Are Your New Employees and Substitutes Ready for the School Year?
A new school year is upon us, along with all the preparation and excitement that comes with starting school. You have your menus completed, food ordered, and equipment ready to go, but have you readied your new employees and substitutes?
The start of a new school year can be intimidating, and not just for the students. Beginning a new job is difficult, and is often compared to a child’s experience starting at a new school with the corresponding first-day anxieties. Put yourself in your new employees’ shoes and imagine the first day. Kitchens, with all the equipment and hustle and bustle can be pretty darn scary.
Are you doing all you can to make your new employees feel welcome?
Some quick tips to help your new employees start out right:
1. Have a plan to train all new employees (including substitutes).
2. Just as important, you need to stick to the plan. Welcoming your new employees needs to be a priority (no excuses).
3. Roll out the welcome mat--make the new employee feel wanted!
4. Tell your new employees about the school nutrition program and the impact school meals have on students. Promote your school nutrition program!
7. Have the manager cover “housekeeping” and explain the basics of where the restrooms are located, when and where to take breaks and lunch, where the lockers are, and whether they need to bring their own lock.
9. Take the instructions way back to the basics. Don’t assume they know what a spoodle is, or the importance of portion control.
10. Develop a checklist with points to be covered and use your list.
11. Make your new employees feel welcome and that they made the right decision to join your team.
With all that goes into starting a new school year, new employees and substitutes often get overlooked. Yet, making these individuals feel welcome can do wonders for reducing your turnover rate, and more importantly, setting the stage for more productive, happy, team-oriented employees.
©Kim Hofmann, RDN, LD.
The start of a new school year can be intimidating, and not just for the students. Beginning a new job is difficult, and is often compared to a child’s experience starting at a new school with the corresponding first-day anxieties. Put yourself in your new employees’ shoes and imagine the first day. Kitchens, with all the equipment and hustle and bustle can be pretty darn scary.
Are you doing all you can to make your new employees feel welcome?
Some quick tips to help your new employees start out right:
1. Have a plan to train all new employees (including substitutes).
2. Just as important, you need to stick to the plan. Welcoming your new employees needs to be a priority (no excuses).
3. Roll out the welcome mat--make the new employee feel wanted!
- As a director, you should be there when the new employee arrives and introduce them to the manager.
- If you are starting several new employees or substitutes at the same time, you can have an introductory meeting. Yes, I know this will be an extra expense, but you will never get a second chance to make a great first impression.
4. Tell your new employees about the school nutrition program and the impact school meals have on students. Promote your school nutrition program!
- Give them some statistics such as how many meals your district serves a day, how the food service operates, and let them know that each kitchen might operate a little differently.
- Stress the importance of teamwork and explain your operations mission, values, and expectations.
- Emphasize the importance of hand-washing and using the hand-washing sink (and not the sink in the dishroom). While you are at it, you might want to mention the need for hand-washing between touching the dirty dishes and the clean dishes in the dishroom.
7. Have the manager cover “housekeeping” and explain the basics of where the restrooms are located, when and where to take breaks and lunch, where the lockers are, and whether they need to bring their own lock.
- Give them a map of all the schools, with where they are to park clearly marked.
- Explain the policies for eating at school and if the employee is entitled to a reimbursable meal or a discount on the meal.
9. Take the instructions way back to the basics. Don’t assume they know what a spoodle is, or the importance of portion control.
10. Develop a checklist with points to be covered and use your list.
11. Make your new employees feel welcome and that they made the right decision to join your team.
With all that goes into starting a new school year, new employees and substitutes often get overlooked. Yet, making these individuals feel welcome can do wonders for reducing your turnover rate, and more importantly, setting the stage for more productive, happy, team-oriented employees.
©Kim Hofmann, RDN, LD.
