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Building community by building skills

A row of tiny faces steam up Royal Bay Bakery’s window as a group of preschoolers peer at racks of sweet treats, a brief respite from their morning jaunt.

It’s the sort of moment that owner and baker David Grove cherishes, and has spent 14 years working toward at the Colwood store he operates with his wife Gwen Snyder.

Grove’s recipe for creating community and building a successful, sustainable business has many ingredients, but he believes that staff training is as essential as the yeast in his organic breads.

“I am focused on keeping staff here, and providing the chance to improve skills makes the job more interesting,” he says.

Given his attitude, it was like icing on the cake when the bakery was presented with the opportunity to participate at no cost in SkillsPlus.

“Everything is really done well at the bakery, and this training will help bring them to the next level,” says Victoria READ Society’s workplace educator Helen Thomas. She is helping arrange for Food Safe certification, and training on the bakery’s new Maitre’D computerized point-of-sale system, which can display ingredient lists.

With hundreds of locally-sourced, unprocessed ingredients coming into the bakery and increasing consumer interest in nutritional information, Thomas says employees need to be able to answer questions quickly and competently, especially where allergies are concerned.

Employee Mary vander Pijl, says she appreciates the new Maitre’D system, as it’s nearly impossible to remember all the ingredients, despite having worked at the bakery for nine years. She’s looking forward to participating in the training, too. “It’s always good to learn new things and improve my skills.” ____________ SkillsPlus training is offered by the Victoria READ Society and the Community Council, with funding through the Canada-British Columbia Labour Market Agreement for small business in the Capital Region with less than 50 employees. Currently seven businesses in the retail/wholesale/grocery and tourism/hospitality sectors have signed up and others are on a waitlist.

Employers can find more workplace learning tips, tools and resources on READ’s website at www.readsociety.bc.ca/workplace.htm and through the Community Council, www.qolchallenge.ca/resources/skillsplus.php.

Click here for the full colour, printable version of this story.

More Information:

Ten Ways to Keep and Attract Your Staff: A new booklet from the Labour Market Dialogues documenting the successful hiring and retention strategies of 10 employers of choice in BC's Capital Region.

Affordability Index Calculation, 2009

An Innovative HR Resource for Capital Region Employers...Click here for practical tips and resources to help employers tap into hidden labour markets.

Employer Resources

For more employer CHALLENGE stories, click here and select the "Sustainable Incomes" topic.

Story by Tanya Demmings

Dec 17, 2009