Introduction

“At Zilta D’s, not only we keep customers satisfied with our cultural, and delicious cuisines, but we aim to a

provide a sincere customer service to all Dominicans.” (Sanjay S. R. Dominique, Co-owner of Zilta D’s, 2011 to present) Ever

since Zilta D’s founding, it aims to incorporate and constantly improve customer service because we believe that it greatly

impacts their experience about the company, and as a result, makes customers “spread the good talk,” and keeps them coming

back for another bite. “It is easy to get finances to open a restaurant, set tables and chairs, and start selling food, but how we

genuinely deliver, and provide the service sets our business apart from current competitors. (Zilta Antoine, Co-owner of Zilta

D’s, 2011 to present) Zilta D’s Mission Statement is shown as follows:

“To enhance and improve customer’s lives with genuine customer service with each meal”
 Zilta D’s history first started in 2010, officially founded by Mr. Sanjay Dominique and Miss Zilta Antoine on July

17th, 2011. Co-owner, Mr. Sanjay Dominique was a graduate student of the University of the West Indies. He graduated with

Bachelors in Business Finance, and Business Management in 2007, and had a quite deal of experience as the assistant

manager of KFC Dominica for the past three years. Eventually, he left his job to start a small restaurant, due to the fact that he

saw an opportunity in the food industry: “Give customers the full package by providing complementary customer service from

each meal.” Miss Zilta Antione was a graduate student of Le Gordone Bleu University for the Culinary Arts, located in Paris,

France. For the co-owner, finding a job as a head chef was almost impossible because of the low demand of chefs in France.

Because of this, she travelled back to Dominica where she hopes to find an opportunity to get a job as a chef. The owners

were good friends in high school, and they knew each other while growing up in the Mahaut. Therefore, they became business

partners. Since the owners had only little, or limited knowledge in setting up a restaurant, they sought assistance from a local

training agency. Eventually, they pooled their resources together and set up the restaurant under the name “Zilta D’s.”
 Organizational Structure
In this section, the organizational structure of Zilta D’s is discussed in detail . This section outline the company’s

organizational chart, which gives an overview of the company’s chain of command, and the authority and responsibilities of

restaurant staff. It also outlines the restaurant’s rules and regulations, and the specialization of the restaurant’s activities,.

Exhibit 1.1 shows the organization chart of Zilta D’s

.
 Organizational Chart
Owners

General Marketing
Accountants
Manager Executive

Chief Accounts Marketing

Head Server Head Chef
Steward Clerk Assistant

Waitress Waiters Bartenders Pastry Chef Butcher Sous Chef Stewards

Assistant Assistant Drink Breakfast

Bakers Night Chefs Pantry Chef
Waitress Waiters Runners Chefs

Assistant Pantry
Line Cooks
Bakers Workers

Dishwashers

Exhibit 1.1: The Organizational Chart of Zilta D’s Restaurant

 Zilta D’s restaurant is mainly decentralized, in which the decision making system is push down to the lowest level

in the organization. Each employer is given the authority to make decisions, and there is no sense of reporting back to

management about minor discrepancies employers are faced with on the job. Restaurant staff are competent enough to make

minor decisions within the internal operations of the company, but they are not given authority to make major critical

decisions general manager or head chef are faced with.

 Chain of Command
Organizational Culture
 Social Responsibility
The management of Zilta D’s recognizes that being socially responsible is one the essential forces which drives or uplifts the

company’s overall purpose, goals and objectives. Generally, the restaurant places a great deal of effort in maintaining the well

being, and stability of the environment, giving back to local communities, and supporting non profit organizations. We ensure

that these measures are in full effect, and restaurant staff keeps accord with the organization’s social responsibility practices.

Zilta D’s social responsibility practices includes:

 Recycling: Rotten foods, plastics, and other types of garbage are recycled by restaurant staff. They do this by separating

biodegradable, and non-biodegradable garbage into different waste containers which are kept clean by employees after each

waste is emptied out. The non-biodegradable waste is collected by recycling facilities, and the biodegradable waste is given

to agriculturist and farmers that uses it for their farming practices

 Supporting Local Farmers: The company supports local farmers by buying their freshly grown foods which includes;

ground provisions, vegetables, fruits, and seasonings. Not only purchasing their food, but the company go the extra mile to

mention the good quality of foods local farmers grow and sell on social media. Zilta D’s currently uses a Facebook page

where restaurant staff writes blogs or post comments about the company’s recipes, which uses fresh ingredients grown by

local farmers “We help local farmers market themselves. Many farmers are so busy farming, that they don’t have the time

for marketing. Zilta D’s marketing team mainly uses the flow of social media where we advertise farmers’ products by

blogging it to customers and adding pictures to show the foods they grow. As a result, provides them with more business,

and potentially more sales and better profits.” (Marcus Shillingford, Marketing Executive, 2015)

 Hosting Special Events: The company develops good relationships with the local community by hosting special events or

activities as much as possible. Zilta D’s has karaoke competitions for one hour every Thursday night with the winner

getting their meals paid for. The restaurant also provides cooking class for people that love to cook, and a happy hour for

singles to mingle.
 Charities: The restaurant has two charities; The Give A Hand foundation, located in Pottersville, Goodwill,

and Zilta D’s Food Kitchen, located in Picard, Portsmouth, where the restaurant is located. Every month, the

Give A Hand foundation raise funds, and the money earned is donated to the Red Cross. Because of the

passage of Hurricane Maria, Zilta D’s Food Kitchen provides food to homeless persons in shelters.

 Ethical Labor Practices: Zilta D’s incorporates ethical labor practices by complying with the rules and

regulation in treating or handling employees fairly and discreetly. For example, Zilta D’s tries to incorporate

or employ persons with disabilities wherever possible, and management should not hinder them from the

workplace in accordance with the Disability Discrimination Act, 2005.

 Motivational Aspects
The motivation of new and current employees is kept at the highest priority at Zilta D’s. It is important to maintain the

motivational levels of workers because management believes that our employees are the major link between customers. Since

our employees interact with the customers everyday, it is essential that customers are given a great impression about the

restaurant, and the goods and services it provides. And this is achieved through motivating employees. This section outlines

the major key motivational tools which are currently being used to maintain and develop the motivational drives of employees

within the organization. These motivation tools include:

 Training

 Team Building

 Longevity Bonuses
 Meals and Beverages

 Break Areas

 Daily Competitions

 Acknowledgement

 Training: Management gives staff training in order to give or remind them of their job responsibilities and identifies major

key attributes employees may be lacking when on the job. Without the use of training method, workers are highly likely to

become less motivated to complete the necessary task or job. Management employs Customer Service specialist to train new

and current staff, specifically waiters and waitresses, who interacts with customers within working hours. Therefore, using

the training method motivates and gears staff up to do their jobs.

 Team Building: Team building fosters teamwork and helps motivate restaurant staff. The management of Zilta D’s organize

group outings, clubs and other social events which enables staff to work together and build relationships with colleagues, and

because of this, restaurant staff builds strong teamwork skills.

 Longevity Bonuses: Zilta D’s offers cash incentives, and non- monetary bonuses to employees who stay up between six (6) to

twelve (12) months. The company believes that paying staff the same salary tends to decrease their motivation and gives them

a feeling of unimportance and depression since they are constricted by the economical environment in the country. Using these

longevity bonuses helps motivate staff, and reduces the company’s turnover rate. In the end of the year of April 2016, the

general manager reports that the company’s turnover rate of 10.23%, which was the highest it has ever been. Nevertheless,

with the increased use of different motivational tools (mainly cash incentives), the company’s turnover rate decreased by

1.77% in 2017.

 Meals and Beverages: Zilta D’s provides free breakfast, lunch and sometimes dinner to low level staff every Tuesdays and

Fridays. The company believes that hungry employees are unable to work at their highest capabilities. The company

understands that sometimes employees tend to feel agitated. So by offering meals, or a cup of coffee every once
in a while uplifts employees’ mood, and helps motivates them during shifts. After the passage of Hurricane Maria, the management of Zilta

D’s has extended the meal times from the regular period, to every Tuesdays, Wednesdays and Fridays. We ensure that employees are given

the right meals so that their minds…and stomachs work well in order for them to get their jobs done.

 Break Areas: The company places importance on break areas. (or employee lounges) Zilta D’s places some games and places for

employees to unwind and relax. Occasionally, our employees may have some bad days when they are on the job. Management believes

that if staff are given some time to relax, they are more likely to stay motivated when it comes to doing their job.

 Daily Competitions: Zilta D’s creates daily competitions which boost company morale, builds teamwork among staff, and motivates

the employees. Restaurant staff always looks forward to the company’s annual Christmas Party, where employees play games like

Christmas Movie Trivia and Christmas Bingo. Employees compete against each other, or with other employees, and the winners would

receive cash prizes, and $100.00 coupons to any meal the restaurant offers.

 Acknowledgement: The company uses a bulletin board showing Zilta D’s “Employee of the Month” which acknowledges the

accomplishment of a restaurant employees. This tool motivates staff to work hard so that they can be the next employee of the month.
 Leadership
The management of Zilta D’s implements two leadership styles:

 Consultative Leadership

 Laissez–Faire Leadership

 . Consultative Leadership: This leadership style is a combination of Autocratic and Democratic leadership. The

manger handles large scale decisions within the company’s environment, and subordinates handle small scale decisions in

the organization. At Zilta D’s, the general manager is responsible for handling major critical decisions such as; approving

the company’s financial reports, the recruiting, laying off, and firing of employees, approving restaurant menus, and

negotiating contracts with union representatives. On the other hand, the first-line managers (head server, head chef, and

chief steward) of Zilta D’s are responsible for planning the restaurant menus, creating recipes, purchasing foods from

suppliers, preparing food to customers, and supervising operatives or employees.

It is also important that these decisions made by low level managers are approved by the restaurant’s

general manager.

 Laissez-Faire Leadership: Laissez-Faire is the most dominant leadership style at Zilta D’s. With this

leadership style, employers delegates some authority and responsibilities to some subordinates because they

know how to control certain things, and they perform specialized task in the organization without the need to

report back to supervisors. However, their level of authority is constricted or limited according to their jobs,

roles and responsibilities. In other words, they are not obligated to make major critical decisions within the

company’s internal environment. Nevertheless, staff are not obligated to report any misdemeanors or

discrepancies to supervisors, and based on their level of authority, management believes that staff can deal

with the problems themselves, and they are responsible of getting the job done with the help of operatives or

subordinates.