How Is Food & FM Industry Addressing High Turnover Rates?

In an exclusive interview, Manika Awasthi, Chief People Officer at Compass Group India, shares invaluable insights into the dynamic world of the Food and Facility Management industry. With a focus on attracting and retaining top talent, enhancing employee engagement, ensuring health and safety, and promoting career development, she provides a comprehensive overview of the strategies employed to drive success in this competitive market. 

What strategies does the Food and Facility Management industry have in place to attract and retain top talent, especially in specialised roles such as culinary experts and facility maintenance professionals, within the competitive market?

The Food Services & Facility Management industry is highly competitive, with shortage of skilled talent. As with any industry, companies first need to ensure that the basics are met such as offering competitive compensation packages including health insurance, GPA, bonuses and other benefits. Particular to the Food and Support Services Industry, training and upskilling strategies can truly make a difference – this includes functional training programmes, workshops, certifications –companies investing in training their culinary experts on multiple cuisines or investing in automation technology for facility managers. 

Also focusing on growing talent from within the companies to showcase career paths and through fast-track programs. An example of one such framework is the StepUp Programme, where individuals are trained to be role ready so whenever a relevant opening arises, they can apply to those roles. There is also continued focus on talent in specialised roles through dedicated Hi Potential programmes. Within this framework, a customised journey is designed for this pool of talent – including mentorship opportunities, action learning projects to bring their learnings to actions and role specific training.

Within the Food and Facility Management industry, creating a work-life balance also becomes crucial – Having Sunday offs allows employees some time-off. Another emphasis is on work environment and safety, which is very critical to this industry.  

What steps can be taken to enhance employee engagement and morale, particularly among frontline staff who are pivotal in delivering exceptional customer experiences?

Frontline employees have the biggest influence on customer experience. And so, keeping them motivated and engaged has a substantial impact on customer experience with tangible consequences. 

For the frontline employees, having their salaries on time becomes the biggest motivator.

A big enabler to employee engagement which may become a challenge for the frontline employees is Communication. Since these employees are always on-the-go, such as kitchens, store rooms, pantries, markets, there isn’t a standard mode of communication like office-based employees have. In such places, capturing feedback or ‘voice’ of these employees gets hampered. Digital tools can come in handy to create flow of communication – internal app/ SMS mechanism/ WhatsApp groups so that the employees feel connected. 

Direct leadership access will also play a key role in building employee morale. Knowing that the leaders care about their frontline employees and understand their challenges will build their commitment towards the organisation. Instant and visible appreciation of employees and their efforts also has direct correlation to employee performance and engagement. Ensure that employee efforts are appreciated and recognised in public. Wherever possible, include their families in the recognition to create a lasting impact. Deploying feedback survey to gather and understand the pulse of employees also becomes pivotal in driving engagement.

Majority of frontline employees relocate from their hometowns to their place of work. Long working hours and stressful environment also leads to low morale. Creating a culture of belongingness and having a family at work helps build a deep-rooted connect with the workplace. There are also programmes in place to help out employees in times of financial aid, for themselves and their families. When companies are able to help them out in times of need, it creates a stickiness and gives a big boost to their motivation.

How do you prioritise and promote health and safety in the workplace, both for employees and the individuals served, particularly in high-risk environments such as commercial kitchens and facilities within the Food and Facility Management industry?

Employee safety is the top-most priority in the Food Services and Facility Management industry. There are HSEQ (Health, Safety, Environment and Safety) experts dedicated to prioritise and ensure safety standards at workplace. There are employee trainings on health and safety, along with risk assessment and management techniques. Companies also have defined guidelines and standards around hygiene practices in place which need to be adhered to. Safety equipment and tools are in place to be used at times of exigencies or accidents. Emergency preparedness is a top focus in terms of periodic inspections, drills, audits and maintenance carried out. Overall physical and mental wellbeing has become a top priority of organisations.

How is employee turnover addressed within the organisation, particularly in frontline positions with high turnover rates?

The Food Services and Facility Management industry is very challenging as it has a relatively high turnover compared to others, with many workers starting young at 18 years old, moving away from their hometown, working on hourly basis or only working part-time while studying or taking a gap year. Frontline employees especially in the Facility services business often tend to switch between companies even for a small pay gap. In such cases, even a small financial incentive can make a difference. Companies need to look at the overall offerings to the employees, and not just the CTC. Including accommodation, food and transport along with their salary helps ensure that the employees can focus on their work without worrying about basic necessities. 

Additionally, organisations need to invest in training and learning opportunities for employees. While employees may look for short-term gains, what will eventually help will be building roadmaps for career growth for these individuals so that they are able to visualise their growth. Training programs, investing in skill building, creating fast-track careers are some of the strategies that help in employee retention. 

What strategies do we have in place to promote career development and advancement opportunities for employees within the food and facility management sector?

For those in their initial years, companies can offer cross-training opportunities within their domain. This could include positions in kitchen operations, food preparation, customer service, management, and even roles in areas like inventory management or marketing. Cross-training will enhance their skill sets, and also help them decide further specialisation. 

There are also structured training programmes with defined outcomes and hands-on experience. For example, a training programme focused on customer service excellence, or accounts management, or facilities and project management will help employees sharpen their skills. There is also focusing on growing talent from within the companies to showcase career paths and through fast-track programmes. An example of one such framework is the StepUp Program, where individuals are trained to be role ready so whenever a relevant opening arises, they can apply to those roles.

Companies can also support employees in obtaining industry-recognised certifications and credentials that are relevant to their roles and career aspirations, such as in Food Safety, culinary arts, facility management etc.