You're training F&B staff. How can you blend hands-on experience with theoretical knowledge effectively?

Staff need to know that it's all about safety. It's easy to focus on food safety and protecting the consumer, but hot liquids, greasy floors and sharp knives are not the kind of things you want to see in a children's playground. It’s these dangers that should be addressed first. If a first aider or firefighter needs to remove a patient from a dangerous situation, they only do it if they can ensure their own safety. It’s the same with a busy kitchen scenario. Only prepare or cook food in an environment that’s safe to work in. The work areas need to be kept safe for staff even when it means the customers have to wait for their orders. Nobody goes to work to get injured. The two core concepts are: Stay safe. Keep the customer safe.

Before diving into hands-on tasks, equip your staff with a solid theoretical base. Cover fundamental topics like food safety, customer service, and basic beverage knowledge. Use interactive methods like role-playing to make learning engaging. This foundational knowledge empowers staff to excel in their roles and contribute effectively to the team's success.

Q: You're training F&B staff. How can you blend hands-on experience with theoretical knowledge effectively? To me the most simple approach is the best. A: Lay out the steps and the concept in a very clear and concise manner. B: Trainer demonstrates, and talks about each step in the process while gathering feedback/questions. C: Have trainees show what they have learned. Repeat. Important to hold back correction until completed.

There’s a wealth of knowledge that most F&B staff know, from colour-coded chopping boards to fridge storage etiquette, so playing a “what goes where and why” game, is a great way to interact with a team. The curveball of this game is that you may get suggestions that help change and improve the working environment, such as reorganising dry food stores or implementing one-way systems.

Simulated service drills, fire drills, and medical drills can all be great fun and a great learning curve. By its very nature, the F&B industry attracts staff that (On the most side!), tend to be people-friendly, and I always think that if the trainer adopts the role of an overseeing manager, they have lost out on role play from the start. I encourage teams to imagine that they are not in a restaurant but at drama school, and they can go as crazy as they want. Trust me on this, no one forgets the day or what they’ve learned.

Learning often comes through experience; one of the best assets a workforce can have is older, wiser, more experienced staff. By placing the right staff together, the younger staff can learn without realising they are being taught. On a more formal approach to continued learning, it’s often good to think outside the box and encourage staff to develop skills not immediately associated with their trade. The library of cost-effective online courses is extensive, so staff can learn about correct manual handling techniques, good management practices, fire safety, or the latest news on allergens at a time and pace that suits them.

A feedback loop is a deafening scream coming through speakers when the sound from the speakers re-enters a microphone. We really don’t need to adopt descriptive phrases for what is essentially, talking. In a non-formal way, ask each team member what they thought of their training. Ask them to score the training for: ? Content ? Delivery ? Importance/usefulness Once everyone's results are in, give each category a score based on everyone's input, but don’t include anyone's name. Stick the results on the notice board so that staff can see that their opinion counts. Talk to them again in passing to see if they have any ideas on improving their training or other training topics.