Working in a highly competitive environment, where the industry is becoming more fragmented and margins remain under significant pressure, the outsourced catering industry is just one of the many sectors feeling the impact of the definite skills shortage being experienced in SA.
Graham McGregor, CEO of RoyalMnandi, says the situation is further exacerbated by the fact that many experienced project managers and catering managers are leaving the country to pursue global opportunities. ‘We are dealing with legacy issues where we inherited staff when we obtained contracts and these employees are sitting way below the required competency level. The mines are a good example where it would take us at least four years to reach the required competency,’ says McGregor.
McGregor feels that the only way to address the urgent need to upskill is by introducing a skills development strategy that starts with learnerships and then moves to apprenticeships and management development programmes. ‘One of the greatest obstacles we face is that just because a person says they have a matric or a certain degree, this does not mean they can necessarily do the job. We are concerned that the concept of practical training is disappearing and there are not enough fixed competency benchmarks. We understand the SETA’s are supposed to be looking at this but unfortunately we are not seeing the results through the system.’
McGregor believes the solution lies in investigating the various opportunities that exist for the public and private sectors to better work together to help lift skills. He also believes there is a strong need for more companies to run their own in-house training courses. ‘We are seriously reviewing our in-house training programmes to address the skills shortage and retain talent.’
For the past three years, RoyalMnandi has up-skilled an average of 60 staff annually through its internal National Certificate in Professional Cookery Learnership, presented by the RoyalMnandi Learning Academy.
‘We want our staff to be skilled to the highest level. This means they must be given the opportunity to obtain a formal education,’ says Liza Strydom, head of RoyalMnandi’s Learning Academy. ‘Our core business is that of making food, which means adhering to the quality that the client demands and ensuring that the Food Service Assistants (FSAs) and cooks have the required skills and knowledge.’
The qualification covers a wide range of key areas, bringing together elements of food and drink preparation as well as supervision.
‘Providing employees with a formal qualification forms the foundation of building a career in the food industry. Although it is a huge capital investment, it not only ensures that we retain the talent, but through putting into practice the whole ‘perceptive learning’ approach, we can up-skill and grow employees into management positions,’ adds Strydom.
As part of the learnership programme, each learner is assigned a workplace coach to mentor and provide support. The practical in-kitchen training brings the learners together with fellow chefs that have been trained and worked their way up internally. These chefs come into the training as Master Chefs to run the classes, imparting their skills and knowledge as well as inspiring the learners to work hard and achieve as they themselves have done.
‘We recently used Executive Sous Chef for RoyalMnandi Events, Sello Mlambo, to run one of the classes and the learners were absolutely amazed at the skills he has mastered and all said they want to be just like him. It’s a lovely way to demonstrate to those that have the passion and desire to go further that it is truly achievable and within their reach,’ comments Strydom.
