Steakhouse Internship: Delivering Exceptional Service & More - Essay Sample

Introduction

Over the summer, I had a managing internship with a Steakhouse. I performed various tasks from inventory and order floor managing on weekdays. I worked in many departments in the restaurant. I had the responsibility of monitoring the progress of the cafeteria with the assistance of experienced workmates. I was full of the desire to deliver to the restaurant, proactively assist in strategy formulation, offer outstanding service, retain and acquire customers, and meet and surpass my targets. I aimed to get a good recommendation through the achievements of the goals I had set. However, my supervisor did not offer me proper training and tools to carry out my job effectively. Some of my workmates complained to me that it was hard for the company to recognize efforts and that the company had poor reward policy with regards to recognizing achievements, creating opportunities for personal growth, recognition, and responsibility. Besides, managers were unjust in rewarding accomplishments and hard work. One of my attributes has always been that hard work pays. I also believed that the challenges encountered in life makes a person stronger and more experienced in dealing with issues. After three months of my internship, the restaurant held a ceremony to celebrate and award outstanding performers. During that event, I realized that the reward I received did not match the effort I had been putting for the restaurant since I began my internship at the Steakhouse. Rewarding was skewed since some employees seemed to have been favored while others unfairly were not recognized. It appeared that I had paid little attention to the warnings by my co-workers and that the company lacked better policies on rewarding hardworking employees. It was so disappointing, and my co-worker's criticism of the reward policy worsened the situation. However, the drive to complete my internship inspired me not to lose hope.

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Reflective Observation

My continued interaction with my workmates and internship at Steakhouse revealed that there was biasness in rewarding employees. It also emerged that the management was not considered an employee's skillfulness. I also realized that some of my workmates felt that the restaurant did not provide opportunities for professional development, a factor that has contributed to employee dissatisfaction. Moreover, failure to promote outstanding employees within the Steakhouse made some of the employees to be reluctant at work. Such an unfair treatment created a rift among employees, lowering the productivity of Steakhouse, and that of its staff. The company's poor policy on motivation created unfavorable working conditions discouraging employees from optimal contribution.

However, as I continued with my internship and hard work, learning from workmates who were experienced and outstanding in their work, I tremendously progressed, drawing admiration and recognition from both my workmates and supervisors. My performance and hard work attracted such attention that my workmates and managers realized that motivation is a crucial factor in enhancing productivity. Most of my supervisors also realized that the unbiased rewarding of performing employees had impeded the performance of the restaurant. The division and hatred between those who were favored and those who received less recognition started fading. Customers admired my work and the attention I was putting in my work. The management collected the opinions of employees on how to improve its performance and the welfare of its workers. After a week, the restaurant revised its policies that incorporated motivational factors that were and return based.

Abstract Conceptualization

According to chapters five and six, the presence or absence of motivators or satisfiers in people's occupations is fundamental to motivation, satisfaction, and performance. Motivator factors include achievement, responsibility, recognition, growth, advancement, and work itself, and they influence job contentment. Besides, Hygiene factors contribute to job discontent, and they include quality of supervision, relations with co-workers, operating conditions, base wage and salary, status and security, and company's policies. My attributes and the need to complete my internship were the driving force that not only helped me achieve my goals but also contributed to a change in the restaurant's policies regarding employee job satisfaction. Chapter five and six also refers to motivation as the dynamics within an individual that determines the level, direction, and persistence of effort spent at the job. I can proclaim that the choices I made to accomplish my mission of completing my internship, the energy I put forth, and my endurance even under such an unfavorable working environment earned me respect and a good recommendation.

Emotional needs or drives to link are fulfilled through a concerted company and team ethos that inspires companionship and a positive social personality. There is no doubt that the management of the Steakhouse was unaware of the disservice they were doing to the restaurant and its employees. However, the zeal of an individual has the power to alter the equation, show direction, and influence strategies. Reward schemes that differentiate between low and high performers and that allot rewards conditionally established on productivity. Equity theory suggests that any alleged unfairness befits a motivating factor. People are inspired to act in methods that reinstate or conserve a logic of steadiness (apparent impartiality) in their thoughts. My workmates had been reacting to blocked needs, which is discussed in the content theories of motivation.

Active Experimentation

Equity is essential not only as a motivating factor but as a function of assessment of prizes earned comparative to efforts made, and as equated to the awards gotten by others concerning their labors. From my experience as an intern, I realized that it is imperative to concentrate on your work. To achieve your purpose rather than waiting for rewards or inspiration requires determination. It is also crucial that supervisors exercise the utmost professionalism in motivating their employees as productivity is influenced directly or indirectly through motivational aspects of the company. After learning about motivation and performance in chapters five and six, I now understand how motivational factors influence the performance of a company.

It is also factual that companies do revise their policies regularly, especially those that concern the contentment of workers. Managers and supervisors must consider the skills of each employee to have an audit of their strengths and weaknesses. Improvement in work policies that incorporate opportunities for professional development and promotions based on performance is vital in instilling employee contentment. I also learned the essence of mentorship from workmates that are high performers, focused, and experienced as an inspiration at the workplace. Chapters five and six discuss Maslow's hierarchy of needs theory and note that people can classify their needs. Equity, expectancy, and goal-setting methods are presented in these chapters, and they relate to my experience at the Steakhouse.