Human Resource Management

Term Report

Food & Beverages Industry

Presented To: Presented By:

Ma’am Bilquees Ghani - Savera Khalid (20191-25776)
- Rajwanti Khemani (20191-26405)
- Aiman Shoaib (20191-26662)
- Fasih Ahmed (20191-26372)
- Aashir Jamal (20191-26470)
 TABLE OF CONTENT
EXECUTIVE SUMMARY__________________________________________________________________________________________________3
INTRODUCTION:_________________________________________________________________________________________________________4
PROBLEMS IDENTIFIED BY THE MEMBERS:________________________________________________________________________4
PROBLEM: “MENTAL HEALTH OF EMPLOYEES”_____________________________________________________________________________4
Solutions:____________________________________________________________________________________________________________5
 Support Employees Emotionally:______________________________________________________________________________________5
It is very important for the mangers to stay aware of the impact of covid-19 on their employees due to any reason
like illness, loss of temporary employment or reduced working hours, etc. because employees are facing anxiety,
stress, isolation and. Therefore, organizations should consider these factors and how this emotional instability
effects the ability, health and productivity of employees.__________________________________________________________________5
 Keep Employees From Burning Out:__________________________________________________________________________________5
 Record All Time Work:_________________________________________________________________________________________________5
 Provide Technology Tools To Employees Working Remotely:______________________________________________________5
 Communication:_________________________________________________________________________________________________________5
Recommendation:___________________________________________________________________________________________________5
PROBLEM STATEMENT: “HEALTH & SAFETY PROTOCOLS”__________________________________________________________________6
Solution:_____________________________________________________________________________________________________________6
 All Workers Getting Vaccinated:_______________________________________________________________________________________6
 Risk Management & Safety -___________________________________________________________________________________________6
 Social Distancing Policies:______________________________________________________________________________________________7
 Hygiene :_________________________________________________________________________________________________________________7
 Training & Communication:____________________________________________________________________________________________7
 Make Them Feel Secure About Their Job:_____________________________________________________________________________7
Conclusion:__________________________________________________________________________________________________________8
PROBLEM: “SHORTFALL OF EMPLOYEES”__________________________________________________________________________________8
Analysis:_____________________________________________________________________________________________________________8
Solution:_____________________________________________________________________________________________________________8
 Training & Development Sessions:____________________________________________________________________________________8
 Rewarding Employees:_________________________________________________________________________________________________9
Recommendations:__________________________________________________________________________________________________9
PROBLEM STATEMENT: “EMPLOYEE RETENTION”________________________________________________________________________10
Gaps Identified:____________________________________________________________________________________________________10
Proposed Solutions:________________________________________________________________________________________________10
Practical Implications & Results:_________________________________________________________________________________10
 Starbucks:______________________________________________________________________________________________________________11
 Mars, Inc.:_______________________________________________________________________________________________________________11
 General Mills:__________________________________________________________________________________________________________11
Recommendations:________________________________________________________________________________________________11
Conclusion:_________________________________________________________________________________________________________11
PROBLEM: “THE AGILE WORKFORCE”____________________________________________________________________________________12
Lack of Agility:_____________________________________________________________________________________________________12
Solutions:___________________________________________________________________________________________________________12
 Culture & Adaptation:_________________________________________________________________________________________________13
 Virtual Work Environment:___________________________________________________________________________________________13
 Work-Time Re-Adjustment:__________________________________________________________________________________________13
 Making Remote Working Permanent:_______________________________________________________________________________13

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  Additional Human Resources (HR) Aspects Have To Change:_____________________________________________________13
Recommendation:_________________________________________________________________________________________________13
Conclusion:_________________________________________________________________________________________________________13
REFERENCES:___________________________________________________________________________________________________________14

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EXECUTIVE SUMMARY
The report focuses on the HR problems in the food & beverage industry. This report provides
deep analysis, solution and recommendation to the five different problems faced by HR
problems. The five identified problems are,
 Mental Health Of Employees,
 Health & Safety Protocols,
 Shortfall Of Employees,
 Employee Retention,
 The Agile Workforce,
Every problem is individual addressed by each member of the group. The method used to
identify problems and propose solution is reading research articles. All references can be found
in appendix at end of the report.

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Introduction:
The food and beverage industry is one of the largest and diversified industries. It is the
oldest sector that covers food manufacturing, processing, cooking, shipping, packing,
delivering catering business, and cafes, etc. The production of food and its distribution
is an essential component for the human beings, however, he Covid-19 pandemic has
had a major effect on this sector of industry.

Problems Identified By The Members:

1- By Aiman Shoaib (20191-26662)

Problem: “Mental Health Of Employees”

The production of food and its distribution is an essential component for the well-being
of humans, however, this sector of industry has faced numerous challenges and
difficulties in maintaining employees’ mental health their productivity during Covid-19
period.
Mental health basically includes our social, emotional and psychological well-being. an
individual’s mental health affects how he feels, think and act in his life. It also helps in
handling stress and in making healthy choices. Therefore, the mental health of workers
in a company is very important as it impacts the thinking, workflow, relationships and
decision making at work.
As the pandemic has decreased the chances of continued employment of previously
hired employees in both food and beverage industry therefore, it has devastated the
mental health of employees. It was found through a study that employees under the age
of 40 in food industry have experienced 23 percent increase in their sleep disorder and
45 percent decrease in their motivation.
Covid-19 pandemic has not only physically harmed people but it had also affected the
mental health. It has been very hard for keeping the morale up amongst workers and
make them connected and engaged mentally while they work from home, dealing with
the stress of this disease, the reduction in pay, dealing with technology when required
and parenting their children as well because it is hard to balance the work and private
life when you are expected to work virtually.

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Solutions:

 Support Employees Emotionally:

It is very important for the mangers to stay aware of the impact of covid-19 on
their employees due to any reason like illness, loss of temporary employment or
reduced working hours, etc. because employees are facing anxiety, stress,
isolation and. Therefore, organizations should consider these factors and how
this emotional instability effects the ability, health and productivity of employees.

 Keep Employees From Burning Out:

Mangers should ensure employees are being safe. Employers could encourage
workers, offer them vacation or some time off and flexible working hours.
Mangers should appreciate and motivate their employees intrinsically and
extrinsically and acknowledge the hard work of employees. In addition, managers
should communicate with the employees consistently to get them engaged and
provide feedback daily/ weekly basis.

 Record All Time Work:

Organization need to make sure that they build a system to record the all-time
work of an employee. the additional work done by the employees should also be
paid. For example, if an employee works extra 6 hours, he must be paid for those
6 hours.

 Provide Technology Tools To Employees Working Remotely:

Employees should be provided with necessary technology tools for working

remotely and train them the usage of these tools so that they can better focus on
their work which will ultimately increase their productivity.

 Communication:

Ongoing communication should take place like video calls and meeting between
the managers and the employees for giving feedbacks, addressing
responsibilities and resolving problems.

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Recommendation:
The covid-19 pandemic has adversely affected the people not only physically but
psychologically also. Therefore, companies should be mindful of the effect on workers,
consider their situation and the overall workload and provide them with better ways to
improve their productivity.

2- By Fasih Ahmed (20191-26372)

Problem Statement: “Health & Safety Protocols”

Since COVID-19 is basically a wellbeing crisis, HR administrators and associations
ought to accept responsibility for keeping their workforce safe and ensuring people
aren't placed at risk for infection. Physical separating has been vital in attempts to deal
with the spread of the contamination all through the globe and should now be a
requirement for HR managers. However, that presents inconveniences for associations
like the food and beverage industry, whose standard technique for working incorporates
people being immovably gathered on production and handling lines.

Solution:
The Covid-19 pandemic has caused a gigantic interruption among associations and has
made the HR administrators reexamine about their jobs as they attempt to change in
accordance with this new adjusted workplace which they may have never considered.
In any case, that presents challenges for organizations like food and beverage industry,
whose customary method of working includes individuals being firmly assembled on
creation and handling lines. Associations will likewise be depending on one another to
share best practices and examine any triumphs or mishaps they've encountered in
returning to work in the midst of the progressing pandemic.
To prevail with regards to accomplishing this desire of emerging from the current
circumstance in a preferred situation over previously, organizations should be prepared
to negotiate some exceptional HR challenges.

 All Workers Getting Vaccinated:

The first and foremost thing organizations can do is to get their vaccinated, the
mere that they are working for the organization in such difficult times putting
themselves and their families at risk speaks volumes. Therefore this is one
compensation organizations could provide to their workers.

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  Risk Management & Safety -
There's no uncertainty that restaurants should be more set up than most
organizations with regards to security gives that can conceivably hurt their staff
and customers. From kitchen wounds, for example, burns and slices to
sterilization issues, food-borne sicknesses from the botch of food, slips, and falls,
there are various things that can turn out badly. Security programs are vital to
prevent work environment disasters and sicknesses which will lessen costs and
ensure everybody in the work environment, including the customers.

 Social Distancing Policies:

Initially, set clear strategies for social distancing in the working environment:
keeping up distance between representatives, staying away from worker' get-
togethers in like manner spaces (doors, ways out, stairs, and inside trailer
workplaces) and in-person gatherings or in a shut room. Express social
distancing strategy at the passageway zone and lifts. Finally, introduce plexiglass
sheets when social distancing can't be 100% practiced.

 Hygiene :
Set up every day sanitization techniques and spot hand washing stations at the
passage of the structure and request that employees wash their hands upon their
section. Help laborers to remember legitimate hand washing procedures when
shifts, during breaks, in the wake of going to the washroom, and so on.
Additionally, increment hand washing stations with appropriate hand cleanliness
updates. Clean and sanitize all regular regions toward the finish of each shift.
Give legitimate hardware to advance cleanliness and forbid sharing of
instruments to limit the spread of the infection. Clean and sanitize all instruments
and apparatus, and increment cleaning toward the day's end and in conclusion,
clean consoles, mouse and telephones by the day's end with hostile to bacterial
sanitizers, and leave the work areas unfilled.

 Training & Communication:

Provide trainings on new work conventions and measures. Raise labor force
mindfulness consistently on how representatives can stop the spread of the
COVID-19. Promote compulsory wellbeing and cleanliness conventions (e.g.,
hand washing, veil use, glove use) for workers, and give guidance on appropriate
use and removal of these materials, Post useful signage as updates and rules
(Social distancing is obligatory, consistently wear a mask and so on). Set up a
HR support line for tending to questions and worries from representatives.
Fabricate an inward duty framework where everybody is to do their part. Build up
your organization's obligation to wellbeing and safety.

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  Make Them Feel Secure About Their Job:
Although this problem may seem very petite but matter of fact is that all of the
employees around the world have seen the downsizing in various organizations
in front of them therefore everyone has this element of fear that they could get
fired anytime. Therefore HR managers could try and keep one to one or group
sessions with these workers and make them feel welcomed and appreciated in
the organization as being mentally relaxed also plays a vital role in the
performance of employees.

Conclusion:
With the above proposed solutions, HR managers can look to try and overcome the
issues and have a productive and efficient workforce. Proper guidelines should be
provided to the workers to let them understand their new role and it should be ensured
that the employees could easily adjust to the new normal. Since it is evident that an
organizations’ employee wellbeing & safety is of utmost priority therefore they should
make efforts to make things as easy as they can for their workers so that there is a
healthy atmosphere created among the organization.

3- By Rajwanti Khemani (20191-26405)

Problem: “Shortfall Of Employees”

The challenged face by the industry is the shortfall of the employees of being the long-term
member of companies. The research article shows that employees in industry are not lasting
long from past few years. The problem because employee is less trained and demotivated. The
factors that are contributing in the shortage are low wages, wage inequity, lack of leadership
and high turnover rate.

Analysis:
The employees are given low wages because of lack of the expertise but the key attractions
towards any career are the compensation an employee receive these are the factors which
motivate employees to work specially in beverage industry. In this industry there is wages
inequity like studies shows that some liquor server employees gets below than minimum wages.
Beverage industry sees highest stuff turnover because most restaurant businesses closed
within a year this reduces competitive wages in growing labour market and decline the no of
young employee who make the actual labour force. As this was due to lack of leadership as
most HR was minimum who literally page attention to these factors. Considering these issues,
we may conclude that workers need preparation and motivation. As a result, the issues can be
addressed by implementing training sessions and rewarding workers.

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Solution:
Considering these issues, the HR may conclude that workers need training and motivation. As a
result, the issues can be addressed by implementing training sessions and rewarding workers.

 Training & Development Sessions:

Internal programs must be built in order to attract and retain employees by offering
attractive job opportunities. Recruiting for entry-level jobs becomes easier when
candidates can see that there are real opportunities for advancement. The concept of
cross-training and cross-utilization are not new, although they can be reconsidered as
motivation and satisfaction tools for employees. Workers who have been trained and are
able to perform other duties will obtain wage increases. These multi-skilled employees
are somewhat more profitable because they can fill in and when required during peak
times. Employees can benefit since their talents have improved, they are far more
productive, and they have more employment opportunities.

 Rewarding Employees:
The rewarding system should be included by HR. Because employees are demotivated
by the wages they receive therefore, there should be a proper rewarding system in the
companies. The industry must reorganize work processes in order to boost productivity
while also rewarding and compensating employees for their accomplishments. Raising
salaries and providing better benefits would help employers recruit and retain workers. In
the food and beverage industry, there is a trend to redistribute gratuities among workers
in order to raise salaries and use the gratuity pool to pay for health benefits. Business
strategies may be built with higher Labour costs and group benefits to provide a living
wage and to draw talent away from rivals.

Recommendations:
Along with training and development sessions and rewarding employees, I would recommend
that HR departments of the companies should conduct attitude surveys so that can know what is
the actual issue the employees are facing and can provide solution to the problems

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 4- By Aashir Jamal (20191-26470)

Problem Statement: “Employee Retention”

Employee retention is among the major concerns for HR. A study suggests that an
average employee tenure is about 4 to 4.5 years at a particular job in the food &
beverage industry. Furthermore, food & beverage industry is believed to have the
highest turnover rate in all employment sectors. Therefore, to create a long term
relationship with the employees is a serious challenge for the HR as greater attrition
rate can cost the organization, monetarily & non-monetarily.

Gaps Identified:
Few of the prominent factors for such low retention rate that were observed are listed as
follows,
- The recruitment & selection practices are informal. The candidates are mostly
judged on the basis of informal chat sessions & no in-depth screening &
background checks are performed.
- Furthermore, the industry is mostly comprised of authoritarian leaders. Therefore,
the concern for employees is at bare minimum. Ultimately, resulting in a lower job
satisfaction.
- Moreover, the reward system is mostly based on monetary rewards. In addition
to this, the organizations do not focus on training & development of employees.
No training programs are developed to fulfill the intrinsic emotional needs of
employees.

Proposed Solutions:
To overcome the continuously increasing turnover rate, the organizations should,
- Initially, perform a background check on the candidates to comprehend the
candidate’s employment trend. It can give an insight of whether the employee is
willing to work with the organization for a longer period or is there a greater
probability that he will switch after a few years.

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 - Furthermore, a culture that encourages the idea of “Freedom, Quality,
Responsibility & Mutuality” should be promoted to strengthen the bond among
the employees.
- The organization should provide room for advancement to the current employees
as it results in increased job loyalty among the employees and will also fulfill the
intrinsic need to some extent.

Practical Implications & Results:

Organizations such as Starbucks, Mars,Inc. , General Mills are the ones that managed
to reduce their attrition rate & created a durable & enduring relationship with the
employees.

 Starbucks:
The company initially had a higher turnover rate of around 65% for full-time
employees. However, the company started to focus on long-term retention &
offered health benefits, paid time off & most importantly the opportunity to
purchase stock at a discount.

 Mars, Inc.:
The company offers various benefits to its employees from day one such as
healthcare, paid time off & sick leaves for full & part time employees.
Furthermore, the organization’s culture, encourages employee participation &
freedom, that helps in boosting the employees job satisfaction.

 General Mills:
General Mills has been able to retain more than 3500 employees for twenty or
more years. The organization prioritizes internal employees for managerial roles
& heavily relies on internal hiring, creating greater job loyalty & satisfaction
among the employees as they perceive that there are various opportunities for
growth within the company. Some other benefits offered to the employees
include compressed work week & tuition reimbursement.

Recommendations:
After going through the articles, I believe that by promoting a culture that promotes
“Freedom, Quality, Responsibility & Mutuality”, an organization can greatly reduce the
turnover rate. As by promoting such culture, the employees will perceive that the
organization values their skills & expertise, strengthening the employees loyalty towards
the organization.

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Conclusion:
The study highlights the factors contributing towards a higher turnover rate in the food &
beverage industry. After studying the factors, few solutions are proposed with a few
examples of companies belonging to the industry of how they were able to create a
sense of loyalty among the employees & how the proposed solutions helped the
organizations in overcoming the challenge of increasing attrition rate.

5- By Savera Khalid (20191-25776)

Problem: “The Agile Workforce”

Lack of Agility:
Before the Pandemic most of the organizations were not flexible in terms of adaptation and
creativity. Businesses were running smoothly without an agile workforce too. The question
which first arises here is what is agile workforce and why do we lack in agility in the food and
beverages industry? Well, the answer is simple, Agile work force can be defined as the ability of
an organization to be responsive and flexible throughout a challenging time. Now speaking of
why most of the companies lacked agility in the beverages and food industry was that they were
not trained properly by the HR department for challenging situations like COVID. In-fact this is
one of the major reasons why the HR department was struggling in the very start of the
pandemic.
The lack of agility in the HR teams as well as other department was one of the most common
problems identified in the very start of COVID-19. In this crisis, businesses are expected to think
critically and respond with immediate Solutions. Moreover, they are expected to work both
virtually as well as handle technology when required. But due to the lack of proper training the
work force lacked agility and thus lead to immediate loss in the business of the beverages and
food industry. Lack of Agile Workforce slows down the overall business functions and faces
heavy losses as the company is unable to fix the immediate problems which the pandemic has
caused.

Solutions:
The pandemic has highlighted the lack of proper training of the employees to work remotely and
thus it became the demand of time to have a responsive workforce which can operate inclusive
of management. Now, after the COVID-19 it is certain that the food and beverages industry
require more flexible employees who can work in the most uncertain, complex and rigid
situations. With the help of an agile workforce all of this can be done.

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An agile workforce not only reinforces stable team dynamics but they also who know their
responsibilities well. They form a team which is fully coordinated and communicates efficiently in
harsh times like COVID. Moreover, they welcome failure as they consider it a pathway to
success. This Pandemic demands the companies to be agile in approach. It requires the
formation of a flexible workforce which can act as a central command center composing of HR,
IT, Management, Sales taskforce.
A prominent factor of agile workforce is remote working, and this can be encourages through
training sessions on zoom and other platforms. In order to ensure an agile workforce is created
we need to follow the following solutions:

 Culture & Adaptation:

It is very important to train employees well and facilitate them with proper tools and
coaching. It is also suggested to develop the most flexible policies for the remote
working staff.

 Virtual Work Environment:

If the company creates any communication tools or apps it should ensure that the
employees don’t face any difficulty in operating that platform. Moreover, the employees
should be granted access to data.

 Work-Time Re-Adjustment:
The working time schedule should be adjusted, shifts should be introduced and other
work related problems should be resolved.

 Making Remote Working Permanent:

Employees who can work outside the premises f the organization should be encouraged
and contracted to work remotely. However, it should be kept in mind that it enhances the
productivity of the tasks they are assigned instead of making them lazy.

 Additional Human Resources (HR) Aspects Have To Change:

This refers to the absence policy. Companies such as Starbucks, Walmart and
McDonald’s have revised their sick leave policies for the quarantined employees. It has
been statically calculated that 55% of the employees working in restaurants are not
given such paid sick leaves unfortunately.

Recommendation:
The current crisis serves as a stark reminder that companies are continually confronted with
changes that threaten their bottom line. Being agile, scalable, and resilient will help you solve
these challenges when they arise, with the least amount of disruption to your company.

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Conclusion:
The overall analysis on the effects of COVID-19 highlights the problems that the food and
beverages industry faced. With the proposed solutions and recommendations we believe that
we could have overcome this crisis and earned better revenue. Understanding the lacking
points at the HR end we now can evaluate how crucial it is to have a better backup plan and
proper training of employees so that the loss we faced today never repeats again.

References:

- Mental Health Of Employees:

https://www.iza.org/publications/dp/13334/covid-19-employment-status-
impacts-on-food-sector-workers
https://www2.deloitte.com/global/en/pages/about-deloitte/articles/covid-19/
covid-19--impact-on-food---beverage-consumer-products-companies.html

- Shortage Of Employees:
https://www.researchgate.net/publication/
318257181_Human_capital_challenges_in_the_food_and_beverage_service_industry_of
_Canada_Finding_innovative_solutions
https://www.managementstudyguide.com/training-and-development-articles.htm
https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S1877042811015576

- Employee Retention:
https://www.ijcotjournal.org/volume-13/number-1/IJCOT-V13P301.pdf
https://www.forcebrands.com/blog/2018/10/03/global-food-beverage-
companies-employee-retention/

- The Agile Workforce:

https://www.mdpi.com/2071-1050/12/22/9331/pdf
https://www.hcmworks.com/blog/benefits-of-an-agile-workforce#:~:text=What%20is
%20an%20agile%20workforce,constantly%20engaged%20with%20your%20company
https://resources.workable.com/stories-and-insights/business-agility-during-the-covid-19-
crisis

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