-Kwan et al. 2014).

The given restaurant named Sash Japanese Global Fusion is situated at 113 Chapel Street, Windsor in Melbourne. The restaurant is a new pizza bar situated in Melbourne serves Sash which is a new Japanese Fusion whereby the various dishes from around the world are blended with the Hawaiian- Peruvian Japanese influence. Their unique food items include Japanese style pizza, nachos, tacos and other meats and dessert items. Their offerings have a unique taste which is difficult to find in other restaurants.

The restaurant has a Japanese bar which serves some of the Melbourne`s best cocktails. They have a Sash Royale dish which tends to blend the chef`s choice with the barman`s favourite cocktail. . The Sash Restaurant has a narrow lane like structure stretching over 40 meters and the front section is divided into various bars and booths which can accommodate between 2-6 guests. The restaurant is adorned with wall art by local artists and semi private areas are also available between 10 to 30 people (Sashrestaurant.com.au. 2018).

Hence, stated simply it can be said that Sash is a Fusion restaurant with a unique taste where the ambience which is aimed to provide a different experience to the crowd. The ambience and environment of the restaurant is very different from the usual fine dine restaurants in Australia (Kasli and Ilban 2013).The restaurant is primarily known for their creative menu and the Sash-izza. The vibe of the restaurant is very modern and hippy.

Professional Impact of Placement and Integrating University Studies with Restaurant's Work Environment

The Chef de Partie job is generally required to oversee a section in the kitchen, dealing with butchery, pastry or vegetables. The job is often described as a station chef. The trainee chef often assists the Chef de partie in his tasks.

• Preparing and presenting dishes within your specialty
• Managing the trainee chefs
• Assisting the sou chefs to develop new dishes
• Ensuring high standards of hygiene along with safety and health
• Monitoring waste control.

As a chef de Partie, the best aspect about my job was to work with the head chef and prepare the dishes as per their choice. The job was very inspiring and went a long way in guiding me to improve my skills. The primary skills involved for the given job were good cooking skills, calm composure, and ability to delegate the job appropriately along with a grasp of the various profit margins (VanEpps et al. 2016).

The job of a chef de Partie would be suitable for someone who has a good stamina and enjoys working in the kitchen. The person needs to maintain a calm composure and the ability to work in a team. Te person should also have a creative mind which would then assist him in developing new dishes (Anzman-Frasca et al. 2014).

At the Sash Restaurant, I was involved in doing the given activities which are as follows:

• Helping the head chef in carrying out the various activities
• Developing new dishes
• Helping the new members in an organization
• Taking in consumer feedback.
• Marketing the restaurant
• Taking on administrative duties.

Factors that helped my ability to achieve the learning goals:

The given factors were useful in helping me to achieve my learning goals:

• Work environment- The work environment at the Sash was very supportive and learning. The customer crowd was good and the work culture was very engaging.
• Supporting seniors- Thee head chef and the managers at the restaurant were very supportive. They would assign the different tasks based on capability which went a long way in helping me to build my capabilities
• Personal capability- I believe that my hard work and consistency also went a long way in helping me to actually be able to achieve my learning goal which I had set for myself.

 Through my internship I was able to learn a great deal about team management and team dynamics (Chang 2013). As a restaurant has the primary purpose of achieving customer objectives, it requires team contribution towards successful task completion.

Management of time and Communication

Working in the restaurant also contributed towards management of time and communication aspects. Earlier, I was not able to manage my team this well however, at present am able to work well in these spheres.

The following recommendations would be made to the Work Integrated Learning program:

• The program should actually help the student in gaining a rough idea or training prior to joining the restaurant. This would help the members to perform well in their actual workplace.
• They can also develop a learning book with respect to the restaurants to guide the students about the do`s and don’ts before entering the given firm.

Restaurants are generally chaotic places to work in and hence, patience is generally required in order to have a detailed and procedural view towards the work processes in order to be able to achieve success (Walker 2016).The food quality also needs to be taken care of in order to ensure that the quality food is being delivered to the customers.

The people involved in the given industry are required to work for more than 15 hours in a day and hence it is necessary for them to have an increased level of enthusiasm and stamina so that they are able to work effectively (Kirkpatrick et al. 2014). The customers need to be attended and the staffs needs to be motivated at all times and hence it becomes important for the firm to ensure that the work is carried out effectively.

Chef de Partie Job and Responsibilities

The communication skills of the people working in the given industry need to be strong because a spontaneous nature is good and well appreciated. It is necessary to boost staff and customers. The people working in the industry need to have a perfect and pleasant personality.

According to Felicen et al (2014), the people also need to possess relevant leadership skills. Whether it is the post of a manger or a waiter in that case, adequate leadership skills are required in order to ensure that the employees work well and they are satisfied.

The various professionals working in a restaurant need to be multi-taskers as well. They need to be able to answer calls, manage customer demands, mingle with the different customers and other related tasks. A multitasking nature would help to streamline the business operations.

The individuals working here also need to passionate. This goes a long way in bringing about creativity and develops adherence to responsibility.

 The given person needs to be a team player who will be required to ensure that all the members working in the given restaurant work together towards the completion of the different goals and objectives (Fong, Luk and Law 2014). This will ensure long term success.

The employees are also required to be attentive and reasonable. Customers place different demands on the restaurant and it become very difficult to meet with all them. This causes confusion and can lead to the customer not visiting the restaurant again. Hence, being attentive is important.

Working in a restaurant requires quick decision making on the side of the customers as well as the workers. The manager will often be required to make a quick decision with respect to the ingredients, demands being placed by the consumers and the dish decision choices (Datta, Biswakarma and Nayak 2013). Hence if the person has adequate skills, he can combat with the various demands of the workplace.

The people working in the restaurant industry also need to be courageous with respect to the various decisions and criticism to be faced by them.

The given stated skills are considered to be very important because they are a must for all the employees working in a restaurant. A theory to underline this importance of the given skills and qualities is the

Factors that Helped Achieve Learning Goals

One of the most common problems that exist in the given Sash Fusion is the problem related to the menu of the restaurant. The balancing of the items in a menu is often a hard task for any restaurant (Ultrariskadvisors.com. 2018). Japanese fusion has a variety of items available on its menu and it becomes increasingly important for it to keep it creative and changing in order to ensure that the restaurant is able to live up to its name and offer valued items.  The offering of a large menu often acts to become barrier.

While I was present in the restaurant I observed that the restaurant was facing huge problems relating to the customer service. Impressions are considered to be a very integral part of an organization and even if the food, theme and the different ideas are very impressive, a bad customer service brings bad name for the whole restaurant.

I witnessed that once 4 customers had complained to the general manager that they were not being provided quality services. This led to a huge dissatisfaction among the employees as well because wanted to provide premium services but were unable to do so (Lee and Tsang 2013).

I had observed that some of the staff members were very inconsistent to work. They hardly met up with the compulsory 40 hours a week working policy and took leaves very often. This often created the shortage of staff members and thus the number of members to attend the customers became very few. This again related to the problem of bad customer service (Khan 2014).

As my job involved looking after the various administrative aspects of the restaurant as well, I observed that the restaurant was facing huge amount of problems with respect to the hiring and training of the employees. The hiring method of the restaurant was incorrect and the panel selected for hiring was not well qualified. This lead to huge amount of problems for the various employees and candidates who were suitable was not being able to join the organization.

Another problem that I observed during my internship period is that there exists no proper system of marketing and the restaurant lacks a proper marketing plan. The website of the restaurant is very supportive and interactive but there exists no customer loyalty programs which is another problem. According to Sosa, Biediger-Friedman and Banda (2014), many restaurant owners fail to form a good marketing plan for the organization which then makes it extremely difficult for the new ventures to gain the required market.  The logo and brand standards are not formalized which then leads to various problems.

Recommendations for Work Integrated Learning Program

The given section will provide suggestions for the various problems in a restaurant which have been stated as follows:

The restaurant needs to come up with a well defined marketing plan in order to attract a larger crowd. The concept of the restaurant is very unique and interesting however; there is a lack of a proper awareness amongst the customers with regard to the implementation of the given plan. If the restaurant comes up with a customized marketing plan it will be beneficial for them to market their chosen offering easily. In the given scenario, the restaurant should come out with a proper marketing plan with the given in mind:

• Target audience- The marketing plan should be directly targeted towards the target audience who might be visit the given restaurant. A generalized targeting plan reaches out to all which is not necessary and it is important that the campaign is directly attracting the target crowd.
• Budget- The budge set aside for the given marketing plan should be considered before the marketing plan is implemented. The budget indicates the extent to which the program can be successful.
• Positioning: The manner in which the restaurant wants to portray itself also needs to be considered in determining the marketing plan (Buted, Felicen and Manzano 2014).

The next problem for which a solution will be provided is the problem related to the hiring and training of the staff. As observed the hiring and recruitment program of the restaurant is highly inefficient and it is very important for the given organization to have a well defined hiring and training program which would assist it in attaining better employees which would go a long way in helping the firm to serve the customers. This problem can be solved by refining the hiring and recruitment panel or hiring an outside agency for the same. Although this method proves to be a bit expensive but assures reliable and trained staff (Goleman 2017).

All the staffing requirements are met by this hiring agency which would then advertise in case of vacancies on behalf of the firm and also assist them in ensuring that the given organization has the best staff required. This is very important as the employees are often considered to be the backbone of the organization and hiring a good employee base would ensure satisfaction of customers and top management alike (Magnini and Kim 2016).

Conclusion

Therefore, the internship experience in the restaurant was a very useful one.  Internship opportunities go a long way in ensuring that the student is properly trained and provided a glimpse of the real corporate environment. My internship at the Sash Japanese Global Fusion helped in facing the reality of the actual restaurants and how difficult it is to manage the tasks and the customer demands placed. The given report was a reflection of my experience at the restaurant and discussed the crucial areas of the restaurant and the improvements required in the key area. The report summarized the overview of the given restaurant followed by my job role as a Chef de Partie. The third section of the report involved the discussion and critical analysis of the skills and qualifications which are necessary in managing a restaurant and the importance of these skills respectively.

It also discussed the different issues being faced by the restaurant currently and the suggested solutions for overcoming the problems based on various budgetary and resource constraints. The problems chosen were the problems related to Staffing and Marketing being faced by Sash Japanese Global Fusion and hence, recommendations have been provide for the same.

References

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