Getting Everyone Up to a Whole New Speed

Staff must be made aware of the new food waste management strategy and provided with the knowledge and skills required for their roles. Empowering staff with this knowledge falls to the Human Resources team along with General Managers and the heads of Culinary.

Reinforcing proper separation behavior during staff meetings, in employee dining rooms, and during periodic walk-throughs of the kitchen is the key to changing behavior and breaking old habits. When contamination is observed in the bins, have positive conversations with staff as to the reasons for the contamination and what can be done differently going forward. You can find a variety of training resources below, including a video series aimed at empowering staff to fight food waste.


“If you don’t make it easy on your team it is never going to happen.”

“….It’s critical to train the staff. The staff needs coaching and mentoring to build confidence.”

Training Resources for your Team


Training Videos

Watch the video series Fighting Food Waste in Hotels

Learn more

Get Posters

Print visual reminders for the kitchen for staff

Learn more

Booklet Guide

Download booklets for new hires

Learn more

Innovation in Staff Engagement

Terranea Resort saw measurable reductions in waste by activating staff through:
Removing trays in employee dining rooms. An outside study showed this action reduced food wasted on the plate by 30%
“Trash Duty” staff acted as food waste police to prevent bin contamination.
Pre-shift food waste task force presentations on food waste reduction and management strategy.
Clean Plate Challenge Photo Contest
Message board postings in highly trafficked areas
Regular staff emails with reinforcement, promotion of environmental holidays

Understanding Staff Awareness and Desires

Over 200 staff across 10 hotels were surveyed to better understand the current level of food waste prevention awareness in the industry. Results show that staff overwhelmingly want to do more to prevent food waste at work, but they need more direction from leadership. Overall, staff do not have clearly defined food waste prevention roles and responsibilities written into their job descriptions nor do they feel they have a clear directive from leadership as to what food waste reduction goals they are striving to achieve. By setting property goal

Communicate

Engage staff during morning meetings, during casual conversations on the job, or through more formal training opportunities. Reinforce as often as possible

Collaborate

Learning from peers and having peers reinforce the message can be more powerful than leadership mandating a change. Think about how to reward staff the take on this challenge and become leaders.

Empower

Encourage staff to actively observe their contribution to property food waste and find opportunities for reduction.

Reward

Provide a forum to share stories across departments and to reward staff who are helping the property achieve their goals. Make it fun!