Reference no: EM133028043

Scenario: John Readings Pty. Ltd. Re-design Bookstore Café 

John Readings is an Australian book publisher, distributer and retail business with stores located throughout Australia and New Zealand and a large online business. At present a total of ten retail outlets located in state capitals contain Cafes. As part of the company's future development plans all retail outlets will soon have Cafes located within them. However, before this can happen, the current Café design for the ten retail outlets need to be refreshed and upgraded. The upgrade includes a fresh new menu, new furniture and layout design as well as a play area for children. You were successful in your application for the Project Manager role and have just had confirmation from Damian Black CEO that the project steering committee will include the Procurement Director, Marketing Director, the Director of Finance and the Café Operations Manager. The project is now ready to commence. An architect has been contracted to design the new look and feel and this has been approved by the steering committee. The architect and building contractor have provided costing estimates on which the project budget is being based. They have advised, in order to minimise business disruption, the order of works will be: 

Stage 1 - Two days (no business disruption) - Playground fit out and flooring - Fencing and shade sail installation - Landscaping and new outdoor furniture 

Stage 2 - Two days (café closure) - Removal of booths - Repainting of café dining area interior - Laying of floating floor over existing tiled floor café dining area only - New dining furniture and artwork.

The Procurement Director has identified preferred suppliers for furniture and fit outs including the playgrounds. Damian Black, CEO has advised the following: 

• It is assumed the marketing staff will contribute to the project, helping with the branding and other promotional items as required. The existing team is able to fully participate in training where required.
• It is assumed construction can take place simultaneously with other project deliverables.
• Constraints - budget and time are sufficient for the project, all products purchased for the café and playground will meet with the organisational quality standards and safety standards. Only approved preferred suppliers will supply equipment and furniture.
• The project is dependent on external dependencies, which involves consultation with the architect, building contractor and consultant chef.
• Building contractor was chosen based on his assurance that café shutdown times would be minimised to two days and the trade of the attached bookstore would be able to continue.
• Kitchen modifications, equipment and fit out work will not be included in the project and any requirements will need to be drawn from the operational budget for repairs/maintenance/equipment.
• You are responsible for liaising the HR and individual café managers and staff in regard to café shut down periods. Payroll has agreed to place information on payslips for individuals employed by each store notifying them of their cafe's shutdown period. During the shutdown period for each café the HR team will organise a venue for new menu training which will be facilitated by the consultant chef.

A revised budget has been developed in consultation with the Finance Manager of $200,000 for nine stores with the tenth store requiring a budget of $250,000 and an extra two-day shutdown period. The project is scheduled to commence on 10/01/2021 and be completed by 10/05/2021. You have been asked to develop the planning for human resources, implementing personnel training and development, and managing the project team. 

Q1. Based on the case study information, including the relevant human resources policies for John Readings, work on a document titled: HR Tools and Techniques and provide an outline of three human resources techniques or tools which you could apply to this project and discuss the process by which these are undertaken in the organisation. You should outline the various John Readings policies and how they are applicable to the human resources techniques.