Campus Dining 2030 and Beyond - 113

Session 4
THE THINK TANK
PROFESSIONAL DEVELOPMENT
Once an employee is hired, the organization must develop them so that, over time, they have a path towards
growth and promotion. Many employees (though not all) want progression in their duties, where they learn
more and are given the opportunity to carry more responsibilities, usually leading to a promotion. While there
must be organizational structures in place to foster these activities, it often starts with the mindset of
employees' direct supervisors. One suggestion is to provide training for those supervisors. Developing these
supervisors can help them move them from simply managing their followers to leading them. This change in
outlook will support the growth of the followers as leaders should always be concerned with the development
and progress of their charges. This change in mindset can be advanced beyond supervisors to more senior
veteran employees that embody the values and characteristics expounded by the organization through a
mentorship program. By training these senior employees to mentor the next generation of talent, the
organization is leveraging the knowledge and mentality of their best to inspire those that follow.
Training programs are the traditional go-to for encouraging employees to advance through the ranks.
However, in far too many cases the programs do not have the requisite clarity or substance to assist
employees to make genuine strides in their careers. It is suggested that any training program should have
'teeth' and clarity so that all stakeholders understand the competencies and the pathway that will elevate
the employee from one rank to the next. There should be no ambiguity as to what an employee needs to do or
learn to develop within the organization. Finally, employees that are developed within university and college
foodservices have great potential to other organizations outside of that environment, and even outside of
foodservice. This realization should be leveraged as motivation to encourage employees to want to develop
themselves further. While some employees may indeed avail themselves of the training and development and
then subsequently move on to other opportunities, it is also likely that many will appreciate the development
as well as the benefits and culture present and decide to stay. This results in a more talented pool of
employees from which to pull the next promotions.
Student employees also need to be considered when discussing the labor issues in college and university
foodservice. The conversations surrounding student employees resulted in two main concepts: provide
meaningful opportunities and align their work with their futures. Student workers can often be relegated to
less important and menial tasks. It is suggested that operators find more success with student employees by
offering them more meaningful opportunities to contribute to the community. As with full-time employees,
student employee development fosters the acquisition of skills and aptitudes that may translate to work
beyond the college or university and bolster resumes. This notion could be further enhanced by creating a
position within the organization that specifically allows more qualified students to oversee other student
employees. The person in this position could identify ways to align the foodservice work with their major and
or interests, thus providing alignment across multiple areas of the student's life. This in turn could aid the
student in building their resume and competencies for the careers post-graduation.
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Campus Dining 2030 and Beyond

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