This year has brought nothing but huge changes for the world, especially for the food industry. Shutdowns, new operational models, and re-openings at this scale are new territory for us all. Even the definition of food safety culture has changed from “what you’re doing when no one is watching” to “what you do when everyone is watching.”
Customers and employees have their eyes open wider than ever before. Employees are watching to make sure you’re not taking their safety for granted, and customers are watching closely to make sure your employees’ actions don’t ring any alarm bells for health and safety.
Even though the definition of food safety culture has expanded, that doesn’t mean the purpose of food safety culture has changed. And the purpose of creating a food safety culture plan is to reap the benefits of employee buy-in, reduced risk, increased personal responsibility and ownership of food safety and customer experience, and more.
Whether you’re starting from scratch or looking to enhance a current food safety culture plan, you may need to start with a few perspective shifts to get started. Here are five ideas to shift your plans toward the new definition of food safety culture.
- Include of Food Safety Culture in Your CSR Plans
Food safety culture isn’t just part of your food safety programs, it’s also a part of your corporate social responsibility (CSR) plans. Before the pandemic, customers were already trending toward choosing companies that ensure fair wages, guarantee safe working conditions, consider the environment with sustainability practices, and more. Now that extends even further to how you’re treating and protecting your employees during a pandemic.
The benefit of including food safety culture in CSR is the trickledown effect — if employees feel safe in their working environment, customers will feel safe visiting your locations. And no matter what crisis comes your way, showing you put customers and location employees first demonstrates good corporate citizenship.
- Treat Location Employees Like Assets
Location employees are your literal first line of defense when it comes to customer experience and safety. No matter how many surveys or social listening you do, these employees interact with your customers the most and can make or break an experience. It’s easy to blame location employees and see them as your weakest link, but what if you started treating them as the valuable assets they can be?
Instead of expecting employees to follow rules “because you said so,” help them understand the purpose behind what they’re doing. This encourages them to feel more invested in your food safety programs and it gives them a sense of purpose. And when employees have a sense of purpose, they are more likely to stay at a job and try to positively contribute to the common goal.
- Shift Toward Supportive Systems
In connection with treating employees like assets, think about whether your compliance system is tied to punishment or reward. A punitive system for noncompliance encourages employees to do enough to stay under the radar. Instead, if they feel safe enough to report shortcomings or issues, they may help you catch more small issues before they become big liabilities.