The president of RizePoint offers up five solvable challenges to elevate quality and safety protocols in the foodservice sector’s new normal
The massive pivot of operations forced by coronavirus feels overwhelming to virtually everyone. New protocols for health and safety are huge concerns, and the worry that many businesses may not survive is palpable.
I’m hearing many companies express concern about the increased risk and liabilities around coronavirus, including possible damage to their brands and reputations. Many are choosing to take every precaution to keep their employees, customers, and businesses safe.
Elevating quality and safety
Despite all these challenges and more, I believe there are ways to adjust to our new circumstances and work to survive — and maybe even thrive — during these uncertain times. I’m going to highlight five solvable challenges you can address to elevate quality and safety protocols in our new normal.
- To help employees understand and follow new protocols and existing brand standards, increase self-assessments at every location. Since travel and interpersonal interactions have been devastated by Covid-19, it’s been challenging for businesses to obtain regular third-party audits – integral to access and analyze key data and ensure safety compliance across an enterprise. An upcoming industry trend will be implementing continuous quality improvement. Instead of relying solely on annual corporate or third-party audits, companies will start conducting more frequent self-assessments for broader visibility in all locations. Digital tools, including mobile apps, make it simple for companies to self-audit, gather insights, collect, and analyze data, determine compliance, and implement corrective actions, as needed. Additionally, digital tools boost visibility by location, providing continuous quality and significantly increasing safety and compliance. While the Covid-19 pandemic has inspired this trend out of necessity, I predict self-audits will become widely adapted and implemented during the pandemic and beyond.