How can we facilitate the work of catering staff?

Foodservices occupy a pre-eminent position in the French food landscape. From school canteens to retirement homes, staff play a vital role in ensuring that meals are distributed smoothly and that diners are well looked after. But with staff shortages becoming a growing problem, how do you guarantee impeccable service? We reveal our top tips in this article!

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What is the role of a catering agent?

The catering agent plays an essential role in preparing and distributing meals, welcoming guests and maintaining catering equipment and areas, whether in environments such as school canteens, homes for the elderly or crèches, always ensuring strict compliance with hygiene standards.

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Recruitment challenges in the foodservice sector

The catering industry, although often little-known by the general public, is a rich and complex universe, requiring specific skills and unfailing commitment. However, the reality on the ground reveals considerable recruitment challenges. The demands of the job, combined with sometimes staggered working hours and the pressure to deliver quality service, can make attracting talent a daunting task.

Team loyalty, too, is a headache. In an environment where every detail counts, from the meticulous preparation of meals to the optimal management of guest flows, how do you ensure the long-term stability and well-being of your staff? While recruitment is a key issue, it cannot be considered in isolation from the sector's other challenges. An efficient response requires a holistic vision, encompassing strategies for ongoing training, improving working conditions and exploring new methods. These include digital methods, to simplify and energize agents' day-to-day work.

👉 Find out more: Our 9 tips for finding restaurant staff

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Technology at the service of foodservice

The integration of digital technology in foodservice is not just a trend, it's a major development aimed at optimizing every facet of the profession. Wisely used, technology becomes the agent's right-hand man, giving him a tenfold capacity for action.

• Optimization of day-to-day tasks: Digital tools specially designed for the foodservice industry can automate certain repetitive procedures, manage stocks in real time, and anticipate supply requirements. This optimized management reduces waste, cuts costs and ensures better meal preparation.

• Enhanced service quality: With smoother systems, agents can focus more on the quality of the service offered. As a result, interactions with guests become more personalized, creating a bond of trust and increased satisfaction.

• Training and skills development: The digitalization of training is an undeniable asset. Accessible at any time, online training modules allow you to learn at your own pace. Whether it's a question of acquiring new culinary skills, keeping abreast of current regulations or assimilating good service practices, digital training is a pillar of professional development for our staff.

• Centralization and organization: digital platforms centralize information, providing an overview in just a few clicks. Whether you're managing reservations, tracking consumption or guest returns, everything is at your fingertips. 

Digitalization: a lever for efficiency and modernity

In an ever-changing world, the use of digital technology is becoming increasingly essential to meet the challenges of the foodservice sector. Far from being mere gadgets, digital tools are real catalysts for performance, adapted to the specific needs of this sector:

• Queue management: In an environment where every minute counts, optimizing waiting time is essential. Thanks to innovative digital solutions, it is now possible to regulate guest flows, anticipate peak times and offer a more pleasant experience for everyone. By using intelligent pre-ordering systems or real-time alerts, establishments can ease congestion in busy areas and guarantee greater customer satisfaction.

• Payment systems: Modern technologies are also redefining the financial transaction. More intuitive digital cash systems minimize the risk of errors, speed up the process and offer a variety of payment options, from contactless to mobile billing, simplifying the task of agents and providing a smoother experience for diners.

• Ongoing training: Developing the skills of our teams is crucial to guaranteeing quality service. With the emergence of e-learning platforms and distance learning modules, staff have access to a comprehensive range of educational resources. Whether they need to familiarize themselves with new sanitary standards, adopt new culinary techniques or master digital tools, ongoing training, made more accessible thanks to digital technology, is a major benefit in raising the skills of our teams.

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How can you put digital to work for your agents?

Foodservice relies to a large extent on human resources, and the tools available play a crucial role in facilitating agents' work. Discover 3 solutions designed to support foodservice staff.

1. Flatbed scanning

Tray scanning is a technological solution that is proving to be a real asset for catering staff. Much more than just a time-saver for diners, it considerably lightens employees' workloads. How does it work?

One of the main advantages of tray scanning is that it frees employees from repetitive cashiering tasks. This means they can concentrate on higher value-added tasks, such as serving and welcoming guests. This technology reduces the pressure on their shoulders and increases their productivity, allowing them to concentrate on their core business.

For managers, this solution helps optimize payroll, as it frees employees from cashiering tasks while enhancing the guest experience. No need to wait in long queues, guests simply come up to the machine, scan their tray and pay using a pre-loaded badge. Diners enjoy faster service, and staff can devote more time to greeting and serving, improving the overall restaurant experience.

👉 To find out more: Tray scanning with AI revolutionizes catering

2. Control terminal

The order terminal is another Innovorder solution that simplifies the work of catering staff. It enables diners to order and pay independently, freeing staff from cashiering tasks. As a result, they can devote themselves to high value-added tasks such as kitchen preparation and welcoming guests.

This system is familiar to many diners, as it is widely used in commercial catering. Its ease of use and playfulness are appreciated by diners. More and more foodservice sites are adopting kiosks to modernize the guest experience.

3. Kitchen screen

During service, the manual management of purchase orders gives rise to numerous errors, which generate :

- dissatisfaction for your customers,

- stress for your teams

- and lost productivity for you.

To revolutionize your order management, there's an optimized system for managing orders in the kitchen: the KDS. Instead of using paper tickets or traditional order forms, the KDS transmits orders directly to the kitchen team via a digital display system.

By synchronizing order taking (cash desk, kiosk, etc.) with your kitchens via a kitchen display (or KDS), you gain in productivity and drastically reduce your margin of error. 

This system provides better visibility and clarity of controls, as information is displayed clearly and legibly. This avoids errors and oversights associated with manual reading of controls. ‍

What's more, the KDS instantly dispatches preparation orders and dishes by station, saving your teams precious time.

Digital solutions recap

• Flatbed scanning to automate repetitive tasks
• The order terminal for delegated order-taking
• The kitchen screen to save your agents time and avoid errors

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Innovorder is the leader in digital solutions for commercial and institutional foodservice. Our team supports restaurateurs in their digital transformation with an all-in-one solution (cash register, kiosk, online ordering, KDS).