Page 15 - foodservice magazine Feb 2019

EDUCATION
15
A. B.
involved in the industry on a daily basis.”
At Melbourne's Attica, Australia's most consistently named best restaurant, restaurant manager Kevin McSteen says that staff are given days off to pursue external education.
“'Training' is always on the tip of every staff member’s tongue,” he says. “An active education program ensures that staff are on an upward learning curve and this is the key to staff morale and retention.”
Engaging and sharing experiences with other hospitality professionals is vital for every career too, he says.
It's a collaborative and creative industry that perpetually faces the threats of competition
and slim profit margins,
so a strong community is the best support.
And chef and founder
of Food for Thought Mal Meiers agrees. In November he spoke at Grow about mental health in the industry and
the importance of building
strong relationships within it for professional and emotional longevity.
Grow Assembly is the
first giant leap for laying groundwork for more community-focussed training, and for demonstrating to employers the waves of benefits that they and their employees reap from continuing education.
“When you invest in staff training you make sure that you are ... maintaining their passion for this profession,” says Harel.
A. Grow Assembly B.Left to right: Grow Assembly co-founders Vicky Symington, Michael Bascetta, Meira Harel and Banjo Harris Plane.
PHOTOGRAPHY: ALEXANDER SPROULE-LAGOS