Last updated on June 15th, 2023
In our many years of food service management, we’ve found three C’s that are the foundation to an effective food management partnership: Culture, capabilities, and cost. However, when choosing a food service partner, most healthcare communities are only concerned with cost and capabilities.
While budget and skills are definitely essential to a partnership’s success, culture is too. And not considering culture while vetting vendors will likely leave you frustrated and may even waste time and money if you find yourself needing to switch vendors because of a lack of cultural fit.
What do we mean by culture? Well, chances are your organization has an operational strategy that drives the company’s goals. This strategy was likely built on the values and beliefs that define what is encouraged, discouraged, accepted, and rejected in your community. That’s your culture. If your food service provider has a vastly different culture from your own, it’s unlikely that you’ll have a sustainable relationship (even if the price is right!).
Communities outsource dining services because they recognize the need for an expert to improve their dining program. But what if that vendor’s company culture doesn’t care about engaging with residents during food committees or helping to make your holiday party extra special? What if they leave the kitchen a mess and make you concerned about your next inspection?
If your food service vendor isn’t serving your strategic plan well, it may be time to make a change—and this time, culture should play an important part in your decision-making process.
Be Specific About Your Vision
Your community probably has a mission, vision, values, and common goals such like:
- Improved meal quality
- Elevated dining experience
- Improved nutritional intake
- Increased resident engagement
- Enhanced overall satisfaction
- Enhanced sanitation and food safety standards
If these values and goals aren’t explicitly outlined in your proposal when looking for new food service management companies, your vision may get lost. Extremely budget-friendly partners may be good for your bottom line, but they most likely won’t be able to accommodate your vision due to budget constraints, locked menu ordering, and lack of employee engagement due to low wages. As a result, you may create more work for yourself and need to manage the people you hired to take care of your food service program.
The 5 Dimensions of Culture Fit
How do you assess a vendor’s cultural fit? Professors Karl Manrodt and Jerry Ledlow have spent much of their professional careers researching buyer-supplier metrics that determine success. This led them to develop the Compatibility and Trust Assessment which looks at compatibility and cultural fit across these five dimensions.
We’ve found that several of Culinary Services Group’s 26 Guiding Principles align well with Manrodt and Ledlow’s five dimensions of culture fit. These statements make up the recipe for our success. They describe the daily behaviors that allow our company to achieve our vision, deliver world-class service, and have a high-performing company culture.
Dimension 1: Trust
The performance to promise and meet commitments is the foundation of trust. Without performance, trust cannot exist.
In Culinary Services Group’s Guiding Principle 7, we state that trust is earned, not given. We encourage our team to establish and maintain a relationship of trust with every employee at the communities we work with and treat everyone with respect, regardless of their job title or level of education. We must maintain open and honest communication in alignment with our mission.
Dimension 2: Innovation
Strong and trusting relationships allow both parties to share risks and rewards, invest in each other’s capabilities, and collaborate to achieve common goals.
Our 25th Principle is all about seeing the big picture. We encourage team members to think beyond themselves and the moment by embracing the company mission and vision.
They must understand and appreciate the “greater purpose” behind what we do and work for today while preparing for tomorrow.
Dimension 3: Communication
This is the open and timely sharing of all information relevant to decision-making ability.
The 18th Principle at Culinary Services Group tells our teams to foster open communication. Everyone is responsible for honest two-way communication that promotes the diversity of ideas and resolves conflicts. Communication should be open, and every person should feel free to speak respectfully without fear of retribution or shame.
Dimension 4: Team Orientation
Everyone in a team relationship believes in the relationship. Efforts are made to view decisions from each other’s perspectives to mitigate opportunism and promote collaboration.
Our Principle 17 says that we must embrace teamwork. We all succeed or fail together, and we must support and respect one another’s position. We’re here for the greater good of those we serve, and no one person can do it all alone.
Dimension 5: Focus
There is a common purpose, task clarity, and direction.
The last Culinary Services Group principle that aligns with Manrodt and Ledlow’s five dimensions of culture fit is Principle 20: Work in Partnership – Collaborate. Knowledge is one of our most important assets, so we must ensure that successes and best practices are shared. We encourage employees to develop a habit of asking, “Who else needs to know?” and “Who should be involved?”
Is Culinary Services Group a Culture Fit?
We believe Culinary Services Group is an excellent fit for any organization that values cultural alignment.
With a proposal from Culinary Services Group, we’ll outline every aspect of our recommended solutions, what deliverables you can expect when you work with us, and provide a set of guaranteed costs that will not change for the term of your contract. We’ll also recommend investments that may be needed to enhance your operation. Finally, we’ll provide a transition plan of how we’ll bring your vision to life. We do everything we can to align with your community before signing anything.
Contact us here to learn more about our culture and find out if we’re a fit for your team.
