Valuable Training for Recruitment and Retention

“When we play a game, we always ask the questions ‘What are the rules?’ and ‘How can I win…?’ When employees are asking these questions and the questions are not answered for them up front, they can become frustrated and upset because they do not know how to win at their job.” - Joe Lipham, Training Account Manager, Signature Worldwide

The power of training has been proven to help attract and keep good employees in this very competitive employment market.  Clearly, despite varying levels of passion for the job, nobody goes to work hoping to look stupid and to fail. 

Skill needs vary by job within each organization and necessitate specialized instruction. However, what is the one common skill that all hospitality employees need to feel comfortable in their role? Universally, experts agree that a company that focuses on teaching and empowering its associates to provide excellent guest service not only is more successful at gaining and keeping loyal customers but also more successful at attracting and retaining its employees. 

Standards are set high and employees are trained and empowered to deliver. Happy associates, who treat each other well, tend to create happy guests and help create a positive and rewarding work environment. 

"A culture of high standards is protective of all the 'invisible' but crucial work that goes on in every company," writes Amazon founder Jeff Bezos, it’s the “work that gets done when no one is watching. In a high standards culture, doing that work well is its own reward..." 

Bezos also notes that to build and maintain a culture of high standards, there are four critical elements; “they are teachable, they are domain-specific, you must recognize them, and you must explicitly coach realistic scope."

CREATING AND EVALUATING A TOOL
I have been proud to be a partner in Oregon’s statewide initiative to build a guest service curriculum that incorporated those four elements, via the support of Travel Oregon and the American Hotel & Lodging Educational Institute (AHLEI). 

Our goal in creating Guest Service Gold Tourism: Oregon Edition, which awards the internationally-accredited credential Certified Guest Service Professional (CGSP) upon successful completion, was to provide a tool that offered a common language and teachable principles specific to challenges employees in Oregon’s hospitality industry face.

The effort has been a bit of a case study for us all, as I now realize students’, managers’, and trainers’ feedback all support the theory of the value of training and its secondary benefits overall. Here’s what we’ve learned:

From Students:

• “I always have loads of fun whenever I get a chance to learn something new…”
• “Good training. A useful vehicle for reminding myself of my weak areas and reinforcing my strengths.”
• “In addition to learning many tools for providing service, I loved being able to interact with employees in other departments as well as our managers during the training.”
• “(I appreciated the Service Recovery Principle) because I have a tendency to panic when people are upset and now I have a better toolkit for dealing with that.”

From Managers and Owners:

• “….For me as a GM, I was very pleased to find a program that all staff could participate in regardless of the department or what position they worked….I believe it helped boost morale. The training was well received…the feedback I got was the employees really felt like they learned something,” Martin Alletson, GM, Driftwood Shores
• “….As an owner and a chef, I can tell you that usually we say we are too busy to train or it is too expensive, but this training will pay for itself. The feedback from the team was off the charts and everyone found it to be time well spent,” Brian Williams, Owner/Chef, Big Waves Café

From Our Trainers:

• “While working with the National Forest Service, some of the greatest breakthroughs came from people realizing they weren’t alone and that the same challenges happen to their colleagues in other departments,” Thomas Moser

TAPPING ADDITIONAL TOOLS
Preparing employees about what to expect in their roles is a skill and confidence builder. Many accommodation and foodservice businesses use online courses, such as the internationally-accredited courses offered by AHLEI. Line-level position curriculum includes Certified Front Desk Representative, Certified Restaurant Server, Certified Kitchen Cook, Certified Guestroom Attendant, and Certified Maintenance Employee. Supervisory courses are also available; learn more about their tools at AHLEI.org/certifications.

“According to Canadian tourism and hospitality HR association Go2HR, around 40 percent of employees who do not receive adequate training end up leaving their post within a year.” - Entrepreneur Magazine/ Stephen Maclaren, Head of Regional Sales Employee Benefits, Al Futtaim Willis

While there is certainly intense competition for employees, perhaps considering increasing training opportunities can help you better recruit and retain staff. If you think our guest service training tool can assist in your efforts, please visit OregonGuestService.com and feel free to contact me with any questions. | Wendy Popkin

Wendy Popkin is the Executive Director for ORLA’s Education Foundation (ORLAEF), a nonprofit foundation dedicated to supporting the educational and training needs of the hospitality industry. Wendy is a 32-year career veteran who describes herself as “fanatically enthusiastic about helping others enjoy the same type of fabulous career opportunities I have enjoyed in the hospitality industry.” 

Best Practices and Tools for Recruiting and Retaining Employees

Here’s the good news: year over year, 2016 to 2017, the hospitality industry ranked second for job growth in Oregon at a rate of 3.9 percent. The challenge: how do we fill the 210,000 jobs we have?

With Oregon unemployment at a historic low of 4.1 percent, everyone is lamenting about the difficulty in finding employees. March’s 2018 Oregon Economic and Revenue Forecast notes that “…the tight labor market is resulting in faster wage gains here in Oregon than in the typical state.” Business owners expressed concern about recent legislation to increase minimum wage, but many have told me they are now offering above minimum wage in competitive attempts to attract workers. 

Retention Trouble
Nationwide, an almost unbelievable and very disheartening and expensive fact - 72.5 percent of people left their foodservice or hospitality positions in 2017. While we struggle with the high cost of hiring associates, the conversation is also turning to the high cost of losing employees. Training time, costly product and customer service mistakes, and overtime paid to cover unfilled positions are direct hits to the bottom line.

I was fascinated to find a Turnover Cost Calculator with a shocking example. For a business that had 150 employees, and a turnover rate of ‘only’ 11 percent, a reduction in turnover of 20 percent would save an estimated $313,000 annually in training and opportunity costs. Check it out and use this template to estimate your own potential savings: bit.ly/TurnoverCostCalculate.

Emerging Best Practices Addressing the Employment Challenge
While some managers interpret that the current generation lacks a focus on and commitment to employment and loyalty, others are finding creative and successful ways to help fill positions and reduce turnover by addressing the priorities of today’s employee. 

I think Jack Altman, CEO of Lattice, summed it up well when he wrote “Younger workers… prioritize things like personal growth and career opportunity over income and job security. Giving your employees authentic opportunities for growth is something you have to build into the fabric of your company.” You can read more at bit.ly/2sHIfee.

Interpretation. We, as an industry, can find ROI in nurturing employees’ values to attract and retain them by offering pathways and assistance to help them meet their goals.  One way to do this is via education and training. 

“Train people well enough so they can leave, treat people well enough so they don’t want to.” - Richard Branson

There is growing proof that this approach is working, and that the investment pays off. CNBC does a nice round-up at http://cnb.cx/2JFBt2i where they note;

• “College tuition assistance programs are one of the most successful tactics for getting employees to stick around. Starbucks has found that education benefits kept baristas behind the counter longer… employees enrolled in its college program were 1.5 times more likely to stay with the brand and are being promoted at 2.5 times the rate of those that are not enrolled.”
• McDonalds is slashing eligibility requirements and more than tripling its benefit. "We know that people stay with us longer when they participate in these programs," says Rob Lauber, chief learning officer at McDonald’s... "And people that stay longer deliver a better customer experience for us."

Though these large-scale programs may seem out of reach to smaller operators, the concept can be replicated by following the type of advice advocated by Jack Altman. 

• When promoting your positions, illustrate a pathway for growth within your organization as well as the industry. Chipotle does a great job with this concept, see an example at Careers.chipotle.com/career-path. For foodservice operators, the National Restaurant Educational Foundation offers a great interactive tool at Careerpath.chooserestaurants.org. The American Hotel & Lodging Association Educational Foundation also features a helpful resource at bit.ly/WorldofOpportunity. 
• You can help potential applicants understand what they will learn and how the experience can be applicable to other job and life goals even if they don’t express a desire to stay in the industry. Needs ideas? I had fun searching for ‘Skills I Learned from my Restaurant / Hospitality Job” where I found pages ranging from a sarcastic but authentic testimonial at bit.ly/2l2Splj to thoughtful reflection at  bit.ly/15FoodServiceSkillsForLife to a more academic approach at  bit.ly/HospitalityLifeSkills. Also consider sharing testimonials from past employees about the value of their experience with you.
• Build a relationship with your local community college or university and consider offering tuition assistance. You can find your area’s state schools offering at bit.ly/OregonCollegeTrainingPrograms. They are also experts at helping your employees find and follow a career path with resources such as MyPathcareers.org. By building these relationships you can also help your employees discover resources that include GED assistance to basic skills tutoring, as well as potential financial assistance. This type of support is a proven valuable recruitment and retention tool!
• Offer and potentially fund skills-based training to help employees join and advance within your organization. Affordable and internationally accredited online courses for line employees such as restaurant server, front desk representative, kitchen cook, housekeeping attendant, and security office are offered via the American Hotel & Lodging Educational Foundation at ahlei.org/Certifications/Line-Employees. Remember the Oregon-customized guest service class is available at OregonGuestService.com.

More Tools on the Horizon!
ORLA’s Education Foundation partnered with the Oregon Coast Visitors Association and the owners of the Overleaf Lodge & Spa, Kristin and Drew Roslund, this year to secure grants from Travel Oregon and the Siletz Tribal Charitable Contribution Fund. Funds awarded were used to pilot a workforce development program in Waldport. The target was recruitment and retention via a program that offered free skills-based certifications. 

From this effort we developed an encouraging relationship with enthusiastic partners at WorkSource Oregon in Lincoln County. WorkSource Oregon is a network of public and private partners who work together to “effectively respond to workforce challenges through high-quality services to individuals and business, resulting in job attainment, retention, and advancement.” They are the agencies most in touch with untapped populations who could help fill those 210,000 jobs and provide critical support for both the employee and employer in that effort.

Our next step is to expand our partnerships and phase-in a more comprehensive program. We believe the model has potential to replicate throughout the state, and our hope would be to leverage available state and federal training funds and Oregon Employment Department staff expertise to help serve industry’s workforce needs. An unexpected benefit was learning about the resources WorkSource offers to our employees, previously unknown to most of us! These include funding and staff support for employees such as uniform purchase, housing and transportation vouchers, and skills and mental health counseling.

We are encouraged by the potential to offer hospitality business partners more active assistance with our industry’s workforce challenge and our organizations will be providing regular updates and resources. | Wendy Popkin, ORLAEF

Wendy Popkin is the Executive Director for ORLA’s Education Foundation (ORLAEF), a nonprofit foundation dedicated to supporting the educational and training needs of the hospitality industry. Wendy is a 32-year career veteran who describes herself as “fanatically enthusiastic about helping others enjoy the same type of fabulous career opportunities I have enjoyed in the hospitality industry.” 
​

Congratulations to Bend High School and Willamette High School for taking first place in the management and culinary competitions, respectively, at the 2018 ORLAEF ProStart Invitational! See photos from the event.

Top placing teams in each category, culinary and management, received a share of the $675,000 in scholarships awarded. First place teams earned a spot at National ProStart Invitational where Willamette H.S. culinary team placed 6th out of 48 and Bend H.S. management team scored 26th out of 46!  

Results for the 2018 ORLAEF ProStart Invitational in Salem, Oregon:

Management Competition

• 1st place - Bend H.S.
• 2nd place - South Salem H.S.
• 3rd place - McMinnville H.S.

Culinary Competition 

• 1st place - Willamette H.S.
• 2nd place - Bend H.S.
• 3rd place - McMinnville H.S.

Additional Awards

• Foster Farms Student of the Year - Cole Barnhardt, Willamette High School
• Teacher of the Year - Sheri Carson, Roseburg High School
• Mentor of the Year - Doug MacFarland, Brasada Ranch, Crook County High School

The event is produced by ORLA’s Education Foundation and made possible by the generous contributions of the sponsors:

• Title Sponsor: Sysco
• Major Sponsor: OCI
• Champion Sponsors: Bentley’s Grill, The Old Spaghetti Factory
• Student Star Sponsor: Foster Farms
• School Sponsor: Togather Restaurant Consultants
• Product Sponsors: ECOLAB, Farmer Brothers
• In-Kind Sponsors: Johnson Controls, The Grand Hotel, Hampton Inn by Hilton, Phoenix Inn, Salem Convention Center.

11 Schools Competed in Oregon Restaurant & Lodging Association Education Foundation’s Statewide Competition Showcasing the Hospitality Industry’s Future Chefs and Innovators
 
The challenge for the student chefs in the culinary competition was to prepare a three-course gourmet meal with only two butane burners in under an hour. Willamette High School pulled this off with excellence, winning top honors in the culinary competition at the ORLAEF ProStart Invitational, sponsored by Sysco. Bend High School took champion title in the management competition where students developed and presented a new restaurant concept to judges from industry and post-secondary education. The event was hosted by the Education Foundation of the Oregon Restaurant & Lodging Association (ORLAEF) on March 18, 2018 in Salem, Oregon.
 
ProStart, one of the nation’s largest industry-supported career and technical education (CTE) programs, teaches high school students culinary and management skills needed by restaurant, hospitality, and foodservice employers. Focused on culinary techniques and restaurant management skills, this competency-based curriculum also includes real-life restaurant experiences. The ORLAEF ProStart Invitational is the capstone of this two-year program, providing a public opportunity for students to showcase what they have learned. Top competitors in the event receive a share of over $675,000 in scholarships and prizes from local and national culinary schools to help further their careers in the restaurant and foodservice industry. 

“Sysco Portland is proud to partner with ORLAEF in support of ProStart,” said Bobbie McDonald, Vice President of Merchandising & Marketing at Sysco Portland. "These young culinarians from our state are building skills that are foundational to their careers in the hospitality industry. We applaud their enthusiasm and can’t wait to serve them in the future.”
 
Final results for the culinary competition:

• First Place – Willamette High School
• Second Place – Bend High School
• Third Place – McMinnville High School​

Final results for the management competition:

• First Place – Bend High School
• Second Place – South Salem High School
• Third Place – McMinnville High School

Additional awards presented at the event:

• Foster Farms Student of the Year – Cole Barnhardt, Willamette High School
• Teacher of the Year – Sheri Carson, Roseburg High School
• Mentor of the Year – Doug MacFarland, Brasada Ranch, Crook County High School

 
“The atmosphere at this event was electric,” said Wendy Popkin, executive director of ORLAEF. “The ProStart program does a remarkable job preparing high school students with fundamental skills such as communication, teamwork, time management and professionalism needed to enter the workforce.” 
 
The teams from Bend High School and Willamette High School will head to the 2018 National ProStart Invitational® April 27-29, 2017, in Providence, RI.  Contact Popkin for information about how you can support local Oregon students on their journey to the national competition.
 
Currently 38 Oregon schools, with more than 3,000 students participate in the ProStart training program. Internationally, ProStart includes 137,300 students in 1,768 schools and technical centers across the United States, Guam, Europe, and Asia.
 
About ORLAEF
 
As the philanthropic foundation of the Oregon Restaurant & Lodging Association, ORLAEF supports and promotes diverse career, educational, and public service opportunities within the hospitality industry to create a vibrant industry that contributes to Oregon’s economic livelihood and its citizens’ quality of life. Oregon’s restaurant and foodservice industry is comprised of over 9,900 foodservice locations and has a total economic impact of $10.8 billion - making it the cornerstone of the economy and one of the state’s largest employers.

2018 ORLAEF ProStart Invitational – Participating Schools
 
Culinary Competition

• Bend High School
• Crook County High School
• Grants Pass High School
• McMinnville High School
• McNary High School
• Mountain View High School
• North Salem High School
• Roseburg High School
• Willamette High School

 
Management Competition

• Bend High School
• McMinnville High School
• Pendleton High School
  
• South Salem High School
• Willamette High School
  

View photos from event on Flickr.

WHAT
High school teams compete in statewide culinary and management competitions at Oregon Restaurant & Lodging Association Educational Foundation’s 2018 ORLAEF ProStart Invitational, sponsored by Sysco. Students prepare a three-course gourmet meal in 60 minutes in front of a crowd using only two butane burners, without access to running water or electricity. New this year, five teams will develop a restaurant concept and present to a panel of judges at a simulated business exposition in the management competition. 
 
WHEN
Sunday, March 18, 2018 - 8 a.m. to 6 p.m. Schedule posted online.
 
WHERE 
Salem Convention Center, 200 Commercial Street SE, Salem
 
WHY
Helping high school students jump start culinary careers, the Oregon Restaurant & Lodging Association Education Foundation (ORLAEF) supports educators and schools offering ProStart, a national career and technical education (CTE) curriculum and program developed by the National Restaurant Association Educational Foundation (NRAEF). Teaching culinary, teamwork and management skills needed by restaurant, hospitality and foodservice employers, the ORLAEF ProStart Invitational is the capstone of this two-year program, providing a public opportunity for students to showcase what they have learned.
 
Of the 38 Oregon high school programs, currently involving 3,000 ProStart students, 11 schools are sending teams to this year's invitational. Heats begin at 9:30 a.m. and conclude at 2:15 p.m. Chef judges evaluate culinary teams on taste, presentation, knife skills, and teamwork. Management competition teams are evaluated on their concept, marketing strategies, menu, recipes and food costs, operations and critical thinking skills, with winners of both competitions announced at the dinner. Students also vie for a share of $675,000 in scholarships and prizes. The public is welcome and encouraged to attend this free event.
 
Sponsoring organizations – ORLAEF, Sysco, Oregon Culinary Institute, Bentley’s Grill and The Grand Hotel, The Old Spaghetti Factory, Foster Farms, Johnson Controls, Phoenix Inn Suites,Salem, Hampton Inn & Suites by Hilton, and NRAEF - help send the first place team to the 2018 National ProStart Invitational, April 27-29 in Providence, Rhode Island.
 
Participating in the ProStart career technical education classes prepares students for community college certifications and degrees. 
 
INFO
For more information about the ProStart Oregon culinary championship, visit http://bit.ly/ORprostart.
 
ABOUT
As the philanthropic foundation of the Oregon Restaurant & Lodging Association, ORLAEF supports and promotes diverse career, educational and public service opportunities within the hospitality industry to create a vibrant industry that contributes to Oregon’s economic livelihood and its citizens’ quality of life. Oregon’s foodservice and lodging industry is responsible for 173,700 jobs bringing in over $10.8 billion in annual sales and generating 54% of the annual tourism dollars spent in Oregon – making the hospitality industry the cornerstone of the economy and one of the state’s largest employers.

ORLAEF ProStart Invitational, Sponsored by Sysco Forms

​Download useful forms, templates and documents to help you participate in the ORLAEF ProStart Invitational.

• 2018 Invitational -  Culinary & Management Competition Schedules
• 2018 Invitational - Event Program
• 2018 Invitational - Event Schedule
• 2018 Invitational - Rules
• 2018 Invitational - Timeline
• Culinary Scoring Rubric
• Judge's Application​
• Management Scoring Rubric
• Non-Competing Registration Form
• Plate Order Form 
• Recipe Costing Template 
• Student Waiver
• Suggested Order for Menu and Recipe Folders

Educator Resources
​
ProStart Curriculum
With ProStart®, everything needed for fun, interesting and informative instruction is provided for you. Industry-driven curriculum blends culinary and management lessons into each textbook and offers flexibility in scheduling. Learning objectives include: Critical thinking and problem solving, communication, creativity, global awareness, and health literacy. A comprehensive list of program objectives is available here.
​

• The Teacher's Resource Kit includes easy-to-follow steps for implementing the program and establishing outreach activities.
• Detailed lesson plans help you prepare with a minimum amount of time and effort.
• Case studies and professional profiles accompany each chapter, aligning content with real-world examples.
• 2nd edition curriculum entitled "Foundations of Restaurant Management and Culinary Arts" includes online e-text access, allowing online access outside the classroom. Learn more about the new curriculum.

​
​To order ProStart® curriculum for your school, contact Sue Smith at 800.462.0619.

NRAEF Summer Institutes
Work towards earning the NRAEF Certified Secondary Foodservice Educator certification. Registration for Summer Institutes is now open. Learn more.

Food Waste Education
Utilize this interactive Hotel|Kitchen toolkit to demonstrate how different roles in the kitchen and hotels can impact waste, as well the bottom line. 
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Student Resources

ProStart® prepares you to explore a wide range of career opportunities. Careers in nutrition, hospitality management, viticulture, product development, agriculture, culinary arts and customer service are just a few of the options for ProStart® students.

The Oregon Restaurant & Lodging Association Education Foundation (ORLAEF) and the National Restaurant Association are proud to offer Oregon ProStart seniors a scholarship opportunity in support of post secondary education. 

Industry-Related Programs and Courses
These facilities offer skills-based education for those looking to gain proficiencies to help them enter the hospitality industry as well as programs geared to those already employed who want to add credentials to their experience. Many offer both online and in-person options.​
​

• ​​Central Oregon Community College | Bend | Baking and Pastry Arts | 2 year degree or certificate
• Central Oregon Community College | Bend | Culinary Arts | 2 year degree or certificate
• Central Oregon Community College | Bend | Hospitality Management | 2 year degree
• Chemeketa Community College | Salem | Hospitality Management | 2 year degree or certificate
• Chemeketa Community College | Salem | Food and Beverage Management | 10 month certificate
• Chemeketa Community College | Salem | Lodging Management |10 month certificate
• Chemeketa Community College | Salem | Event Management | 10 month certificate
• Chemeketa Community College | Salem | Tourism and Travel Management |10 month certificate
• Lane Community College | Eugene | Culinary Arts | 2 year degree
• Lane Community College | Eugene |Hospitality Management | 2 year degree
• Lane Community College | EugeneMeeting, Convention, Special Events Manager | 1 year certificate
• Mt. Hood Community College | Gresham | Hospitality | 1 year certificate
• Mt. Hood Community College | Gresham | Business Management: Hospitality | 2 year degree
• Oregon Culinary Institute | Portland | Hospitality Management | 64 weeks AOS degree
• Oregon Culinary Institute | Portland | Culinary Arts Diploma | 32 weeks/56 weeks
• Oregon Culinary Institute | Portland | Baking and Pastry Hospitality | 64 weeks AOS degree
• Oregon Culinary Institute | Portland | Baking and Pastry Arts Diploma | 32 weeks/48 weeks
• Oregon State University Cascades | Bend | Business Admin: Hospitality Management Program | BA/BS
• Southern Oregon University | Ashland | Business Administration with Hospitality and Tourism Concentration | BA/BS
• Southwestern Oregon Community College | Coos Bay | Baking and Pastry Arts | Certificate (73 credits)
• Southwestern Oregon Community College | Coos Bay | Baking and Pastry Arts | AA
• Southwestern Oregon Community College | Coos Bay | Baking Management | AA
• Southwestern Oregon Community College | Coos Bay | Culinary Arts | Certificate (73 credits)
• Southwestern Oregon Community College | Coos Bay | Culinary Arts | AA
• Southwestern Oregon Community College | Coos Bay | Culinary Management | AA

More information on Culinary Scholarships.

National Restaurant Association Education Foundation (NRAEF) Scholarships
Students, military servicemen and women and others can now apply for scholarship awards to pursue their dreams of becoming future leaders of the restaurant and foodservice industry. Awards range from $2,500 to $10,000 and can be used towards tuition and fees, books, room and board and other school-related expenses. The scholarships have no age restrictions. Individuals can apply at any age, whether they're recent high-school graduates or adults looking to make a career change. Learn more and apply.

Career Pathways
Try a new and simple tool to explore a broad selection of restaurant and foodservice positions and chart a course that matches your skills with your career goals. Explore the tool. 

Learn more about how ORLAEF partners with the industry to provide workforce development solutions.

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High school culinary teams of four prepare a three-course gourmet meal in 60 minutes in front of a crowd using only two butane burners and without access to running water or electricity. Management teams develop a concept for a new restaurant and present it to judges from industry and post-secondary education. ​This ProStart competition is the capstone of the two-year program, providing a public opportunity for students to showcase what they have learned. ProStart is a national career and technical education curriculum and program developed by the National Restaurant Association Educational Foundation (NRAEF).
 
Past State Champions:
2018: Willamette High School (culinary); Bend High School (management)
2017: McMinnville High School
2016: South Salem High School
2015: South Salem High School
2014: Seaside High School
2013: Seaside High School
2012: South Salem 
2011: Bend High School
2010: Bend High School
2009: South Salem High School
2008: South Salem High School
2007: Willamette High School
2006: Bend High School
2005: Yoncalla High School
2004: Willamette High School
2003: Taft High School
2002: Taft High School
2001: David Douglas High School