Porto's Bakery & Cafe and author of When Bosses Go Wild and 64 Life Hacks for Success

Aligning Learning and Development with Business Goals

In the food service industry, Learning & Development should not exist as a standalone function. A strong L&D strategy aligns learning to business goals by identifying the operational outcomes that matter most, defining the behaviors that drive those outcomes, building targeted training solutions, and measuring success through business performance metrics rather than training completion alone.

Instead of asking, "What training do employees need?"

Ask:

What business problem are we trying to solve?

What operational metric needs improvement?

What behavior change would produce that improvement?

In short: start with the business result, train the behaviors that influence it, and measure the operational impact.

Turning Training into Consistent On-the-Job Performance

One of the biggest challenges in food service is not delivering training but ensuring it transfers to the job. The most effective learning programs focus on reinforcement, practice, and accountability so employees can confidently transfer the knowledge from classroom to workspace. Employees are more likely to apply training when it mirrors their daily work, such as handling a product outage during a rush or responding to a guest complaint. Rather than teaching concepts alone, allow team members to practice realistic situations they routinely encounter.

Structure training around three stages:

Explain (10%) - Trainer explains the process or skill.

Demonstrate (20%) - Trainer demonstrates the skill in a safe environment.

Perform (70%) - Employee performs the skill during actual work with coaching support.

Employees apply training most effectively when learning is reinforced through practice, coaching, job aids, accountability, and recognition. Training should not be viewed as an event; it should be part of an ongoing performance support system that helps employees consistently execute the behaviors that drive business results.

Strengthening Employee Engagement through Coaching and Development

Employees often learn more from consistent coaching than from a one-time training event. Managers have a greater influence on employee engagement than almost any training program, policy, or benefit. In food service environments especially, employees often decide whether to stay, grow, and perform at a high level based on the quality of coaching and development they receive from their direct leader.

“The most successful L&D professionals are not known because they create great training. They are known because they help organizations build capabilities, improve results, develop leaders, and create opportunities for people to grow.”

Strong managers do more than monitor performance. They help employees improve performance. Instead of focusing solely on what went wrong, correcting mistakes, or completing tasks, effective coaches focus on building skills, removing obstacles, and providing guidance. A coaching mindset asks: "How can I help this person be more successful?" rather than "Why isn't this person performing?"

Here are some tips to effective coaching:

• Observe performance

• Provide immediate feedback

• Recognize correct behaviors

• Set expectations for continuous improvement

Employee engagement grows when managers help people succeed, improve, and advance. The most effective managers act as coaches who provide feedback, create growth opportunities, recognize progress, and connect daily work to a larger purpose.

In food service organizations, a simple principle often applies: people may join for the job, but they stay and grow because of the leader who invests in their development.

Measuring Training Impact through Performance and Retention

Measuring training impact requires looking beyond completion rates and evaluating whether learning improves performance and influences retention. The most effective organizations connect training metrics directly to operational and people outcomes.

Often the most important leading indicator of training effectiveness is measuring behavior change on the job. This can be achieved through observation checklists, mystery shops, and operational audits.

A comprehensive training measurement strategy evaluates four levels:

• Learning – did employees gain knowledge and skills?

• Application – are they demonstrating the desired behaviors?

• Performance – did operational and business metrics improve?

• Retention – are employees more engaged, developing, and staying with the organization?

Ultimately, the strongest evidence of training effectiveness is not course completion. It is improved business performance, stronger employee capability, and higher retention over time.

Building a Learning and Development Career Through Business Acumen

If you're looking to build a career in Learning & Development, especially in hospitality or operations, focus on becoming a business partner first and a training expert second.

Many new L&D professionals become highly skilled at creating courses but struggle to demonstrate how their work improves business results. The leaders who advance fastest understand both people development and business performance.

Be curious about people, passionate about performance, and knowledgeable about the business. The most successful L&D professionals are not known because they create great training. They are known because they help organizations build capabilities, improve results, develop leaders, and create opportunities for people to grow. In other words: Learn how the business wins, then help people develop the skills and behaviors that make winning possible.