The work of catering and cleaning sector professionals is transforming – how do employers keep track of their competence and well-being?
Robotics, automation, digitalisation, and artificial intelligence. Technology of all kinds is already used in catering and cleaning sector jobs, and it will increase in the future. This means a lot of new skills requirements for people who work in this sector. In this blog post the topic is discussed by JHL’s Education Policy Specialist Heini Wink and JHL’s Specialist in Occupation-Specific Activities for Catering and Cleaning Sector Virpi Matikainen.
Programmable ovens and boiling pans have long been used in the catering sector. For example, the boiling pans of professional kitchens can be scheduled to turn on and start cooking before the staff arrives to work. Ovens take care of the cooking process automatically when the user simply selects the right programme based on the dish and the number of servings.
Automation of food production methods develops rapidly. New technology solutions make it possible to prepare many kinds of meals in different amounts correctly and safely. For example, use of cold cook and chilling functions enables a central kitchen to send the right number of portions to smaller units where the food is heated just before serving.
Meanwhile in the cleaning sector we see more and more often automated cleaning robots that work at their own steady speed and keep the floors clean. This frees up the professionals’ working time to those tasks that the robots cannot handle yet, such as the cleaning of vertical surfaces.
Paper forms will soon be history
Also many other processes that belong in catering and cleaning sector work are these days electronic and driven by different automation solutions. Own-checks, wastage monitoring and ordering of supplies are nowadays mostly digitalised. In the cleaning sector, order notifications of cleaning locations are also managed electronically.
In many places the onboarding materials for new employees are already available in digital format, which means that all work sites do not necessarily have paper folders anymore.
A key benefit of using digital materials is that updating information is easier than before. Giving up paper printouts is also environment-friendly.
How are employees educated?
This is a good time to have a look at how employees are managing all this digitalisation.
Work may be reshaped at a rapid pace and many new software products and machines may be introduced at the same time. Educating the employees to use all these is critical. It takes time to learn a new method or way to operate.
With all the time pressure they have, do the employees really have that time and a chance to learn new things or develop their professional skills to match the demands of working life and their workplaces. And what happens to well-being at work when the pace at work is hectic and the employees are constantly learning new things? Do workplaces keep track of these things and if they do, how is it done?
There are obstacles that are hindering competency development
We want to bring up once again career development discussions and remind what an important and powerful instrument they are. They can help to keep track of an employee’s learning needs and competency development, as well as their well-being at work. An annual discussion between the employee and the employer provides the means for staying updated on these matters.
In 2020 JHL conducted a survey for its catering and cleaning sector members. The purpose of this survey was to learn about their opportunities for professional competency development and about how well-being at work is realised in their workplaces. There were more than 1200 respondents from both catering and cleaning sectors.
Almost all respondents answered to a question about the importance of developing their professional competency that they consider it important. About 80 per cent had opportunities for development in their workplace.
About 70 per cent of the respondents answered that competency development is usually discussed in career development discussions. But 30 per cent of the respondents answered that either this topic was not discussed in career development discussions or career development discussions we not at all conducted in their workplace. This raised the question and concern about which forums are used to discuss competency development with these respondents (30%), if it is not done in career development discussions.
We also asked about obstacles of competency development in workplaces. The biggest obstacles that were named were busyness and problems with organising a replacement. Another obstacle that was brought up was that competency development is not considered important. 16 per cent of the respondents found that their manager does not consider it important.
Some respondents also answered that their organisation does not support competency development and that it is not assessed in career development discussion. Lack of money, too, affects development opportunities.
Hurry and heavy workloads reduce well-being at work
According to the survey, sickness absences were the most usual metric for employees’ well-being. More than half of the respondents answered that career development discussions and surveys about well-being at work are used for keeping track of well-being at work.
When asked about obstacles for realisation of well-being at work, most respondents named constant hurry and excessive amounts of work as the biggest obstacles.
Lack of open discussion or the manager’s failure to address problematic situations at work were also mentioned. Other obstacles included conflicts between individuals in the work community and inappropriate behaviour. Based on the answers, often wellbeing at work is not discussed in career development discussions and workplaces do not have a practice of regular meetings.
Career development discussions matter!
Be quite truthful now, all you catering and cleaning sector professionals. Do you work in a workplace where career development discussions are not conducted? Is it perhaps because you as a manager or employee don’t consider them necessary and they seem more like waste of time to you?
Or could it be that you have not discovered why career development discussions should be conducted and what significance they have for working, developing the work and well-being at work. And has your organisation understood the value of career development discussions as an instrument of dialogic and goal-oriented leadership?
Maybe the career development discussions in your workplace are not called career development discussions. Maybe they are called performance appraisals, annual reviews or something else.
Career development discussions mean scheduled and planned professional discussions between the employer and their manager. They are conducted periodically and systematically.
The discussion helps in developing the employee’s competence and professional skills for future challenges at work. At the same time the employee’s basic job is reviewed and updated and their well-being at work is assessed. Good career development discussions also help build the cooperative relationship between the manager and the employee.
All employees, including you, need to have the right and the opportunity for a career development discussion with the manager at least once in a year. That allows the two of you to discuss the questions, development suggestions and other important matters regarding you work without haste.
You manager will learn how you are doing and how it’s going for you in your work. So do not hesitate to approach your manager and ask for a career development discussion if you think that you have not had one in some time or ever. It’s about time for it!
Authors:
JHL’s Education Policy Specialist Heini Wink and Specialist in Occupation-Specific Activities Virpi Matikainen
