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Celebrating the Culture of Caring
S.Truett Cathy, founder of the very successful Chick-fil-A chain, had “Hire for Culture” as his #1 criteria in recruiting new employees at all levels. Foodservice operators who hire right have employees who care. This group needs leadership and regular feedback on their performance.
A chef’s job is not about being the handwashing police but they are constantly concerned with lowering the risk in serving their creations. Missed handwashes are the #1 contributing factor in foodborne outbreak investigations. This demands a vigilant scanning for new ways to motivate frequent handwashing and weave data into process control for handwashing.
Pictured below is the Atrio Restaurant’s celebration inspired by the kitchen’s latest addition to their Culture of Caring and their sustained gains in handwash frequency. Chef Peter Fulgenzi led the charge, starting with a risk assessment, leading to the setting of standards for handwash frequency. This made training more rewarding and successful. He succeeded in implementing a data-driven sustainable solution with the added benefit of staff-motivation.
Behind Ms. Del Boccio is a copy of the 5-Star Handwashing Award earned by Chef Peter and his staff, serving as a reminder to the staff of their accomplishment and a challenge to retain the honor. Above the handsink is a monitor, reporting on compliance levels in real-time. The handsink is Eagle’s state-of-art HFL-5000 equipped with a paperless, wireless data recording and reporting system made by CloudClean™.
Chef Peter used an earlier version of electronic compliance monitoring to dramatically increase the handwash frequency as well as the wash time over a 3 year period. His new system has successfully plugged into the Chef’s overall system of food safety. This data-supported solution now offers sustainability with a minimum of coaching and even less of policing.
