Case Study Synopsis

Introduction

This report will address an interpersonal issue faced within the food and beverage (F&B) service industry. The team has chosen to focus on coffeehouses and the interaction between its employee and customers. Specifically, the team will explore different methods on how an employee could respond better to angered customers in certain situations.

Workplace context

In 2018, the F&B service industry in Singapore had registered an increase in sales on a year-on-year basis (Singapore Department of Statistics, 2018). Furthermore, the industry had contributed 0.8 per cent of Singapore’s Gross Domestic Product (GDP) in 2016 (Info-communications Media Development Authority, 2018). The F&B services industry attracts talents who are service-oriented, passionate, resilient, meticulous, and a team player (Skillsfuture, 2017). Concurrently, the F&B industry in Singapore struggles towards being manpower-lean. (Aggarwal, 2018)

Starbucks has positively influenced its market share, productivity, and profitability by providing high quality products and service (Paryani, 2011). According to Paryani, its success can be attributed to its coffee, the people serving the coffee, and the in-store experience. Starbucks invests heavily in training that will arm its employees with the knowledge, skills, and abilities (KSA) necessary to create exceptional experiences and how to respond to difficult situations (Panopto, 2018). The same cannot be said for other coffee house brands such as Coffee House X. As compared to Starbucks, which has a structured training plan in place for new hires, Coffee House X will only send new hires for classes which are subjected to availability. There are also other factors involved such as time, lack of manpower, and only at the store managers’ discretion.

There is an increase in the consumption of coffee and consumer patronage in coffee houses due to an influx of millennials with higher disposable income (Gay, 2016). This is further supported by Goh Theng Kiat, chief marketing officer for global consumer financial services at OCBC Bank, who said that these millennials “visit F&B establishments like cafe, coffee shops and restaurants 20 times a month.” (as cited in Ong, 2017).

Thematic focus

The main theme explored in this synopsis is handling customers. This idea came about when three out of four team members experienced unsatisfactory service during their visit to coffeehouses. This issue could have happened due to the poor training provided by the coffeehouses, or the low importance placed by these coffeehouses on employee training.  

In addition, a team member who had the opportunity to work in two different coffeehouse companies shared the recurring issue she encountered during her working experience. She mentioned that customers often use the coffeehouse as a place to complete their work. Occasionally, these customers will leave their belongings unattended when they momentarily leave the coffeehouse. However, there is also an unspoken rule whereby these belongings will stowed away by the employees if it is left unattended for more than ten minutes. As a result, she had to face an angered customer who had his belongings stowed. As she was a new employee at the time of incident, she was hesitant to entire the unspoken rule. As the other teammates were able to empathise with the customer, they felt that there is a need to delve into this matter to prevent similar situations from recurring.

The synopsis focuses mainly on the communication between the baristas and its customers. The synopsis also offers a step-by-step approach on how baristas are able to deal with angry customers in these situations.

Problem statement

Students prefer studying in F&B public areas has caused displeasure to visiting customers (Sin, 2017). This has made it increasingly difficult for staff when dealing with conflict amongst different customers.

Managing customer expectations while performing duties at work has proven to be challenging. The maxim of “Customer is always right” puts employees in a dilemma when conflict arises. As opposed to, “caveat emptor” where the responsibility of checking the suitability and quality of items before purchase making is put on the buyer (Morgan, 2018). Therefore, proper training is necessary in order to guide and nurture current and new employees. This would allow them to be exposed to the workplace environment and recurring issues that are already present.

Well-trained employees will already be aware of possible workplace hazards and situations that may arise during day-to-day operations. Additionally, some service staff are unable to manage situations that involves angry customers due to various reasons. One of which is due to the high turnover rate and lack of a structure in training programmes. New employees and part time employees might not be equipped with the necessary KSAs for the job. Generally, the F&B services industry in Singapore has a higher turnover rate as compared to other industries as they rely heavily on temporary and part-time workers (Manpower Research and Statistics Department, 2018).

Evidence has shown that more effective management and training of part-time employees can yield the same gains as full-time employees, which can lead to higher levels of customer satisfaction (Etherington, 2016). Sufficient and adequate information in standard operating procedures (SOP) in a manual must be up-to-date and relevant so as for staff to be able to refer and prepare themselves for difficult situations. It is imperative that effective training programmes and guidelines should be properly developed and implemented to uphold service excellence.