FOOD SERVICE ORGANIZATIONAL STRUCTURE
The knowledge of the organizational structure gives
an overview to the personnel of the significant aspects of
foodservice operation. Figure 1 portrays both the horizontal
and vertical dimensions of the organizational structure.
Foodservice Workers
 Biggest group
 Directly involved with the actual operations
Management Group
 Comparatively smaller in number
 Has greater responsibility and executes heavier
responsibilities
Organizational Chart
 A detailed framework developed to show the
relationship between the positions and people
occupying them in an orderly manner.
 Serves as guide to successfully achieve the
organization’s goals
Foodservice Administration
 Tasked to present visual picture of the general staffing
plan, the operation, their functions and the lines of
authority
 Must be mindful with the different principles of good
organization
Principles of Good Organization
1. Departmentation or Division of Labor
o Creates the logical arrangement of the
functions and activities into the
organizational structure
o Facilitates the assignment of personnel
according to their abilities and field of
specialization
o Grouping is based on purpose, process,
persons or things served, time and place.
o It facilitates control, aids coordination,
reduces expenses, and secures adequate
attention
2. Principle of Unity of Command
o Helps avoid conflicts in authority and
establishes a definite chain of command
o Applied in the following ways:
 Employees must know who
directs them, who gives them
orders, and to whom they must
report the results of their work
 Similarly, a supervisor needs to
know who are working for him in
accomplishing a particular job
Figure 1 The Organizational Structure
3. Principle of Delegation of Authority and
Responsibility
o Delegating authority by a supervisor to a
subordinate
o Gives opportunity to the supervisor to
expand the activities of his department
o Improves employee morale by allowing
them to use their judgement and initiative
o Gives the feeling of importance to the
employee
4. Span of Control or Span of Supervision
o Pertains to the number of employees who
reports directly to a higher executive
because of the limitations of the human
capacity to attend to and supervise
different activities and workers
o Affected by the quantity of persons
supervised, attention influenced by
distance and limitation of attention due to
time
5. Principle of Homogenous Assignment
o Workers performing the same or related
functions must be grouped together
o Limits the variety of work a person may
effectively accomplish
o A common fault of supervisors is assigning
different unrelated jobs as secondary
duties to an employee
6. Principle of Esprit de Corps
o Emphasizes teamwork
o Conveys the belief, “in unity there is
strength.”
ORGANIZATIONAL CHARTS OF VARIOUS TYPES OF FOODSERVICES
Foodservice Positions in a Basic Restaurant
Figure 2 Organizational Chart of a Basic Restaurant
Job Title and Position Description
Outlet Manager
 Oversees food and beverage operations in his assigned
outlet
 Ensures services are carried out in accordance with
prescribed standards and policies
o Monitors preparation before the operation and makes
sure that supplies are available and in good condition
o Conducts daily briefing and grooming inspection
o Maintains par stock and makes requisition when
needed
o Coordinates with kitchen about out of stock items and
new promotions and relays the information to the staff
o Monitors his staff to ensure that the staff follow
standard procedures
o Receives, greet and entertain customers. Attends to
their need, inquiries, and complaints
Outlet Cashier
o Prepares staff schedule, side duties and assignment
o Conducts weekly meetings to discuss operational issues
o Looks after the set-up, appearance and cleanliness of
the outlet
o Supervises safekeeping of equipment and supplies
o Attends to settlement of bills during banquet functions
Captain Waiter or Station Head
 Oversees the set-up and delivery of service in his/her area
o Supervises mis-en-place preparation and checks
availability of par stock
o Oversees the set-up of the outlet and ensures all
needed supplies are properly installed and provided for
o Monitors table service and cleaning of tables in his area
Receptionist
o Closely coordinates with his superior about
requirements and operational problems in his station
o Assists in order taking and service during peak hours
o Monitors supplies and takes measures to control loses
and wasteful consumption
o Supervises daily inventory and submits report to
superior
o Prepare and submits reports and documents required
by the management
o Attends to guests’ complaints and requests
o Ensures guest satisfaction and solicits feedbacks
o Trains staff
o Assists in taking and serving wine order
o Undertake table side preparations in absence of the
chef
Waiter
 Takes and serves food and beverage order in accordance
with the standards of service
o Looks after necessary preparations before the
operation
o Studies the menu, out-of-stock items and does
suggestive selling
o Assists busboy in placing and picking-up food orders
o Attends to the settlement of the bill
o Attends to guest inquiries, requests and complaints
o Assists in clearing
Busboy
 Dining room helper and runner
o Assists waiter in mis-en-place preparation and set-up
o Serve, bread and butter, coffee or tea
o Places orders to the kitchen and picks-up prepared
orders
o Clears tables
o Changes soiled ashtray
o Fills and refills water goblet
o Does other errands in the dining room
Bartender
 Prepares drink orders according to prescribed standards
o Prepares drinks, including coffee
o Opens and sets-up the bar, equips it with all pre-
opening supplies and stocks
o Takes charge of beverage storage and bar supplies
o Makes report of beverage sales ad spoilage
o Takes inventory of beverage consumption and losses
o Sees to it that the bar is properly stocked, clean and
well maintained
o Attends to customer needs, requests and complaints at
the bar counter
o Checks availability of bar stocks and makes requisition
when needed
o Serves drinks at the bar counter
 Prepares and attends to settlement of customer’s bill
o Regularly checks and updates POs of current prices of
items before the opening
o Prepares bills
o Receives and punches payment in the cash register
o Validates and processes credit cards
o Prepares required reports – cashier report, menu
analysis, etc.
o Turn over sales to general cashier or whoever is in
charge
o May be assigned to accomplish deposit slips and
deposit cash sales
 Welcomes and greets customers at the entrance and
escorts them to their table
o Attend to table reservations and inquiries over the
phone and disseminates details of the reservation to all
concerned officers
o Maintains and fills reservation book with needed
information and keeps reservation signs in place
o Assists in preparation for mis-en-place and taking
orders
o Monitors activity in the outlet and reports to the
captain any unusual incident or suspicious person
o Attends to guest inquiries, requests and complaints
Foodservice Positions in Hospitals

Figure 3 Organizational Chart of a Dietetic Service in a 1,000-bed Hospital

Job Titles and Position Descriptions

Chief/ Director of Dietetics
 Exercises overall responsibility over the department
 Develops objectives and plans in line with the goals of the hospital
Administrative Nutritionist-Dietician
 Plans and directs all phases of food production and service
 Maintains food standards and plans nutritionally accepted diet menus within budgetary allocations
 Imposes high standard of sanitation and safety program
 Coordinates with the chief dietician in regard to new equipment and change in foodservice layout
Therapeutic Nutritionist-Dietician
 Ensures diet orders are accurately filled and patients accepts their prescribed diets
 Modifies menus to meet patient’s needs
 Participates and contributes to the medical team’s total patient care
 Plans a progressive patient education program
Teaching Nutritionist-Dietician
 In-charge of all diet therapy and nutrition education for personnel, volunteers and students
 Takes care of out-patients in nutrition clinic
Research Nutritionist-Dietician
 Leads investigative studies
 Improves dietary care for patients through the data obtained from researches as approved by concerned medical staff
Head Cook
 Takes charge of all food production for regular diets
Assistant Cook
 Assists the head cook but concentrates on the therapeutic diets
Foodservice Positions in Large-Scale Restaurants

Figure 4 Organizational Chart of a Large-Sclae Restaurant Serving 1,000 Meals Daily

The organizational chart presented in Figure 3
differentiates between staff and line function. Solid lines
indicates supervisor-subordinate relationship while the
broken line shoes staff relationships. As seen in the chart, the Steward
controller does not report to the F&B Manager, so, broken  Takes charge of cleaning dinner and silver wares, pots
line is used. This is done in order to conform to the check and and pans, and maintain kitchen sanitation
balance principle. The principle states that an organizational
Foodservice Worker
unit whose task is to check or evaluate the activities of
another unit cannot be placed under the supervision of the  Performs line function
unit to be evaluated. Also following the principle of internal Floor Manager
control, a transaction should not be under control of one unit
from beginning to the end, the receiving clerk reports to the  Executes high quality services in the dining room
controller and not to the purchaser of supplies. including table setting, clearing of tables, handling of
dinner and silver wares
Job Titles and Position Descriptions  Takes care of reservations
Food and Beverage (F&B) Manager  Works with the food production supervisor to
determine menu acceptability
 Plans, organizes, directs and controls the activities of
the F&B department Captain Waiter
Assistant F&B Manager  Assists the floor manager in executing high quality
service in the dining room
 Assists the F&B manager with the overall operation
and coordination of the department  Briefs waiters before each service period on any
special request by customer
 Performs the duties of the F&B manager in his
absence Waiter
Supply Officer  Waits on guests and performs line function in the
dining room
 Takes charge of the procurement of food and other
supplies needed in the operation Busboy
Food Production Supervisor  Collects used dinner and silver wares, trays and other
table wares and transports them to the dishwashing
 Plans and writes menus
area
 Maintains standards and qualities of all food prepared
 Assists waiters as needed
in the kitchen
Cost Controller
Cook
 Provides and maintains all control systems for food
 Prepares and cooks food in the unit assigned
and beverages
Butcher
Receiving Clerk
 Butchers meat, poultry and fish
 Occasionally breads meat and fish items and assists in
the preparation of cold appetizers
  Receives food and non-food items delivered based on  Safeguards the goods in the storeroom
purchase orders that conform to specification and  Prepares and issues goods based on approved
standards of the operation requisition
Storeroom Clerk

Foodservice Positions in Schools

Job Titles and Positon Descriptions

Manager Food Supervisor
 Exercises overall responsibility for planning and  Takes charge of the unit assigned to her
administration  Requests supplies needed
 Establishes policies and standards for university  Supervises preparation and service of meals and
foodservice snacks
Assistant Manager  Maintains high standard of sanitation
 Provides leadership and promotes satisfactory
 Assists the manager in the administration of the employer-employee relationship
foodservice, including all phases of food procurement,
production, distribution, service and maintenance of Finance Officer
sanitation in all foodservice units  Takes charge of the financial aspect such as
 Trains employees management of sales from foods
Administrative Dietician  Disburses checks/ cash for payment to dealers
 Prepares regular statement of current account and
 Plans menus for breakfast, lunch, supper and snacks other monthly reports
 Maintains established food standards
 Assists the manager in implementing policies affecting Head Cook
personnel  Cooks all food in the unit assigned
Student Help
 Preforms line function and other phases of the
operation except for food preparation

Figure 5 Organizational Chart of School Foodservice Serving 4,000 Meals Daily

 Foodservice Positions in the F&B Department of a Luxury
Hotel

Controller
 Provides and maintains all control systems for food
and beverages
Maitre’d (Dining Room Manager)
 Executes high quality service in the dining room
Figure 6 Organizational Chart of a Food and Beverage Department of a including table setting, clearing of tables and handling
Luxury Hotel of chinaware, silverware and glassware

Job Titles and Descriptions Chief Steward

Food & Beverage (F&B) Manager  Takes charge of cleaning pot, pans, and silverware and
maintains kitchen sanitation
 Reports to the general manager of the hotel for
operations of the F&B department Executive Chef

Comptroller  Plans and writes menus

 Maintains standards and qualities of all foods
 Plans and controls accounting, budgeting, and tax prepared
procedures
Banquet Sales Manager
 Generates sales from different function rooms

ESSENTIAL ATTRIBUTES OF A FOODSERVICE PERSONNEL

Professional and Hygienic Appearance
How staff look and the first impressions they create are a
reflection of the hygienic standards of the establishment and the Personality
quality of service to come.
All staff must be conscious of the following:
 Clean and uses subtle-smelling deodorants
 Good health and ability to cope with pressure and stress of
work
 Clean hands, free of nicotine stains and with clean, well-
trimmed nails
 Brushed teeth and fresh smelling breath
 Men, must be clean-shaven
 Women, must wear light make-up, only clear nail polish can
be worn
 Earrings should not be worn
 Uniforms must be clean, neatly pressed, and in good repair
 Hair must be clean and well groomed. Long hair must be
tied up or back
 Shoes must be comfortable, clean, and of plain, neat design
 Cuts and burns must be covered in waterproof dressing
 Any colds or infections must be reported immediately
 Regularly wash hands with hot water and soap
 Excessive jewellery must not be worn
Knowledge of the Food and Beverage and Technical Ability
 Must have sufficient knowledge of all the items I the menu
and wines in the drink list
 Must know how to serve each dish and beverage correctly Sales Ability
Punctuality
 Being continually late shows lack of interest in work and a
lack of respect for the management and customers
commodities and features, like bars and malls, the place
has to offer
 Must be tactful, courteous, good-humoured and of an even
temper
 Must converse in a pleasing and well-spoken manner
 Must have the ability to SMILE!
Attitude to Customer
 Of the utmost importance
 Should be able to anticipate the customer’s needs
Memory
 A good memory is an asset to service staff
Honesty
 Trust and respect to the staff, customer and management
may lead to an atmosphere that encourages efficiency and
good team spirit
Loyalty
 Obligations and Loyalty of staff are first to the
establishment in which they are employed
Conduct
 Must be impeccable at all times
 Rules and regulations must be followed and respect to
senior staffs must be shown
 They are sales people and must therefore know all foods
and drinks and be able to contribute to personal selling and
merchandising

Local Knowledge Sense of Urgency

 Must have reasonable knowledge about the area in which  Must have sense of urgency so that the establishment can
you work for you to be able to advice guests on the various generate maximum amount of business over the service
period
Complaints  Must never show displeasure during difficult situation
 NEVER argue with a customer