Best Practices Policy List- Food Products

Knowledge management is passed on within an organization through a best practices policy list. The practices enable employees to know what is expected of them, thereby contributing to achieving the organization’s goals. An organization operating within a food industry ought to have policies concerning sanitation, security, conflict resolution, eating and drinking, leadership, and emergency evacuation procedures. This paper focuses on the best practices and policies and how they can contribute to a food product company’s sustainability.

Sanitation

• Regular hand washing: It is one of the methods of promoting sanitation in a workplace. Employees working with food products need to be extra careful with the handwashing technique. For instance, they should wash their hands using soap and running water for at least twenty seconds.
• Routinely clean and disinfect surfaces: It should be done using disinfectant and water on surfaces such as tables, seats, doors, and any other surface prone to contamination.
• Regular cleaning of toilet facilities: Toilets are the most dirt-prone areas and should be kept clean. Employees should ensure they use them appropriately, maintaining high standards of hygiene.
• Food handling: Every person tasked with handling food should always have the proper handling attire and accessories like kitchen gloves. Also, they should ensure proper use and maintenance. For instance, kitchen attire should be changed regularly to ensure cleanliness.
• Waste disposal methods: There are many wastes in the food production lines. All such wastes should be collected into trash bins and disposed of regularly. An employee should be tasked to dispose of the waste.

Eating and Drinking

• Designated areas and mealtime: Every employee should eat or drink in the designated areas only. Additionally, meantimes should be specified to save on time; for instance, between 12:00 am and 1:00 pm.
• Placement of dishes: After using dishes, such as eating or drinking at a mealtime, employees should place them at designated places. All the disposables should be put into recycling or waste bins.
• Eating etiquette: Employees should observe etiquette during mean times. That includes eating in designated areas, maintaining a clean environment, and not intruding on others during mealtime.

Conflict resolution

• Mediation. In case of a conflict, always look for a mediator among the staff. The mediator should perform the following.
• Careful listening. The mediator will listen to both parties involved in the conflict to establish each party’s claims.
• Discuss the conflicting perspectives calmly. Maintaining calmness will foster better and speedy conflict resolution.
• Work together. Even though conflicts are inevitable, we must work together for peace of mind and achieve the company’s vision.

In-house team leadership and meeting management

• Meeting times. All managers will hold a meeting every Friday to assess the whole week’s performance.
• Note-taking. The assigned scribe will be present at every meeting to take notes and develop minutes and reports.
• Leadership competencies. The company will be holding training and educational programs for all appointed leaders in various departments each month.

Online team

• 24-hour coverage. Due to time differences in different countries that the company will operate, online (virtual) representatives will ensure all-time phone support to cater to customers’ needs.
• Operating procedures. The virtual team will use techniques that promote customer loyalty and build the company’s reputation. For instance, they will offer a warm welcome to callers, use effective communication, and make sure to follow up where applicable.

Security

• Closing and opening doors: Each member should ensure the door next to them is open or closed as deemed appropriate. It applies to all the areas such as the kitchen, dining rooms, reception, and packaging areas. For instance, safety exits shall always be open during work hours, while all parking areas shall be closed.
• List of potential threats: Every employee will get a copy of the list of potential threats compiled by the company’s security team upon hiring. It is essential to be aware of the threats for easier recognition when they emerge.
• Training. After every three months, each member will attend a safety training or seminar. It will give them the necessary skills, including using machines in the company and handling security equipment like fire extinguishers.
• A returning accessories policy. If an employee is fired or leaves the company, they will submit all the accessories like keys and access cards to the company security department

Emergency evacuation procedures

• If conditions permit, secure your essential items.
• Always follow instructions from the director.
• Do not use lifts, and before opening a door, check its temperature first.
• Walk faster but do not run or push people.
• Keep silent to hear instructions from the director
• If you can, assist disabled people
• Gather at the fire assembly until further instructions are given.

Benefits of Creating the Policies

The policies will have many benefits to both employees and the company. Firstly, sanitation and safety practices will promote better employee and customer health outcomes (Bartram & Cairncross, 2010). Most health issues are caused by poor hygiene and unsafe working environments, prone to infections and accidents. Besides, conflict resolution practices promote a healthy working environment by mitigating assault and workplace bullying. As such, best practices ensure employees work in a conducive environment that promotes their physiological and mental health.

Secondly, the policies provide employees with an awareness of what is expected of them in various situations. They also serve as a rules book for making critical decisions when a dilemma arises. For instance, where a disagreement escalates to a conflict, employees will use the best practice policies list to identify the need for a mediator. Also, a mediator in that situation should reconcile both conflicting parties, ensuring that they continue working together. Hence, the best practice policies ensure employees are aware of their roles and expected performance through various situations in the workplace.

Lastly, the policies will help in improving customer service. Notably, most of the practices listed above aim at providing the best experience for customers. For instance, sanitation practices are vital because customers prefer food service that promotes hygiene. Hence, employees ought to ensure personal hygiene and cleanliness of the workplace. Effective management, which is achieved through leadership competencies, ensures that all employees are motivated to provide optimum customer service.

Major Ramifications

Organizations that do not utilize a best practices policy are prone to several adverse outcomes. Firstly, too much dirt and unhygienic practices may impact the company’s sales, as they discourage potential customers. Especially for food companies, sanitation is paramount and requires cleanliness practices to assure customers of the safety of products offered. Secondly, organizations without a practice policy list are prone to constant conflicts among the employees and managers. Such organizations feature workplace bullying and assaults. They have increased health risks and are an unfavorable environment for employee professional development. Thirdly, companies without robust leadership policies may fall regardless of the effectiveness of their leaders (Jabbar & Hussein, 2017). Lastly, organizations may experience increased insecurity due to access breaches. For instance, if employees who leave the company are not required to return company keys and access cards, they might jeopardize the company by illegally accessing sensitive information or facilities.

Ways in which the Best-practices Policy will contribute to Sustainability of the Company

 The first way is improving employees’ motivation. Motivated employees are focused on the organizational goals and objectives. In this context, employees understand the policies and acceptable practices for a food products’ company. They may use the policies and acceptable practices to improve performance, which has underlying benefits such as promotions and incentives. As such, employees are motivated to work hard, which leads to high sales, and profits (Ghorbani et al., 2013). In the end, the company will have the significant financial capacity to sustain itself. Besides, motivated employees are not likely to resign, which maintains talent and shared-knowledge within an organization.

The second way is to ensure customer satisfaction. One of the benefits of best practices policy is that the practices will establish the best customer service experience. Ensuring customer satisfaction increases their likelihood of returning, hence increasing the number of loyal customers. Business experts have it that customers determine the sustainability of a company (Berry, 1999). The more return customers the business has, the more it makes enough profits to sustain it in the market.

The last way is through the creation of a robust working culture. Policies should serve for a long time in the company’s future. Therefore, employees get tuned to the policies, and the practices become their organizational culture. A more robust culture influences the sustainability of an organization because employees work collaboratively to meet the organization’s goals.

Competitive Advantage over International Companies

The best practices policy may provide a competitive advantage to the company over other international companies. For instance, most companies dealing with food products are likely to attract more customers depending on the level of hygiene. As such, a sanitation practice policy list ensures an organization is at a competitive edge compared to its competitors, who might adhere to less strict hygienic practices. Besides, sanitation is a critical determinant for customers’ health; hence, customers tend to go to hygienic food stores. With proper sanitation best practices policies, the company will attract more customers. As such, all practice policies ensure that organization offers the best customer experience. The improved customer experience popularized the brand, pushing it to a competitive edge in the market.

Conclusion

Having a list of best practices policies gives employees a chance to understand what is expected of them and contribute to the organization’s sustainability. Regular hand washing, proper waste disposal, all-time online representation, leaving doors open and closed where appropriate, seeking a mediator in case of a conflict, and following emergency procedures are some of the best practices. All organizations must formulate their best practices policy because it can provide a competitive advantage over their competitors who overlook its advantages.

References

Bartram, J., & Cairncross, S. (2010). Hygiene, sanitation, and water: forgotten foundations of health. PLoS Medicine, 7(11), e1000367. https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pmed.1000367

Berry, L. (1999). Discovering the soul of service: The nine drivers of sustainable business success (1st ed.). Free Press.

Ghorbani, D., Abdollahi, D., & Mondanipour, I. (2013). An Empirical Study on the Impacts of Market Orientation and Innovation on New Product Success (Case Study: Food Manufacturers in Isfahan, Iran). International Journal Of Academic Research In Business And Social Sciences, 3(9). https://doi.org/10.6007/ijarbss/v3-i9/214

Jabbar, A., & Hussein, A. (2017). The role of leadership in strategic management. International Journal Of Research -GRANTHAALAYAH, 5(5), 99-106. https://doi.org/10.29121/granthaalayah.v5.i5.2017.1841