Not only do CFE Training online courses educate your employees, they help you stand out from the crowd
By Sara Perez Webber
To train or not to train? It shouldn’t even be a question.
The time and money you invest in training your employees pays off in a variety of ways. And with the online training courses offered by CFE Training, in partnership with Foodservice Training Portal, you can reap those benefits affordably and conveniently.
There are a lot of requirements in place for business operators,” notes Leslie Bucher, director of business development for Foodservice Training Portal. “But looking at these trainings as a ‘have to do’ instead of a ‘should do’ can be detrimental. The CFE Training courses help you operate safely and efficiently while you’re putting forward your best product.”
In fact, the advantages of CFE Training courses go beyond the education of your employees. CFE Training courses can help you:
Engage your employees. Let’s face it. The foodservice industry is having a hard time retaining employees—as are other industries. According to Gallup, seven out of 10 U.S. employees feel unengaged with their jobs. “It’s easier to walk away if you’re not engaged, because there’s no connection to that workplace,” says Bucher.
By investing in employee training, however, an employer is showing employees that their presence is valued within the organization. “While some training may be compliance-based, it’s still an opportunity for employees to feel excited about learning and growing, and to form a connection,” adds Bucher. “If you establish that from the beginning, employees will be more inclined to stay long-term. It doesn’t fix the immediate staffing shortage, but it helps employees to stay longer and to grow.”
Reduce your risks. “Most operators believe they are operating safely, but it is our belief that they truly are unaware of many of the risks that may be out there,” says Bucher. “The key is to implement standardized best practices.”
Some jurisdictions mandate training in such areas as food safety and sexual harassment—which CFE Training courses can satisfy. Yet in most states, operators offering CFE Training courses will be going above and beyond what is required for crew-level employees. Whether the training is required by law or not, the lessons help to establish protocols and increase employees’ understanding of proper procedures, minimizing risksand repercussions.
Maximize your investment. The affordability of CFE Training courses means you’ll be improving your business in a cost-effective way. “Our pricing takes into consideration all the facets of this industry—including staff size, turnover, hourly constraints—and makes it not cost-prohibitive to make sure a large rotating staff gets the information they need efficiently,” says Bucher. “Typically, to have an instructor come out to speak to one set of employees one time starts at a minimum base price of $300. Most CFE Training courses are priced at $299 and provide training for up to 30 students over a period of one year. So, with the bundling of packages that CFE Training offers, not only is there cost savings, there’s inherent flexibility, greater content options and the ability to train a larger number of employees.”
Foodservice operations at such universities as Penn State, Northern Michigan and Duke have utilized Foodservice Training Portal’s online courses for at least five years. Employing many students, these institutions have a large amount of turnover. The online courses enable the universities to train each new employee on demand, individually, instead of waiting for a large group of students to assemble to be trained together. “We have reduced [the universities’] costs and increased their efficiency, which is why they continue to integrate the training into their onboarding,” says Bucher. “You want to do this in the most streamlined way possible, and classroom training just doesn’t allow you to do that.”
Stand out in the marketplace. Once you’ve invested in your staff members’ education, you should let your customers know—after all, you’ve invested in an improved experience for everyone walking through your door. “Operators are fighting for every available customer dollar,” says Bucher. “When you layer in additional training on everything from driving sales to inventory control to customer interactions, you can really differentiate your business.” Bucher suggests spreading the word on social media that you’ve implemented CFE Training. “It’s a marketing bonus,” she says.
CFE Training On-Demand Courses:
- Restaurant Training
- Food Safety Training
- Allergen Training
- Gluten-Free Training
- Sexual Harassment Training
- Anti-Bias Training
- Food Waste & Sustainability Training
- Wine Sales & Service
- Beer & Spirits Sales & Service
- Customer Service Training
- Active Shooter Prep
- Workplace Violence
- Server Training
- Bartender Training
- Kosher Training
- Halal Training
- Unique Concept eStart (Strategies to Differentiate Your Concept)
- Integrated Marketing eStart (How to Effectively Use Low/No Cost Social Media & Paid Marketing)
- Manager eStart (Ensuring Competency and Consistency in Your Management Training)
- Best Staff eStart (Hiring the Best Staff to Power Your Operation)
