Q. We have our company GMP training coming up and, to be honest, we have used the same training video for at least five years. Most of the people do not pay attention to it, because we do not have the same things in our facility as they have on the tape. Any suggestions on how we can make the training better?
A.This is a very common problem that most food facilities face. Once a year everyone goes to the training room to watch the same 20-minute video. The message is good, but the delivery is a complete bore at this point. It is time to get creative!
The main challenge with using videos for training is that they were made to fit a “one size fits all” market. People just do not relate very well after seeing the same material several times. I would suggest that you use some of the simple technology available today and develop a customized training segment for your operation. You have the actors for the training already in your plant. Make your own presentation using plant personnel to show good examples of Good Manufacturing Practices. It’s also a good idea to stage various inacceptable scenarios so that employees are also aware of what not to do. The only equipment you really need is a camera and a computer to put it together.
Come up with the most common issues you have with GMP or policy compliance in the plant and display the written policy in the presentation. Then go into the plant and find situations that represent good or bad practices. Including your actual workers in the pictures and/or video footage makes the presentation easy to relate to.
Do not forget to use the power of humor to get a point across. Use good judgment and do not be offensive. There is always someone in your facility that will volunteer to be the butt of a joke or humorous training example.
You may consider asking for volunteers to develop a training session. Give them the points you want covered, and let them create the program. This is a good method, because not only do they relate to their audience better, but it also increases their retention of the issues. The volunteers will learn from the experience when they are responsible for coming up with recommendations on how to correct the issues they discovered.
You can create a little competition by awarding a gift certificate or a free lunch to the person with the presentation that best covers the GMP issues and solutions. With your new training methods in place, employees will be constantly looking for exceptions to the policies or GMPs for their next project. Hopefully, the result will be that they will have to look harder to find examples of bad issues because the training will be more effective! AIB
Do you have a question for Al St. Cyr? If so, e-mail him at astcyr@aibonline.org.
The author is Head of Food Safety Education, AIB International.