Since 2020, the food service industry hasn’t had it easy. Between new automation technologies, forced closures during the pandemic, and an already historically high staff turnover, leadership is finding it hard to find and keep employees who are willing to adapt to the ever-changing nature of working in a kitchen.
Unfortunately, this is still the case. Long-term care communities are struggling to retain staff across areas of care, from healthcare providers to cleaning specialists. The American Health Care Association and National Center for Assisted Living released its 2024 State of the Sector report, showing that:
- 94% of surveyed communities find it difficult to recruit new staff
- 99% of nursing homes have open positions
- 72% of surveyed communities have lower “workforce levels” than during the pandemic (where staff numbers plummeted)
All this is true despite significant efforts to increase staffing.
If you’re lucky, you have a team of employees you can depend on — ones who are trustworthy, dependable, have a strong work ethic, and genuinely care about residents. However, that doesn’t mean you still won’t experience some of these challenges. If you’re like most senior living leadership staff, you’re feeling the pressure to increase your number, and fast.
But instead of immediately posting a job on Indeed, how about starting with the staff you already have?
In 2023, we shared our best practices for retaining food service employees. In this blog, we’ve updated our suggestions and included ways to identify strong leaders within your team and create a strategic, teamwork-focused plan to set your kitchen up for long-term success.
How to Identify Strong Leaders Within Your Team
As a community leader, you’ve likely got more on your plate than you can handle — especially regarding food service management. While partnering with experts like us is one way to streamline your services, you have to identify leaders to support you and provide reinforcement as you make the necessary changes to strengthen your kitchen staff.
To start identifying leaders within your team, think about who:
- Consistently suggests process improvements in food preparation or delivery?
- Focuses on delivering personalized care and service to each resident, considering their unique needs and preferences?
- Suggests new menu ideas, food presentation, or delivery methods to improve resident satisfaction?
- Can explain menus, ingredients, and nutritional value to residents and families?
- Wants to learn about food service management, budgeting, and supervising staff?
- Ensures that food is prepared, stored, and served safely, and that sanitation protocols are followed?
- Focuses on delivering personalized care and service to each resident?
- Works well with nursing, therapy, and other departments to ensure resident needs are met?
If this is challenging for you, you can choose a food management contract with higher levels of staff support. That means that you’ll receive assistance with staffing, training, and implementing more efficient workflows in addition to individualized, person-centered dining plans.
Creating a Teamwork Mindset
Along with identifying leaders within your team, it’s also essential to create a working environment that encourages staff to want to lead. Here are a few tried and true strategies based on our Culinary Promise, the foundational principles that guide our quality of work.
1. Define clear career pathways
Outlining the job description (including roles and responsibilities) for everyone on your team makes it easy to spot or create leaders. This way, your employees understand what is expected of them and what they need to achieve to advance. This clarity motivates employees to work towards their goals, increasing job satisfaction and engagement.
2. Develop, mentor, recognize, and reward.
Offering training and mentorship helps employees learn new skills and develop confidence to tackle new challenges and handle additional responsibilities. When this happens, recognizing and rewarding their efforts is also an essential part of creating a teamwork mindset. You demonstrate your commitment to their growth and success with your support and investment in employee development. Here are a few ways to do this:
- Provide meaningful feedback and competitive pay and benefits
- Review and follow USDA professional standards
- Provide leadership training for all staff
- Create room in your schedule for “office hours” for staff questions or mentoring
- Encourage residents to submit compliments about staff that go above and beyond
We provide all employees with eight hours of online training on the basics of food and workplace safety and 5-8 days of hands-on shadowing, so each person in your kitchen is prepared before they begin working on their own.
3. Encourage Internal Mobility
If you want to keep your employees engaged and challenged, provide opportunities to try new roles or departments. It’s a great way for them to broaden their horizons, learn new skills, better understand what their coworkers do, and boost job satisfaction.
4. Lead by Example
As a leader, it’s important to practice what you preach. Show your team that growth and development are important by seeking feedback, learning from mistakes, and pursuing your own development. And don’t be afraid to embrace new technologies and innovations – like automation – that can help your team grow and succeed. By leading by example, you’ll create a culture that values growth and development at all levels.
Benefits of Promoting Within
When you invest in your team’s growth and development, everyone benefits. Your employees become more confident and skilled, your residents receive better care, and your facility is a more attractive place to work. Let’s go through a few more benefits of promoting within.
Less Turnover, Less Stress, Less Costs
Recruiting and training new staff can be a real headache. It’s time-consuming, costly, and disruptive to the workflow. You can reduce turnover rates by providing growth opportunities and keeping your team members happy and engaged. This means you’ll spend less time stressing about workflow and budget and more time creating consistent care for your residents.
Happy Employees = Happy Patients
When your staff feels valued and supported, they’re more likely to provide person-centered, intentional care. They’ll be more motivated and dedicated to their work, leading to happier residents, better satisfaction scores, and a stronger reputation for your facility.
A Positive Work Environment
Investing in your team’s growth creates a positive work environment where employees feel motivated, engaged, and proud to work for your facility. When your staff feels like they belong, you’ll see a boost in morale, an increase in productivity, and a decrease in no-shows or call-ins. Your team will be more cohesive, collaborative, and committed to providing exceptional care.
At Culinary Services Group, we believe that resident satisfaction starts with a happy and healthy staff. Since the dining room is often the heart of your community, invest in the overall well-being of everyone you serve – staff and residents alike – by partnering with a food service management program that cares.
Schedule a consultation with a member of our sales team to get started.
