Top 10 Reasons to Invest in Workforce Development
List Compiled by: Julie Zikmund, RD, LRD, MPH
1. Attract a Quality Team: Attracting and retaining good employees is increasingly difficult. If in an interview, the interviewee learns up front that there is room for growth and additional training, they will more likely choose to work in your facility.
2. Increase Job Satisfaction: Once good teammates are secured, there may be a challenge in keeping them. Feelings of job satisfaction are critical to maintaining employees.
3. Enhance Knowledge and Skills: Focus on co-workers’ professional goals and why they want to stay at their current job or move up in the organization. Are there things that they need or want to learn to complete their job duties more efficiently? Training is critical in the foodservice operation.
4. Increase Engagement: With engagement, the focus is on building relationships. Think of building a relationship with your team, before focusing on the task. Relationship before task. It is easier to do something for someone who values their contribution as a team member.
5. Improve Employee Performance: When employees are satisfied and feel fulfilled in their job, it leads to improved performance. It is also important to notice, acknowledge, and recognize co-workers on a job well done. Figure out what motivates them and reward them as you can.
6. Boost Productivity: When a team works effectively together, it increases productivity and accuracy of job tasks. It also sparks creativity and thinking about work in a new way. This can also lead to efficiencies in the workplace. It helps us to see beyond what is right in front of us and envision what could be.
7. Foster Teamwork and Collaboration: Teamwork and collaboration create a different mood in the workplace. Both are needed to do the job, however both also work to create synergy and direct work towards the common goal. Team member means that all are important in getting the work accomplished. One cannot achieve without the other. For example, what if the dishwasher does not show up for a shift? Is that person’s work important? You bet it is.
8. Decrease Employee Supervision: Did you know that good workforce development can also lead to decreased direct supervision of team members? If the team is cross-trained and well-trained, employees know what is expected and are more likely to get their work done with less supervision. Trusting them because they are well-trained actually decreases your workload as a manager.
9. Create a Better Work Environment: All of these reasons lead to the creation of a better work environment. If you asked, do you think that your team feels valued and appreciated? There are those who just show up to work and go about their day—punch in, punch out. Then there are others who show up to work. These are the employees who put forth their best effort each day. Do you see the difference? The work environment is reflective of these values.
10. Train Leaders for the Future: As you think about where you are in your career, how did you get there? Someone believed in you or you believed in yourself. If we want other leaders to emerge, we need to recognize leaders in our own teams. You can help them focus on developing and becoming better leaders. Focus on coaching them up to be better each day and identifying opportunities to lead the team.
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