Training Day

With more food being prepared under the customer's watchful eye and the costs associated with hiring new staff on the rise, many foodservice operators are looking to training programs to help them get ahead of their competition.

By Amelia Levin, Sr. Associate Editor -- Foodservice Equipment and Supplies, 2/1/2008

Time is money these days. Or perhaps it always has been. When it comes to employee training, that same motto applies. People just don't have the time, and many companies don't want to pay for hours upon hours of classroom training. Plus, research shows people learn in different ways, and that many learn better through hands-on lessons. As a result, the methods that foodservice companies use to train their staff continue to change greatly.

"When you look at training, usually one delivery method may not hit everybody," says Terrance Donahue, vice president of instructor quality for the National Restaurant Association Educational Foundation (NRAEF) ServSafe program.

Online Learning
"I think that foodservice companies in the hotel, healthcare and other non-commercial sectors are using practices of training that are more focused and quick," says Georgie Shockey, principal of Ruck-Shockey Associates, who works predominantly in the healthcare arena. "Many people absorb things in five minutes, rather than in an hour. Instead of sitting in a classroom for an hour, many companies are doing five- to eight-minute meetings on the line in the kitchen to resolve problems and teach new skills. In five minutes, you've got everyone's attention, and it's usually a quick correction to the problem."

"Peer training really allows us to utilize an individual to share with new employees their personal experiences and knowledge about the job, better than a textbook could do." David Miles Senior Director of Training and Development, Sodexho

Online training is another avenue companies continue to explore to teach new employees, especially the younger Gen Xs and Gen Ys who are more computer-literate and comfortable with web-based applications. This form of training also saves hours - and dollars - worth of classroom instruction.

"People are busy," says David Miles, senior director of training and development for Sodexho. "They don't have time to sit in a classroom. They can learn what they need to at home, or they can listen to a book driving back and forth from work, or they can learn on the job."

The NRAEF still uses classroom instruction for its ServSafe program, but it has been moving toward the use of more computer- and web-based applications to teach and certify employees and managers in safe food handling.

"We use a blended-learning approach," says LeAnn Chuboff, director of science and regulatory relations for the NRAEF. "If people would rather be taught by an instructor and take a print exam, we provide that. Or if English is a second language for someone, they can go online and toggle back from English and Spanish to learn what they need."

In addition to computer-based programs and classroom instruction, ServSafe learners can visit the web site, www.servsafe.com, to find exercises and exams to prepare for certification. "We use a lot of visuals and graphics in the form of illustrations, symbols and pictures, not just words, to convey messages," Chuboff says. "We're trying to provide learners with as many tools as possible."

On-the-Job Learning
Sodexho emphasizes on-the-job training rather than classroom training for employee instruction and development. "We call our program, 'Sodexho University,' which offers skills development for front-line and management employees," Miles says. In fact, the "university" was officially chartered in 2001, although it had been around since the late '80s. As part of the program, every employee gets assigned a basic skills checklist, and a veteran peer who will serve as the employee's "mentor" for two weeks-worth of learning. Managers identify leaders in the group to become peer trainers at specific B&I sites that have been designated as training locations.

At the end of the two-week training period, the employee will then sit down with the manager to review the basic skills checklist and make sure all the bases are covered. Beyond that, the official Sodexho University training program continues for 30 to 90 days with monthly training sessions after that. Managers take about 18 months to complete the program.

"Peer training really allows us to utilize an individual to share with new employees their personal experiences and knowledge about the job, better than a textbook could do," Miles says. Peer training also helps overcome the challenge of keeping up with changes to training styles and content faster than printing new books or materials, Miles says.

And, very, very importantly, Miles says, this form of training proves most successful in B&I settings where, these days, more cooking takes place in front of the customer, rather than behind a closed wall in a removed kitchen. B&I cooks need to have more than just cooking skills - they need to have people skills as well. "Our customers now are so much more knowledgeable than in years past," Miles says. "They may come in and talk about sustainable this or vegan or organic that, and know the differences between those terms. Our staff really have to be as informed as the customer, if not more informed.

"Five or six years ago, new cooks were handed a stack of recipes and expected to execute the dishes. Now, in many cases, they have to be much more food-savvy, and pick up on subtle nuances. Customers often ask to speak to the cook, and ask them what's in a dish and how it's prepared. We've really integrated the back of the house with the front of the house. As we blur those lines between front and back, we're also blurring the lines on how information is presented to new employees."

To supplement the peer training Sodexho University also uses online tools accessed on its corporate intranet, which include video presentations and an online library where employees can check out a book, have it delivered to their home, and return it using a pre-paid package that accompanies the delivery.

Continuous learning and development is one thing, but tracking progress proves just as important in the succession-planning equation, according to Miles. Managers have access to their employees' activity online, and all performance reviews are conducted online. Staff can log in and create a development plan, managers can access that plan, and then make suggestions. Staff can then track their development progress after that.

"We use a lot of visuals and graphics in the form of illustrations, symbols and pictures, not just words, to convey messages." LeAnn Chuboff Director of Science and Regulatory Relations, NRAEF

"I think it's important to have these training methods because our clients really look to us to be the solution, so we have to be very well-rounded and our employees have to think out of the box," Miles says. "I think it's also important for retaining staff." If one believes that they can develop themselves and move up within an organization, they'll stick around.

Part-Time Employees The healthcare segment experiences similar, but also some wildly different challenges when it comes to training employees and retaining staff. At Massachusetts General Hospital, a large part of the staff works part-time, mainly comprised of high school students whose job it is to deliver trays to patients, according to Susan Barraclough, director of foodservice for the hospital. Tardiness, due to the nature of the part-time work and high school-related activities that come up, has contributed to problems retaining staff.

"For many of our staff, this is their first job," Barraclough says. "We are trying to reach out to the community and create a space for young people that teaches them what they need to know in life to hold a job. For many people we are the entrance to the workforce, and we have a responsibility to teach them those skills."

In other cases, some of the young people who work at the hospital come from rough neighborhoods in Boston. "We have gone back to the drawing board in terms of recruiting and retaining staff. We are talking about ways in which we can be more flexible in terms of hours or responsibilities. We have also started to recruit more senior citizens as opposed to students who have obligations with school."

At the same time, Barraclough says, her management team has strove to better communicate to its young workers that they support them, and make them feel empowered in their jobs. "We want work to be a place in which they feel good about being there, and that it's a safe place to be."

The responsibilities of such staff members extend far beyond simply delivering trays to patients, she says. "Between 4:30 p.m. and 8:30 p.m., staff come in, check to see if there are new admissions or changes, visit those patients and get their menus and diet orders, rethermalize their food and serve the patients, taking care of any of their needs."

As a result, Barraclough says, ensuring the competency of the staff proves important. "Our goal is to have a total competency-based training program so we have a way to determine if our employees demonstrate that they have the skills to do the job."

At the moment, Mass General's training program lasts for 90 days with two days of orientation, and involves peer-to-peer, on-site learning as well as online technology. Using an online tool, managers have access to the progress of employees from day one to 90. But Mass General's training program remains in a constant state of improvement, Barraclough says.

For example, her management team has been working to develop a customer service training module, which identifies what customer service principles staff need to have, whether they work in retail, catering, or patient care. Barraclough says the hospital plans to introduce visual presentations, role playing, or perhaps interactive case studies from which staff can learn.

The hospital is also working on standardizing and systemizing the training process in order to better recruit staff, Barraclough says. Training staff thoroughly and efficiently to perform their jobs is one thing, but what about the trainers who train them? Where do they receive their training?

"We've begun rolling out new requirements for our instructor base, and making it more rigorous to be an instructor." Terrance Donahue Vice President of Instructor Quality, NRAEF's ServSafe Program

Train the Trainer
That's where Donahue of the NRAEF enters the equation. Donahue, a nine-year veteran and former vice president of a training company, was recruited for the ServSafe program a little more than a year ago to spearhead an initiative to better train the ServSafe instructors. Many of the instructors don't necessarily have a formal teaching background, or they only teach one class a year, so part of training them to train others includes learning how to teach, not just what to teach.

"We've begun rolling out new requirements for our instructor base, and making it more rigorous to be an instructor," Donahue says. "We've also rolled out a series of two-minute training modules, available in the instructor resource center on the ServSafe web site, that offers various techniques on teaching, like how to promote participation in your classroom; how to ask and answer questions; how to deal with students who aren't getting it; helping students reduce exam anxiety; and how to create a great climate." In addition, he says, the web site offers webinars specifically targeted toward ServSafe instructors.

Instructors also take an advanced food safety test beyond basic certification that includes multiple- choice questions focusing on the whys, not just the whats of food safety. "These are the types of questions that they can expect their students will ask them, and that allows them to be better prepared in the classroom," Donahue says.

The other important aspect of training staff, managers and instructors, Donahue says, is to have a strategy for preventing a relapse - meaning forgetting or failing to follow through on safe food handling practices. "We use job aids such as wall charts, checklists, and other continuous reminders about food safety so it's not just about passing a food safety exam and that's it," he says. "It's about going back after the exam and actually having a business and commitment to food safety handling and the practices that work."

The idea, according to Chuboff, is to teach with a trickle-down approach: Meaning that managers who are well-informed will transfer their knowledge to employees through practice and examples.

Improving the communication of these practices is also important for staff members where English is their second language. "We use a lot of pictures to represent safe and unsafe handling practices, and universal symbols such as red Xs and green check marks," Chuboff says.

All these steps that Mass General, ServSafe and Sodexho take to train their staff may seem costly and time-consuming. This is precisely the attitude companies with poor retention rates often have about training - why go to the trouble to train the staff extensively if they're just going to turn over in the next few months, Donahue says.

"Many companies worry, 'What if we train employees and they leave?' But the real source of concern, and particularly when it comes to food safety is, 'What if we don't train employees and they stay?' Food safety training is an investment not an expense."

And really, doesn't that apply to training in general? As staff retention continues to become more and more challenging for foodservice companies, better training programs, and ones that encourage advancement and empower staff just might be the answer.