Food Protection Trends - November/December 2021 - 596

Culture of Learning. Learning should be prevalent throughout the organization and include continuous improvement
of existing education and training efforts, as well as significant changes or innovations in employee learning. This will lead
to many improvements throughout the organization (11).
Agility, Nimbleness and Resilience. Agility is the ability to make rapid changes and have flexibility in operations.
Organizational resilience, as seen by some companies during the SARS-CoV-2 pandemic, is the ability to anticipate, prepare
for, and recover from disasters, emergencies, and other disruptions. Then, when disruptions do occur, they have the
ability to protect and enhance workforce and customer engagement, supply chain and financial performance, organizational
productivity, and community well-being (11).
Innovative and Creative. Driving innovation and creativity is vital in making meaningful improvements to products,
services, programs, processes, operations, and other aspects of the company for all stakeholders (11).
Focus on the Future. Focusing on the future means developing future leaders throughout the workforce in the
organization and also with suppliers. It is directing attention to developing and establishing effective succession planning,
creating opportunities for continuous innovation and anticipating societal responsibilities and concerns (2).
Data Driven Mindset. Often thought of as " management by fact, " this value requires measurement and analysis of an
organization's performance, both inside the organization and in the competitive environment. In today's world, this means
data analytics, and that refers to the process of examining datasets to determine insights, trends and draw conclusions
about the information they contain. A thorough analysis of performance measures and indicators can provide valuable
insights on decision making in an organization (11).
Social and Environmental Responsibility. Organization leaders should stress responsibilities and contributions to
the public, ethical behavior and the consideration of societal well-being and benefit (11). Many companies have active
community programs to benefit people who live in areas where the company operates.
Companies should also focus on ethics and protection of public health, safety, and the environment. The protection
of health, safety, and the environment of an organization's operations, as well as the life cycles of products (resource
conservation and waste reduction) is of paramount importance (11).
Focus on Results and Creating Value. Using the information and results gained from analyzing key performance
indicators, companies can balance value for key stakeholders. These outcomes, in addition to financial results, should include
information on product and processes, customer and workforce satisfaction and engagement, as well as leadership,
strategy, and societal performance (11).
A Systems Thinking Approach. A systems perspective means managing all the parts of the organization as a unified
whole (a systems approach) to achieve the mission and strive toward the company vision. A systems perspective also
includes using all the measures, indicators, core competencies, and organizational knowledge to build key strategies (11).
Ethics and Transparency. In addition to the Baldrige core values and concepts already mentioned, organizations
also should stress ethical behavior by all workforce members in all transactions and interactions. Senior leaders should
be role models of ethical behavior, including transparency, thorough candid and open communication by everyone in the
organization and by the sharing of accurate information (11).
Organizations normally address food safety issues and problems, as well as other challenging situations, by allocating
a variety of resources, including monetary resources, technological innovations and personnel. Of these, personnel
is often the one resource that does not receive as much attention as the others, since a company workforce is already in
place. So let's talk about people. People are one of the major assets of any organization. As Robert Reich, former U.S.
Secretary of Labor and currently a Professor at the University of California, Berekely, said, " The only asset a company has
that cannot be duplicated by any other company is the skills and talents of its people. " Very true! Think about it...how can
a company or organization prosper, grow, be successful in the marketplace and advance, without a well-trained, strong,
knowledgeable workforce, dedicated to company values and mission, working toward a common goal of producing, processing,
transporting, distributing, preparing or merchandising safe foods? Employees in the food industry need to
perform their job responsibilities in food safety and quality with consistency, each and every time they perform them. Many
companies have on-boarding training, refresher training, on-the-job training and many other kinds of programs designed
to provide employee with more information about their job tasks. But, are these programs working and are they really
effective? Several of the surveys previously mentioned indicate that there are significant deficiencies in worker education
and training that need to be addressed.
Recently, several books, reports, white papers, and surveys have shed light upon the changing dynamics of the U.S.
workforce. While time doesn't permit the discussion of all of the information contained in them, several key highlights are
worth noting.
* In a 2019 PWC survey, 79% of CEOs worldwide are concerned that a lack of essential skills in their workforce
is threatening the future growth of their company (4).
* In a 2019 Deloitte poll, 53% of executives said that between half and all of their workforce need to change their
skills over the next three years (4).
* LinkedIn Learning reported that 59% of Learning and Development professionals globally are focused on rebuilding
and reshaping (upskilling and reskilling) their organizations this year (4, 9, 10).
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Food Protection Trends - November/December 2021

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of Food Protection Trends - November/December 2021