Let's Celebrate

Training helps restaurant staff serve skillfully

My-Chosen Café may be decorated with old-fashioned wagon wheels and quaint hand-painted signs, but when it comes to running an efficient kitchen, employees need modern skills to keep up with the bustle.

At just after 9 on a Thursday morning, the restaurant is spotless and the kitchen nearly prepped and ready for the onslaught of hungry diners. Manager Troy Ashdown is stirring a vat of creamy soup while kitchen assistant Kelly Cahill stocks fridges with fresh food.

With so many tasks to complete each day, staff training has been put on the back burner until recently when My-Chosen was offered the chance to participate in SkillsPlus training at no cost. "I thought it sounded like a great opportunity," says general manager Tessa Jackson.

With the help of Helen Thomas, the Victoria READ Society's workplace educator, employees have been working on improving nine Essential Skills, including oral communication and computer skills.

"I didn't have any computer experience so learning some of the shortcuts has made it so much easier. It's been awesome," says Cahill, who spends time during her regular shift working with Thomas right in the restaurant's office.

For Ashdown, who has been serving up the steaks and ribs at My-Chosen for 23 years, his new skills mean he can produce menus and schedules on the computer, rather than by hand. "I learn a lot here, and then go home and try it out."

The management staff also received Personality Dimensions training. "Learning about the different personality types helps you to understand how and why you react to different approaches and to know how to approach other personality types," says Thomas, who is a trained facilitator.

Using a workshop format, Thomas got the management team together and put communication at work under the spotlight. "The team found the biggest benefit was spending time together because they all have different schedules and don't often have the chance to interact as a group."

Now that My-Chosen employees have gotten a taste of training, they are hungry for more. Next, they hope to get kitchen staff certified in FoodSafe 2 and continue working on oral communication. "We have a large management team so this has been a good opportunity to start getting everyone on the same page," Jackson says.

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, 2010

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

Apr 23, 2010