By Paul Suplee

Resources

acfchefs.org The official site of the American Culinary Federation. Certification guidelines can guide a kitchen manager to ideas on class topics.
chefspencil.com A consortium of chefs and their ideas, with recipes and articles dealing with many contemporary and classic dishes. Free sign-up.
ciaprochef.com The Culinary Institute of America's continuing education site, which offers classes and professional education. After you have completed courses, it is a natural leap to share this information with your staff.
gigachef.com An excellent professional chef networking site, with recipes, information on the business, training ideas, and an "Ask the Chef" function.

Deciding to train your staff formally in a structured, hands-on fashion can seem a daunting task for many chefs. Often we internalize, and sometimes even vocalize, such questions as, "Where would I find the time in my already overbooked schedule?" In-house training can contribute huge value to an operation and its leaders, since it can empower staff and often lighten the workload of the manager. But for many chefs this extra duty appears on the front end as an expenditure of precious time and money.

Building Leadership and Drive

The idea of an in-house culinary instructor brings forth some of the greatest traits in ourselves as leaders of kitchens. As Brad Barnes, CMC, CCA, AAC, and president of gigachef.com, states, "From the perspective of great leadership, you must position yourself as an expert and become the 'go-to' for training your employees." While chefs can claim the in-house culinary instructor title for themselves, the honors also can be bestowed upon sous chefs and qualified line employees. Not only will this help them grow and learn (we learn more as we teach), but it will give the staff a diverse educational platform. Another benefit, according to Chef Barnes, is breaking up the monotony of routine: come to work, do your job, and return home. An instructional program will challenge your managers to be more than mere overseers of the business. They will become mentors and stronger leaders, and they'll be energized by the experience. Their pumped-up morale and production will likely reduce your workload as the chef-manager. An efficient kitchen naturally runs more smoothly, necessitating less energy and expenditure at the hands of everyone, making this a win-win scenario.

Here are some thoughts . . .

Decide on the subject to be covered and determine the length of instruction. Chef Barnes suggests, "Do some research on the topic, decide how the material will be delivered, and then write an outline of the items to be covered during the training." Developing your game plan with a clear set of goals is imperative. Among other things, your thorough preparation will demonstrate to the staff that you are concerned with their career development and success-an invaluable, intangible benefit to additional training.

Keep instruction fun and entertaining. "The topics of safety, sanitation, and food handling should be well dispersed among more interesting and exciting subjects so that training does not become too dry or laborious," notes Barnes.

Consider certification requirements when designing your classes. Chef Barnes, a past chair of the certification committee for the American Culinary Federation (ACF), comments, "From the perspective of both the trainer and the trainee, expanded knowledge supports certification very well. The topics may be directed even to the needs of a specific certification level. The whole idea of certification is to build a career ladder that is verifiable and quantifiable by experts at every level, and this directly supports that goal." A final thought from Barnes: "I think this concept is really taking us back to the idea of the mentor system in which a kitchen supports its employees and builds them into better people, thereby generating growth and strength. This ultimately builds a prosperous, productive core for the well-being of the business."

Paul Suplee, CEC, PC III, is currently a culinary teacher at a technical school in Maryland. The author of The Heart of a Kitchen: Quips of a Rambling Chef, he spends his spare time making artisan truffles, demonstrating kitchen equipment and techniques, and writing.