A Collaborative Approach to Workforce Transformation: Food and Nutrition Services Staff Education

Recent health care system changes have required the food and nutrition services workforce to learn new job skills, and to work with significantly less supervision. At Baycrest Centre for Geriatric Care (892 beds), the Food and Nutrition and the Education and Organizational Development Departments collaborated to budget for, plan, and implement an educational program to transform a traditional food service workforce into an effective self-managing team. The workforce actively participated in a needs assessment process to identify the skills and behaviours requiring change. Clear behavioural objectives were developed. Training sessions involved realistic video modelling, role-playing, and discussion. Crucial to the success of the training were overcoming negative attitudes and promoting positive anticipation. Indicators, such as an incident audit sheet, were developed to evaluate program effectiveness. After taking the educational program, staff are more willing to identify and solve problems requiring intervention, and are better able to discuss change and suggest options. When problem-solving, work teams focus on the issue, rather than on accusing others or being defensive. This training process is ongoing and requires continual coaching and application. If follow-up training sessions are deferred, benefits may soon be lost.