GALWAY- MAYO INSTITUTE OF TECHNOLOGY

DEPARTEMENT OF HOTEL & TOURISM MANAGEMENT

Report Submitted in Part Fulfilment of the Requirements For the award of Bachelor of Business in Culinary Arts And Based Upon Industrial Experience Gained At Glenlo Abbey Hotel Republic of Ireland

Joseph Desire Kanyi Year 3

THE BUSINESS REPORT 1. Introduction

1.1History of the Hotel
Glenlo Estate

Situated on a 138 acre estate overlooking Lough corrib, Glenlo Abbey was the ancestral home of the Ffrench family, one of the famous fourteen Tribes that ruled over Galway for centuries. Another Tribe, the Blakes lived at Glenlo Abbey in the late 1800s until the Palmers; a well known merchant family bought Glenlo Abbey in the early 1900s and resided there for three generations. The original house dates back to 1740s, and is owned by the bank after the Bourke Family went into receiverships in January of this year 2012 (See appendix 1 for the Hotel history and location) The Abbey

Most of the great Irish Houses of the past ( known as the big houses by the populace at large) invariably had a private chapel in close proximity. The Abbey is an example of such historic family tradition and was built very close to the main house because the lady of the house was an invalid. However, although the building work started in 1790, the structure was never finished, consecrated or used as Mrs Ffrench actually died upon its construction. The Abbey fell into a neglected state but was caringly restored by Peggy Bourke. Today it is used for small, private meetings, dinners and receptions. Glenlo Abbey Hotel

Peggy & John Bourke first bought Glenlo Abbey in 1984 when it was a run- down country estate and working farm. They began their restoration program in 1988 and eventually opened up Glenlo Abbey as a 20 bedroom hotel in 1992. Glenlo Abbey extended its bedrooms to 46 within a two year period and the Bourk;s continued to add on facilities such as the Golf course & Driving Range, The Pavilion and the Pullman Restaurant aboard the Orient Express.

1.2Introduction of the Hotel

Glenlo Abbey Location and Product

Glenlo Abbey is a 5 star hotel with 46 bedrooms and suits, located approximately 4km from Galway city center, Bushy Park, galway, this regal 18th century country residence is the ideal resort property for weddings, meetings, incentives and midweek & weekend leisure breaks. Glenlo Abbey Hotel , offers deluxe accommodation, state of art conference & meeting rooms, award winning restaurants, leisure activities such as shooting and fishing and its own private golf course and others. Glenlo Abbey hotel is the perfect place for either relaxation or an activity based holiday. The wildness of connemara is right on the hotel doorsteps. Glenlo Abbey hotel was the 2010 winner of Good Eating Guide best Restaurant in Connaught. Glenlo Abbey Hotel is the perfect location for a wedding with a choice of wedding venues in the hotel. Couples can legally get married on the grounds of the hotel and have the ceremony in the 18th century Abbey. The historic Abbey can be used for that intimate gathering as well as a banquet for 30 persons. Similarly, the river room can be used dually for the civil registration and the banquet after. Both of these rooms can accommodate up to 30 and 70 respectively for a banquet while the Pavilion suite can cater to 170 dining guests. Board of directors()

The Board of directors, at Glenlo Abbey is ensuring that management and guideline for the administration of the hotel interests are structured appropriately and that there is a satisfactory internal control. The responsibilities of the Board also include setting strategies and tagets, establishing special control instruments, deciding on larger acquisitions, other large investments, deciding on deposits and loans in accordance with the finance Policy and issuing financial succession. (See appendix 2 for Glenlo Abbey Hotel organisation chart)

Name and title of supervisor

Trough all the period that the placement is going to take place, the student will be assisted by Pavel the Head chef of the kitchen department.

Human Resources
Human resources manager deals with issues related to people such as compensation, hiring, performance management, organisation development, safety, wellness, benefits, employee motivation, communication, administration, and training. Human resource Manager focuses on recruitment, management, and providing direction for the people who work in the organisation. Human resources Manager at Glenlo Abbey Hotel identify clearly the nature of the vacancy to be filled, produce a job description and person specification, identify the selection criteria for the post, advertise the post, short list candidates against the selection criteria for the interview, evaluates the candidates and make final decision. A training plan must be formulated in line with the Mission statement and vision statement of the Glenlo Abbey Hotel. Setting the training objective for the hotel and the general goals, the objectives are identified in line with the hotel strategy in order to achieve and improve employee performance, prepare employees for new developed or modified jobs and improve employee motivation. Recruitment & Selection Procedures Identify clearly the nature of the vacancy to be filled, produce a job description and person specification, identify the selection criteria for the post, advertise the post, short list candidates against the selection criteria for the interview, evaluates the candidates and make final decision. Setting up a recruitment campaign

Name and date the current recruitment campaign open a file which includes the job description, person specification and a copy of the job advertisement. Job Description

The job description set out the overall context and purpose of the job, the key duties and responsibilities , the structure and the operating environment for the job. It is important that job descriptions are reviewed and kept up to date in its content and structure to benefit for to job applicants as it provide them with a clear insight into what exactly the job involves. Training Plan

The training plan at Glenlo Abbey hotel is formulated in line with the mission statement, vision statement and core values of the hotel. Setting the training objective for the hotel which are identified in line with the business strategy in order to achieve the followings: 1. improve employee performance 2. Prepare employees for new developed or modified jobs 3. Training needed to prepare employees for promotions 4. Reduce accidents and increase safety practices 5. Improve employee motivation Training needs analysis At Glenlo, the training needs are determined by analyzing three major human resources areas; the organization, occupational and individual. The training needs analysis begin by assessing the current status of the hotel analysing revenue, areas of high revenue, stuff turnover, the ability of the employees to do the required tasks, etc. Occupational training needs are determined by managers or heads of the department, in this case ( the head chef). They will determine exactly where the training is needed. In the hotel a skill inventory is adopted from the standards of performance from each department and training needs are drawn up from this. Individual training needs are determined by employees, supervisors and managers, and include training which is needed to perform effectively. This types of training generally produces an immediate or short term return on the training investment. The individual may request certain types of training to expand their skill set and facilitate their personal development. Training evaluation and monitoring The method that are used to evaluate and monitoring training at Glenlo are: Evaluation questionnaires and examination Individual interview with trainees Observations of trainees at work Keep all training records.

Employee Turnover Rate

The annual employee turnover rate is simply a ratio of the number of employees that leave a company over a year's time compared with the average number of total employees over the same time. There are numerous factors that can affect this rate both on the employer side as well as the employee side. The annual employee turnover rate is more than a number, however. Understanding what that number means can give great insight both to employers and prospective employees.

Measuring labour turnover The simplest measure involves calculating the number of leavers in a period (usually a year) as a percentage of the number employed during the same period. This is known as the "separation rate" or "crude wastage rate" and is calculated as follows: Number of leavers / average no employed x 100 For example, if a business has 150 leavers during the year and, on average, it employed 2,000 people during the year, the labour turnover figure would be 7.5% An alternative calculation of labour turnover is known as the "Stability Index" . This illustrates the extent to which the experienced workforce is being retained and is calculated as follows: Number of employees with one or more years service now / Number employed one year ago x 100 Labour turnover will vary between different groups of employees and measurement is more useful if broken down by department or section or according to such factors as length of service, age or occupation. Patterns of labour turnover The highest rate of labour turnover tends to be among those who have recently joined an business. Longer-serving employees are more likely to stay, mainly because they become used to the work and the business and have an established relationship with those around them. Causes of labour turnover A high level of labour turnover could be caused by many factors: Inadequate wage levels leading to employees moving to competitors Poor morale and low levels of motivation within the workforce Recruiting and selecting the wrong employees in the first place, meaning they leave to seek more suitable employment A buoyant local labour market offering more (and perhaps more attractive) opportunities to employees Costs of labour turnover High rates of labour turnover are expensive in terms of:

- Additional recruitment costs - Lost production costs - Increased costs of training replacement employees - Loss of know-how and customer goodwill - Potential loss of sales (e.g. if there is high turnover amongst the sales force) - Damage that may be done to morale and productivity (an intangible cost) Benefits of labour turnover Labour turnover does not just create costs. Some level of labour turnover is important to bring new ideas, skills and enthusiasm to the labour force. A "natural" level of labour turnover can be a way in which a business can slowly reduce its workforce without having to resort to redundancies (this is often referred to as "natural wastage". Glenlo abbey had big labour turnover this year based on the changes of the ownership and the receivership state that the Business is under going. ( formula and calculation based on the numbers)

Finance
Stocking taking and operational control function
The main objectives of taking stock are: 1. To determine the value of goods held in stock. This will indicate if too much or too little food is held in stock and if the total value of stock held is in accordance with the financial policy of the establishment. The total value of food held in stock is also required for the profit and loss accounts and the balance sheet, by the organizations accounts department. 2. To compare the value of goods actually in the stores at a particular time with the book value of the stock which will have been calculated with simple formulae of: value of opening stock + purchases during the period requisitions = value of closing stock made in the same period . This will highlight any differences and indicate the efficiency of the stock control system in operation. 3. To list slow moving items. This will bring to the attention of the purchasing officer, the head chef, etc. Those items that are in stock and for which there

has been no demand, since the last stocktaking. Usually these items will then be put on to a menu to sell them before they deteriorate, or returned to the wholesaler and credit obtained. 4. To compare the usage of food with food sales, to calculate the food percentage and gross profit. 5. As a deterrent against loss and pilferage. 6. To determine the rate of stock turnover for different groups of foods. This is calculated by the following formula: Cost of food consumed / average value of stock at cost price = rate of stock turnover in given period.

For example, in a twenty- eight day trading period the cost of food consumed was 300. The opening stock on the day 1 was 800 and the closing stock on day 28 was 700 Rate of stock turnover equal to 300/800+700/2 = 300/750 = 4.0 This means that in the twenty eight day trading period the total value of stock turned over four times and that an average of one weeks stock was held during the period.

Operation It system Used at Glenlo Abbey Hotel

Currently the hotel is using Epos system for its operational daily function, for almost all the departments. We are going to look at this system, its advantages, strength, disadvantage and its weakness.

Introduction
EPoS Systems, provide a fast and efficient way of dealing with customers. They handle the calculations involved in sales (totals and change), issue receipts these have historically been the main function of normal tills. EPoS systems, do this and a lot more. They can integrate directly with credit card payment systems, keep track of stock levels and of course keep track of customer information. The ability to manage stock and CRM (customer relationship management) allows EPoS systems to make a measurable difference to the bottom line. Both in terms of time saved and of in highlighting opportunities and also weaknesses in a business

EPoS Systems

An EPoS system is simply a combination of EPoS hardware and EPoS software which when used together provide an effective business solution. Many EPoS system suppliers, will be in a position to supply both the software and the hardware. This is useful as it gives you a single point of contact for any issues and challenges you face. It's particularly valuable at the beginning when you may need to rely a lot on your EPoS system suppliers technical support. If this is your first system, then it may be worth paying a little more in order to deal with a single, reputable supplier

How Does EPoS Work?

An EPoS system comprises of computer hardware, peripherals and EPoS software ideally suited to the point of sales environment. An EPoS system can support data entry through many different devices such as computer keyboards, touchscreen monitors and barcode scanners. EPoS systems allow a tremendous amount of flexibility to choose hardware and peripherals suited to the environment. For example, in environments with very high demands like in a supermarket EPoS can be configured to work with multi line barcode scanners, ensuring pricing accuracy and allowing cashiers to provide fast, efficient service for customers. In other environments such as restaurants the use of touchscreen monitors provides the best solution

Why Use EPoS?

EPoS software helps to ensure accurate pricing, faster transactions, reduces human error and improves data integrity.

EPoS Hardware

EPoS systems comprise of a PC and some sort of visual display unit (VDU), such as a touchscreen monitor. Additional peripherals such as barcode scanners and printers can then be chosen based on your requirements. The main units are either integrated, where the display and pc form part of the same unit. These sorts of integrated units may also have integrated peripherals such as customer displays and printers. Otherwise the systems are modular, where you have a standalone PC to which you connect a display and peripherals. This type of EPoS system offers far more flexibility and choice. Refer figure 3.

Table Planning

For a formally seated restaurant, an EPoS system that incorporates a table planner is a real boon this allows you to manage all your bookings, days and weeks in advance. Once service is underway, the integrated table planner allows each waiter or waitress to make simple updates to the status of their allocated tables

Technology Employed by Glenlo

Health and Safety procedure Followed

How to Keep Your Customers Healthy There are laws and systems that have been established to help ensure that the food served in restaurants is safe. Bacteria grow very easily if given the chance. The local Health Department will send out inspectors to make sure that the chefs and servers are following the proper guidelines. Inspectors will issue fines for minor violations and can shut you down for major violations. Working with Inspectors from The Local Health Department The Heath Department will work with you to establish the correct systems and practices. The inspectors are often feared and dreaded (as they usually show up unannounced at the worst possible time), but most of the regulations have important ramifications for keeping food clean and safe. A system called HACCP Hazard Analysis Critical Control Point consists of seven important steps to ensure food safety. This system was actually first designed to maintain food safety for NASA astronauts so you know this stuff works! The three main elements of the system are: food microbiology, quality control and risk assessment. The 7 steps of HACCP are as follows 1. Assess hazards and potential risks. 2. Identify critical control points including cross contamination, cooking, cooling, hygiene. 3. Set up procedures to make sure safety is maintained at all critical control points.

4. Monitor critical control points and use the correct signs, tools, and training materials to ensure this. 5. Take corrective actions as soon as a critical control point is in jeopardy or when any violations are pointed out by the Health Department. 6. Set up a record-keeping system to log all of your flowcharts and temperature checks 7. Keep up with the system to make sure it is working. Each food item served in your restaurant will need its own flow chart, which looks at every step of the foods journey from being received into the restaurant from a purveyor to being served to a customer. The steps in between include storage, preparation, holding/display, service, cooling, storage of leftovers and reheating techniques. The Executive Chef will be responsible for these flow charts. Avoiding Food Contamination There are many safety procedures followed at Glenlo when preparing food in the kitchen. One of the most important is to thaw frozen foods properly. You can cook food from its frozen state or by refrigerating it at less than 18C. They also thaw under running water at a temperature of 35C. or below for up to two hours. A microwave is another acceptable way to thaw foods, but only if the entire cooking period will be in the microwave or the food will be finished (immediately after microwaving) by another cooking method. Food items such as meats and poultry must be cooked to the correct internal temperatures. Thermometers are used to ensure accuracy of these temps. Avoid Cross Contamination Cross contamination is all too common in kitchens today. Be sure to clean and sanitize any equipment used to prepare food between uses and be particularly vigilant when handling a potentially harmful food such as raw poultry,beef or fish. There is a danger zone of temperature, 40 degrees F. 140 degrees F., within which food bacteria multiply rapidly and can thrive. The temperature of food should be kept out of this zone as much as possible. The limit for time spent in the danger zone including all aspects of storage, preparation and service is 4 hours. Food Storage Storage is another way to protect your food from becoming contaminated or spoiled. There are rules for this area as well. Use the first in, first out (FIFO in accounting) rule meaning that foods should be used in the order they are delivered. For instance, do not use the newest milk first if you still have two gallons that are good from your last delivery. Date goods and place the new behind the old on your storage shelves. Keep all foods wrapped and clean. Each item in your walk-in refrigerator, freezer and your dry storage should be in a sealed labeled container or package with the contents

and date received. Do not take a chance on questionable foods: When in doubt, throw it out is a great rule to live when it comes to food safety. Go through your refrigerator unit regularly and get rid of spoiled foods. The refrigerator temperature must be below 38 degrees F. Items stored include meats, seafood, vegetables and dairy products. Keep a working thermometer in the unit at all times so you will know at a glance if there is a problem. You do not want to lose your entire inventory! Freezers should keep foods at below 0 degrees F. Most foods will not maintain their quality in a freezer so it should be used only as needed. Use fresh products whenever possible. Items in dry storage should be kept between 50 70 degrees F with a relative humidity of 50 60%. Layout of department and an analysis of the flow of work

Take one product or service through the process of production, include all of the resources required to achieve the end product.

Key service standards that Glenlo has adopted and their implementation and their relevance to the markets served.

Critically consider incidents and be able to describe their cause and effective management.

Formal and informal channels of communication The managers and supervisors at Glenlo Abbey Hotel know that the importatance of effective communication in the workplace cannot be underestimated. Pour communication is responsible for mistakes, conflict, and negativity in the workplace.

Different styles of leadership

Marketing Market served by Glenlo

Fluctuations in demand Key competitors Conclusion