Nation's Restaurant News - January 5, 2009

A new school of thought: Rethinking the old training

model means educated employees, better business

NEWS DIGESTS

The autocratic design of the modern classroom, with the teacher in front lecturing dutiful pupils aligned in symmetrical rows, traces its roots back to 14th century Heidelberg, Germany.

That same format was adopted throughout Europe and then presented to America’s 19th century factory barons, who resent-

ed losing their cheap child labor to education reform. The indus- People, trialists reluctantly agreed only Performance after reformers sold them on the fact that the “teaching” would and Profits actually be training, readying these young huddled masses for future roles as factory workers.

The classroom hierarchy and layout was carefully designed both to foster obedience and to mimic a factory organizational chart. Note the layout: “foreman,” or teacher, up front and dutiful “workers,” or students, seated in neat rows of box-shaped desks.

Educators sealed the deal by promising that school would be relegated exclusively to the colder months, thereby freeing the kids up to labor during crunch time, the planting and harvest season.

Today’s U.S. educational system follows an identical structure. Business and the military imitated the public-school system, and the “modern” training hierarchy was born.

Now for the bigger question: Is this 500- year-old format really the most effective way

to educate and “train” the post-modern Nintendo Generation of foodservice employees?

Maybe it’s time to train the trainer and let the learners lead. Here are a few strategies:

Training starts during hiring. Once a pool of applicants qualify as a cultural fit for your team, the focus should be to seek individuals who have the right attitudes toward learning and development. Look for people who are open to and who enjoy learning.

Factoring this into the hiring process will save you time and differentiate you from the competition by building a better, stronger, smarter team.

You are what you cumulatively know. Every 90 days, scrutinize and assess knowledge gaps and talent gaps across your teams. Hire and develop to fill the gaps.

Teach the team how to “read.” Train your teams on commonly overlooked basic skills, such as how to read a paycheck, a simple P&L or even wine labels.

Training is not development. Training is sharing new skills or concepts via a live or electronic facilitator.

JIM SULLIVAN

Development is applying and then improving on the new skills back on the job with a guide or mentor. A trainer can light the fire, and the manager keeps the flame fanned. Every supervisor is constantly training employees by their own actions.

Training is not learning. All trainers teach, but not all trainers are teachers. Just because you’ve taught it, doesn’t mean that anyone has “caught” it. The majority of food-service training today overlooks or under-emphasizes the critical skills that matter most, such as problem-solving, conflict resolution, creativity, group dynamics, instilling values, team-building and situational leadership.

Your core content was not designed by credentialed educators. The truth is that 99.9 percent of food-service training manuals and curriculum has been written, formatted and rewritten by former servers, bartenders, hosts, managers or concept founders. They may have excelled at their jobs, but most had no formal education

on how brains work or adults learn. An owner or franchisor’s primary motivation relative to training is to cover compliance issues. Why? Because that’s what you test and then keep in their file to minimize the risk of future litigation.

(Continued on page 28)

Trainers light the
fire; managers
fan the flames.
All supervisors
are constantly
training workers
by example.
DENNY’S UNIVERSITY CELEBRATES OFFICIAL
OPENING; MORE THAN 230 GRADUATES

SPARTANBURG, S.C. — More than 230 restaurant managers have learned to think like owners and business leaders after attending Denny’s University, a weeklong training program Denny’s Inc. introduced earlier this year here. The 1,530-unit family-dining chain held a ribbon-cutting ceremony for the university last month.

Managers come from around the country to attend the leadership training courses, which delve into how to resolve issues and practice goal setting for the participants, their restaurant staffs and their restaurants.

During the week, managers are tested daily and given homework assignments to reinforce what they have learned in the classroom. They are required to pass a final exam to graduate and receive a diploma.

Q&A

COLLINS PLEDGES $5M FOR HOSPITALITY
SCHOOL AT CAL POLY POMONA

POMONA, CALIF. — Sizzler chairman emeritus Jim Collins and his wife, Carol, have pledged to match $5 million in donations for a $10 million academic building for The Collins College of Hospitality Management at California State Polytechnic University, Pomona.

The new building will feature an environmentally friendly design and expanded programs for the school, which has reported that enrollment has grown 46 percent over the past three years. The college is in the process of developing California’s first graduate program in hospitality management.

The college is named for the Collinses, who have been major benefactors over the past 20 years, and has the only four-year hospitality management program on the West Coast.

TemporaryChef.com founder fires up new full-time gig

In an industry where half of the employees are younger than 30, staying gainfully employed in restaurants as one gets older can be challenging, especially in the high-pressured, fast-moving back-of-the-house. Never mind the recession, chef Paul Green III noticed a slowdown in job offers more than 10 years ago when he turned 50. This spring he took matters into his own hands and started a business from his home in Tuftonboro, N.H., intended to help himself and other experienced chefs keep wearing their toques. Green started a website called TemporaryChef.com to connect seasoned chefs with such potential clients as restaurant and foodservice operators, owners of seasonal resorts, or individuals looking for personal chefs. Green’s first client was a private resort at Lake Tahoe in California that was in need of a chef for the summer season. Chefs work out their own temporary assignments with clients, typically charging a $350, 10-hour-a-day fee. So far, Green has attracted about three dozen chefs in the United States and Europe that are willing to travel and take temporary assignments.

alize they want to get out of the kitchen, but they do not want to give it up completely.

Is there much of a market for temp chefs
in today’s economy?

I think the idea of a per-diem, high-end employee is much more attractive than hiring someone and paying the bonuses and benefits and taxes that go along with it. It’s less expensive to do this.

Are your chefs mostly looking for temporary jobs or full-time work? Most want temp work. When you’ve been a chef your whole career, you continue to eat, sleep and breathe food. But it’s a lot of hours; a lot of the days are tough on your personal and family life. A lot come to re-

This is an industry of young people, espe-

Paul Green III

cially in the restaurants. What’s the advan-
tage of hiring an older chef?

As you gain experience and time in the business, you learn and become more and more efficient. I have the drive but not the energy I had when I was 30. I have something that replaces that — talent, experience and maturity, which makes you effective in decision making and makes you more efficient. There is an eternal bias [toward youth], and I’m not sure anything can be done about it. People will recognize the value of experience or they won’t.

RECESSION SURVIVAL FOCUS OF CHART’S
SPRING TRAINING CONFERENCE

POR TLAND, ORE. — Members of the Council for Hotel and Restaurant Trainers will meet here in March to learn about and share effective training and development practices that can improve operational performance in a bad economy.

“In difficult economic times, the role of
training is even more critical,” said CHART
president John Isbell, who is director of
operations services for IHOP.

National speakers as well as CHART members will offer strategies and ideas for trainers and human resources managers during the conference, which will be held March 7- 10 at the Hilton Portland & Executive Tower.