5 Best Practices For Training Your Kitchen Staff To Go Green

Remodeling your commercial kitchen to become eco-friendly involves a number of changes - from installing more energy-efficient appliances to using greener cleaning products to explaining to your staff why being green is important.

 

Below are 5 best practices to implement when training your kitchen staff how to be green.

1. Plan for a staff meeting - an official, mandated meeting conveys the importance of your green initiative. Also, having everyone present keeps information consistent amongst staff, even when they work different shifts. Show your employees that you value their time and their effort by paying them to attend the meeting.

2. Fully educate your staff - be sure to make time to explain why greening your business is important. Use a variety of training techniques so that your staff are engaged - group activities, games, and visual aids go a long way toward creating employee buy-in. One method I've used is a Jeopardy-style board where teams can enjoy some friendly competition. Note: This is a good culmination activity; people need information before the game can be played. It's a terrific way to see who was "paying attention".

3. Delegate responsibilities - kitchen staffs everywhere are familiar with this best practice. That's how they survive the fast pace of mealtimes, by each having a specific job that keeps everything running smoothly. Keep your environmental efforts running smoothly, as well, by delegating jobs that lead to a greener kitchen. For instance, one person is in charge of monitoring the recycling bins, another is king of the compost, etc.

4. Keep transition time in mind - it's difficult to jump right into a new routine, so be sure to allow time for the transition to greener practices to take effect. One way to reinforce desired changes is to lead the charge - make sure your employees see you recycling, turning off lights, closing fridge and freezer doors, and so on. If it seems like your staff is not quite getting the hang of things, create a wall chart or signs to help them remember eco-friendly concepts. Clearly label recycling bins, reusable cups for staff breaks, and anything else that needs it.

5. Be supportive, reward with praise - people like to be recognized for their efforts and achievements. Inexpensive ways to do this are: create a recognition poster with the employee's photo, and encourage others to write positive things they notice this person doing on the poster. Social media is a terrific way to give a shout-out to staff, and it lets customers be part of the green experience, too. Have a monthly "Show Me The Green!" contest where staff can nominate each other - based on eco-friendly practices they notice - for a small cash prize based on effort and performance. Or simply tell your employee that you appreciate his/her effort, and be specific and detailed so that it rings true.


A transition to greener practices is a team effort. By realizing the importance of these environmentally friendly practices, reinforcing key concepts together, taking shared responsibility for implementation of new routines, working toward transition together, and supporting one another with positive praise, going green may just bring your kitchen staff closer together.

Wondering how to green-ify your business? You might like my article It's Easy Being Green: Strategies For Making Your Business Eco-Friendly.