The 10-Minute Manager's Guide To Cross-Training Staff

By Lisa Bertagnoli, Special to R&I -- Restaurants & Institutions, 8/15/2004

If an employee does one task really well, why take the time to teach her another?

Companies that cross-train fire back a list of reasons, and good ones: By keeping workers interested and motivated, cross-training cuts turnover. It creates loyal, multiskilled employees that chains need to open new locations. Cross-training increases productivity and pares labor costs, and it lays a foundation for careers rather than dead-end jobs.

Large operation or small, “cross-training is not a luxury,” says Roland Henin, corporate executive chef for Buffalo, N.Y.-based Delaware North Companies. “It’s a way of doing things.”

Learning From the Pros

Once a year, Delaware North Companies’ chefs and sous-chefs get a treat that some foodies only dream about: a week at Greystone, The Culinary Institute of America campus in St. Helena, Calif.

Delaware North created the Chef’s Summit, as the week is called, last year to give its 60 chefs and 40 sous-chefs the opportunity to meet and learn from each other. “We thought that taking people out of their units for a week at a time would be good to build camaraderie and get them to focus on self-improvement,” says Bruce Fears, president of the contractor’s parks and resorts division.

The week includes classes with the company’s Certified Master Chef Roland Henin, seminars on trends, workshops to create signature dishes, and time for fun and networking. The remote location works well, according to Henin. “It’s a good climate in which to absorb new techniques,” he says. “Chefs are more relaxed among other chefs.”

The summit costs $2,000 per person for the week, according to Fears. Last year, Delaware North held one 19-person summit; this year, two sessions will accommodate 40 chefs.

Henin points out that the summit accomplishes more than cross-training for those who attend it. Back at the operations, “the sous-chef is left on his own for a week. That’s the best time for a person to cross-train, when the chef leaves the operation,” Henin says.

Training By Request

Cross-training doesn’t come without a price tag. That’s why Cameron Mitchell Restaurants wait for employees to make the first move.

Since opening its first unit 11 years ago, the 22-unit multiconcept company has offered employees a program called Pass The Plate, which allows them to job-shadow for a day in another area of the restaurant, or even in the corporate office. “We felt it could be a recruiting opportunity,” says Carolyn Delp, vice president of marketing at the Columbus, Ohio-based company.

Two employees have chosen the marketing department, and one shadowed David Miller, the company’s executive vice president of operations. But Delp says that most shadowing takes place at the store level, with most interest from front-of-the-house employees who want to learn the back of the house.

Employees who shadow get their wages for the day, plus a $25 gift certificate to a Cameron Mitchell restaurant.

Cross-Training Up the Ladder

At the 90 Cosí sandwich restaurants nationwide, cross-training enables employees to move up the career ladder.

From the start, all workers are trained in two of the units’ five stations, says Suzette Wolfkamp, senior director of training at New York City-based Cosí. Baker and oven-line positions, prep and oven line, and barista and server are common cross-training combos, she says.

The employee’s main position requires five days of in-store training with a “commando,” Cosí’s word for its trainers of hourly employees. After training, employees must pass a 20-question written quiz and a practical test as well. Subsequent positions require one to three days of training.

Employees who become versatile in two positions become commandos in one, and commandos who master two positions are promoted to shift leader, a process that can take four or five months, Wolfkamp says. Employees’ wages increase with every step up the career ladder. In addition, trainers are paid $1 extra an hour when they’re training other employees.

Cosí launched the system three years ago to boost internal promotions and productivity. “They weren’t where we wanted them to be,” Wolfkamp says. These days, 95% of Cosí’s managers are promoted from within, and the stores have been able to shave 2% from labor budgets.

The high promotion rate is especially beneficial to the chain, Wolfkamp says. Employees who have worked their way up “really know the concept, plus there’s a loyalty factor,” she says.

Looking Into the Future

New employees at bd’s Mongolian Barbeque don’t waste time wondering where their job will take them. The Ferndale, Mich.-based chain of 23 stir-fry restaurants has a program that lets workers chart their own course.

Career Quest mandates that each employee have two areas of responsibility, says Billy Downs, bd’s founder and president. A chef could host or bus tables or a bartender work the food bar, for instance. The program is available to full- and part-timers.

Employees who want to move up must master those two areas, which takes about three months. They’re then called specialists, and are in charge of training. Employees who master five areas (host, server, bartender, griller, kitchen worker) are designated as mentors. Perfecting all five stations takes about a year, Downs says.

The current program makes a few changes to the original cross-training plan, which trained workers in all five areas from the start. That wasn’t a good idea, Downs says. “We found that people became jacks of all trades and masters of none.”

Career Quest made its debut in January at a cost of $200,000, and it’s already having a positive effect on operations, Downs says. Because employees are busy and motivated, turnover has dropped to 30% from 150%. Productivity has increased, resulting in the elimination of two positions during nonpeak periods. Plus, several employees are working their way toward management positions.

Mixing It Up From Day One

At the three corporate locations of Boston’s The Gourmet Pizza, employees begin cross-training their first day on the job. Staffers run through every function in the back and front of the house that initial day, according to Cathy Gainey, training manager for Irving, Texas-based Boston’s, a chain of 18 pizza restaurants. “Every person hired is introduced to every area of the restaurant,” she says.

Employees then plot their own course of cross-training. If they’re interested in the bar, they have the opportunity to work there in various positions; kitchen employees learn all five back-of-the-house stations. Those who want to become managers or franchisees learn the entire operation, a process that takes eight to 12 months.

The cross-training method, which pairs novices with employees who already know the ropes, costs around $500 per month per store. If training involves extra hours, the corporate office picks up the tab for overtime, Gainey says.

Since the program was launched two years ago, Boston’s corporate stores haven’t lost a single employee due to job pressures. “Turnover is virtually nonexistent,” she adds.

Another benefit: Eight of the company’s nine corporate trainers and a franchisee have emerged from the program. Plus, dozens of employees have moved up the ranks from buser to server, their wages increasing as they go. “The more you take on, the more you make,” Gainey says.

Lisa Bertagnoli is a Chicago-based freelance writer.