A Solution For Retaining Employees
Cross-training packs a punch during downtimes
By Diane Brown
Photos: Dunes Learning Center
While every job has its challenges, there are even more now with this “new normal.” Of course, most people knew a pandemic was possible someday, but no one really expected it to occur during their lifetime. Sadly, many companies were forced to let go of good employees because there simply wasn’t enough work. Instead of losing good employees during a bad situation, one solution—cross-training—has proved to be helpful.
In our learning center, employing food workers as facility workers and facility workers as food workers turned out to be the answer. The impetus for this idea came when a desperate kitchen worker asked if the offices could be painted. The maintenance team, which is usually overloaded with repairs during downtime, was happy to have the extra help. Making the food and facility workers one staff has proven to be a practical solution.
Calculating Costs
To accomplish this, the administration of any organization needs to treat each employee as an investment. There will be a cost to losing trained employees when new employees must be hired when camps are full again. First, the position needs to be posted. Then, someone must take the time to weed through numerous applications to find qualified candidates. Once these are selected, the time-consuming interview process begins. When the field is narrowed, second interviews have to be held, and rejection notifications have to be sent. An employee is then hired, but that’s just the beginning. There is paperwork to be filled out—background checks, tax forms, direct-deposit forms—and all add to the cost of hiring. Then the employee must be trained. Training time is the biggest cost for an organization. Each time an employee needs to be replaced, hours of training are involved. There are organizational rules, sanitation rules, program rules, food-preparation rules, food-service rules, maintenance rules, facility rules, and now COVID-19 rules that all employees must be taught. The cost of mastering these rules is an investment. Instead, the hours and costs that go into replacing an employee can be used in keeping an experienced worker by using that person in another capacity. In this way, the organization will be rewarded with dedicated employees.
Create A Schedule
When a camp is running at full capacity, and even when everyone tries hard, many kitchen cleaning chores and facility chores get overlooked. Logically, the downtimes are optimal for accomplishing many of these jobs, especially deep-cleaning chores. Unoccupied facilities allow for open access to the kitchen, cabins, and facilities, so cleaning and maintenance can be done with a minimal time constraint or intrusion by guests. Food-service staff can be offered kitchen and facility cleaning hours to help them through the guest downtimes since food service is not needed. Scheduled cleaning hours can be made flexible to accommodate each employee, although it is very important to stay within the administration’s calculated budget. Master checklists and instructions for kitchen cleaning, cabin cleaning, and seasonal chores should be compiled to guide staff members. This downtime can be a critical component in keeping the facilities in proper operating condition. By utilizing trained food-service and facilities staff, you are assured a well-maintained building that is ready for any inspection.
An Endless List
Facilities maintenance seems to never be finished. Crews are always busy with unexpected repairs, which cause the regular jobs and preventative-maintenance projects to be placed on the back burner. Changing lightbulbs, washing walls, painting, deep-cleaning utility rooms, checking for pests, changing furnace filters, cleaning gutters, trimming bushes, raking leaves, vacuuming vents, checking mattress covers, changing shower curtains, getting into all the nooks and crannies are all necessary tasks that can be accomplished by this support staff. Now, more than ever, these simple cleaning tasks have become requirements. By retaining kitchen employees and training them in maintenance tasks, more improvements can be made, and more items can be crossed off the “needs-to-be-done” list.
Valuable Assets
Making camp the best ever is the goal of any organization. During this challenging time, innovative solutions will be required. Who better to devise these than experienced staff members? They are knowledgeable in the camp’s operations and can make the adaptations to keep it functioning. Camp evaluations are helpful as a reflection of the quality of the operation. Consistently high marks in food preparation and service are maintained with well-trained, loyal employees. Consistently high marks in accommodations can be attained by using these same dedicated employees. The administration needs to recognize the value in retaining employees who want to stay on with an organization. After going through the cost of finding qualified employees, this investment can be maintained. Having employees who are willing to help in multiple capacities is also a reflection of the integrity of an organization.
Hanging on to dedicated employees by adapting them to other useful positions is an investment that makes camp the best ever. Also, don’t forget to wash your hands!
Diane Brown is the Food and Facilities Director for Dunes Learning Center in Chesterton, Ind. For more information, visit https://duneslearningcenter.org/.