1. TEN ATTRIBUTES OF SUCCESSFUL LUNCHROOMS
Carrie Beegle, Food Service Director
Cloverleaf Local School District
2. WHY ARE YOU HERE?
Losing $ Poor Employee Moral
To get ideas…..
Kids don’t like the
food
Low Participation
Learn about Commodity Usage
What POS should I
use?
Vendor Bids vs Buying
Groups
Call Offs & Sub
Usage
New Regulations
HACCP
Health
Department
Employee
Training
Farm To School
Grant Writing
Standardized Recipes
Production Sheets
State and Federal Audits
3. TOP 10 ATTRIBUTES OF SUCCESSFUL BUSINESS:
What does this have to do with school food service?
The school food service department is the only
department in the school environment that can
actually pay for itself and not rely on the
general fund
So….for the remainder of this presentation we are going to do a little
“role playing”….
You are no longer superintendents…you are CEO’s
You are no longer school board members…you are board of
directors
You are no longer treasurers…you are executive financial officers
You are no longer food service directors…you are restaurant
managers
4. In the business world this is considered community service
and a company’s success is directly linked to how it gives
back to the community.
ATTRIBUTE #10: COMMUNITY OUTREACH
How does your food service department give back?
• Free/Reduced lunches – helps those that can’t otherwise afford a meal get a
healthy, nutritious meal at low/no cost
• How is your department run? Are school lunches considered just for the
“poor” or do you have paid students that also purchase their meals?
• Nutrition education – helps our children get the information they need to make
informed decisions regarding the choices they make and the
benefits/consequences of those choices
• Parental involvement – Do you offer cooking classes, nutrition education on
your menus, outreach to parents in need of assistance (how are they treated?)
• Media involvement – Are you a “regular” in the local paper highlighting your
department’s strengths?
13. One of the most hotly debated
topics…especially in a school
environment…many work just to get the
benefits
ATTRIBUTE #8: COMPENSATION
How do you show someone that they are doing a
good job without giving them financial
compensation?
• Frequent the lunchroom! Buy your lunch…tell them how great the meal looks
or how great it was yesterday
• Send notes/cards of appreciation
• Lunch ladies like to be treated now and then
• Invite and talk about them during staff in-services…don’t leave them out
• Brag about them…and follow it up with inviting visitors to dine in your facility
• Remember to reward the right performance and behaviors…if you keep
rewarding performance and behavior you don’t like, you continue to enable
that behavior.
14. Success has a “look”. It’s common for people to think,
“Clean it, paint it and refurbish it”…but in the school
environment that is not always possible.
ATTRIBUTE #7: WORK ENVIRONMENT
Everything about the facility should communicate and
support it’s brand identity.
Every piece of equipment should work. Lighting fixtures
should be functioning. Walls, décor, posters and pictures
should be inviting and up to date.
Dress for success applies to work environments too!
When was the last time YOU sat at a cafeteria table? How
comfortable were you?
17. Every single person that is working in your cafeterias is a sales person.
Lunch ladies have earned a “bad rap” because their position is
considered by some as being low skilled…but customer service is key to
the success of any organization!
ATTIBUTE #6: EVERYONE “SELLS”
18. WHO ARE THE CUSTOMERS IN YOUR SCHOOL
CAFETERIAS?
o Board Members
o Teachers
o Administration
o Students
o Community
Memberso Parents
o Did you know you have
customers that have never set
foot in your lunchrooms?
22. HOW?
• Watch for trends…what do you see when you
turn on the television? The radio? Go out to
eat? They spend billions on marketing and you
can piggyback on their hard work
• How can you utilize commodity food items to do
what restaurants do?
• Get all of your staff involved – they will
eventually start bringing YOU ideas!
23. Success is the result of acquiring knowledge and
mastering the skills to use that knowledge to the
best of your ability. A commitment to training and
education is non-negotiable…even for lunch ladies
ATTRIBUTE #5: SKILL DEVELOPMENT
24. WHAT ARE THE NEW REGULATIONS FOR
PROFESSIONAL DEVELOPMENT?
Directors 8 hours 12 hours
Managers 6 hours 8 hours
Staff 20 hours average 4 hours 6 hours
Staff <20 hours 4 hours 4 hours
Continuous Education/Training
2015-2016 SY 2016-2017 SY
Don’t forget the new hiring standards!
25. Structure ensures efficiency, productivity, consistency and predictability.
ATTRIBUTE #4: STRUCTURE AND SYSTEMS
We like to call them SOP’s (Standard Operating Procedures).
If your intent is to grow a dynamic, efficient, quality driven business,
structure is non negotiable.
Systems produce predictable results. Lack of structure and the absence
of systems all but ensure inconsistency in how work is done.
Whether it’s leadership, accountability, systems, standards of
performance or policies and procedures, it refers to the structure that
supports success
Anything less than deliberate and structures approach to business
infuses mediocrity into all activities. Mediocrity never wins in business.
26. STANDARD OPERATING PROCEDURES:
• Cycle Menu – more than 4 weeks
• Standardized Recipes
• Production Sheets
• Staff Training
• Station Set Up
• HACCP (Food Safety & Sanitation)
• Commodity Utilization
• Inventory
• Food and Supplies orders
• Manager meetings
• Employee Reviews
• Budgets
• Uniforms
• Job Descriptions
• Accounting/POS procedures
27. Financial Literacy is a must for your food service department. After all,
McDonalds wouldn’t keep a location open if it was losing money, would
it? So why do we accept a loss in our school food service departments?
ATTRIBUTE #3: FINANCIAL LITERACY
28. THE BOTTOM LINE…
• Know your budget
• Smart purchasing
• Buying group
• Commodity Co-Op
• Menu & Recipe Development
• Commodity Utilization
• Food Cost
• Vendor Association
• Staffing
• Call offs cost $$$
• Subs vs. Extra hours
• Training
• Meal per labor hour
• Food Production too much or too less costs
you $$
• Heavy handed servers cost you $$
• Inventory – too much takes
up space and can go to
waste.
• Customer Service – can
make or break you
• Grant Writing
29. The culture of a business represents the collective behavior of it’s
leaders and employees. Businesses that possess well-defined
cultures stand out from the crowd because they’re a joy to interact
with. Customer points of contact throughout the business feels
natural, yet orchestrated. What you don’t see are employees that
are indifferent and disengaged. Great business cultures require
leadership, systems, training, coaching, accountability and
commitment.
ATTRIBUTE #2 BUSINESS CULTURE
30. THINK OF THE CULTURE OF YOUR SCHOOL
You do everything possible to attract families/students
to your school
• Updated facilities
• High quality teachers
• State of the art Technology
• Intermural Sports Opportunities
• Testing statistics
Why do we often drop the ball when it comes
to school food service?
How would you feel if your school food service
department was a selling point to bring in new families?
31. ACCOUNTABILITY:
This is the hardest concept to overcome. Especially
when certain behaviors have been overlooked for many
years.
“We’ve always done it this way” is used as an excuse to
not make changes
IQ + EQ = E2
Intellectual Intelligence + Emotional Intelligence = Emotional & Intellectual Intelligence
Connection
Low Emotional Intelligence = Late for work, can’t wait to
leave, not connected to the district, sometimes
aggressive
High Emotional Intelligence = Enthusiastic, motivated and
dedicated
32. GREAT FOOD WILL NEVER TRUMP POOR
SERVICE
“Your business is only as good as your
worst employee”
Chef Ramsey
50% of employees don’t want to
learn and develop
Who are you developing?
33. First and foremost, the owner of a successful business functions as a
businessperson. They are engaged, accountable and drive performance
by paying attention to the business. Do you have a director that is so
engrossed in their non-leadership work that the food service is essentially
free-floating without direction, structure or systems?
ATTRIBUTE #1: LEADERSHIP
34. WHAT DOES A LEADER DO?
Everything we have spent the last 45 minutes
discussing!
FSD’s wear many hats”
• Chef
• Accountant
• Business Manager
• Counselor
• Trainer
• Disciplinarian
• Nutritionist
• Parent
• Consultant
• School Meals Advocate
• Presenter
• Cheerleader
• Grant Writer
35. WHAT DO YOU LOOK FOR IN A LEADER?
What traits to you look for in your principals?
In your teachers?
Do you look at your food service director as a leader?
Do you meet with them and mentor them to develop
their skills or do you cringe when you see them
approaching?Did you give them a specific goal when they were
hired…or work with them towards creating goals that
match the district’s strategic plans?
Do you allow them to leave the district for professional
development opportunities so that they may network
with their peers?
Do you hold them accountable for their department?
36. QUESTIONS?
Carrie Beegle
Cloverleaf Local School District
8525 Friendsville Road
Lodi, OH 44254
330-312-0312
Carrie.beegle@cloverleaflocal.org
We Fortify the Future!
Lunch Ladies Rock!
