Hi Sharon,

Please forgive me in advance - I dont know anything about the school environment so in trying to unpick I may bring out things that are obvious or irrelevant but some of my initial thoughts...

Sounds like having an 'inexpensive' lead cook has not brought about the benefits that the school desired...

Regarding the food, I dont know how this works - who decides what food is to be cooked for the children? Is this a case of 'budget budget budget' or as I would hope, more about healthy filling nutritious foods? Either way, can the school not revert back to meals that worked when the previous chef who left suddenly cooked, where I presume there was no kick back from the students?

I was also wondering why the catering staff are behaving like this to the LC - has he inherited the legacy of staff who have always behaved like this or is the relationship between him and them not working for some other reason? - I only ask because I guess its 'normal' for one or two people to not have chemistry but if the team is more than just a couple of people then perhaps it is his management style that needs addressing?

I can see why he feels like he is having a bad time, perhaps feeling underpaid and unappreciated. Can the probationary review notes be revised to give some realistic guidance on timelines? This would help the LC to understand what he is aiming for. Also, some realistic guidance on what foods to prepare - foods which the kids will eat which unfortunately may not be the foods he thinks or wants to be preparing. Regardless of his frustrations however valid they may be about the students wanting 'cook in type sauces', I would see the crux here as being that from what you say that he is making food that is inedible which the kids are then not eating, so lots of empty tummies which is not good at all and therefore potentially a lot of wasteage which you guys can ill afford. The type of food served definitely has to be addressed and this guy needs to be on board - do you think he will be able to be flexible enough to work with this kind of intervention? Is he actually 'capable' of cooking appetising food? If not, this could seal the outcome of any disciplinary meeting as it sounds like he has been there less than 2 years..

The chef should be given realistic and achievable timelines to improve, he also needs to be more open to cooking food that his 'customers' want and the quality needs to improve. Also the relationship with staff need to be monitored and a decision made as to whether LC has training needs or if staff are being deliberately insubordinate and understanding why.

Otherwise the school, already on a tight budgetary leash will need utilise more money that they are short on by taking time out to canvass and recruit for another chef. On the other hand if they weigh this up, it may be 'cheaper' and save money all round if they decide to replace the LC pronto..

In reply to Cass Clothier:

*I would see the crux here as being that from what you say that he is making food that is inedible which the kids are then not eating, so lots of empty tummies which is not good at all and therefore potentially a lot of wasteage which you guys can ill afford* - Not to mention losing essential business which is fundamental.

*If not, this could seal the outcome of any disciplinary meeting as it sounds like he has been there less than 2 years.. * - unless he has a protected characteristic

In reply to Cass Clothier:

Thank you Cass for taking the time out to reply.
The menus are written by the LC taking advice from their Line manager (Business manager). I think it would be a good idea to suggest using the previous chef's menus although changing menus mid term is not usually allowed as these are published to parents so they know what to expect. The team, historically, have been a problem. Always arguing, falling out, making up etc. much time has been spent working with them but they are quite immature in their relationships. I think they have been worse since the LC came on board as have realised that he is not going to manage them, so it has been a free for all.
Good point about the probationary notes and I will see whether they can be revised to include dates etc.

I do think the problem is that while we are waiting for him to improve, the school are in danger of losing more customers, which cannot happen. It's a big shame as the catering department used to bring in a large slice of the profit for the School.

I would like to be able to sort out the remainder of the catering team , so that they can work better together. They have had so many opportunities to talk through how they are feeling (often together) and it's conflicting stories so you never get to understand what is really happening.

Hi Sharon

I’m afraid I think the LC probably has to go to save the business. Losing customers is not a theoretical risk here; you’ve lost 2 already and another is on the point of leaving. You need to buy time to sort the kitchen out without losing any more schools. If the perception of the other schools is that the problems are all a result of one cook going and other coming in, the only thing you can do which might stay their hands is to dismiss the cook and let the schools know he has been replaced. The only other thing I can think of is bringing someone in over his head. Either way, the watery rice pudding and the loss of customers because of complaints about the food sound to me as if they could amply justify failing his probationary period. Even if the feedback had been accompanied by SMART objectives, I think that watery rice pudding would still have gone out. While you think the feedback was less than optimal, he has had feedback but you have said he isn’t listening. You can’t let the business go down the drain, losing revenue the school desperately needs, while you tweak the wording of feedback to someone who isn’t going to be able to turn this situation around.

I also suspect that a big part of the problem is the behaviour of the team. It is possible that the original chef was genuinely ill during his notice. It is also possible he couldn’t take the hassle any longer and got out as quickly as he could. Saving money on the salary of the replacement was, in retrospect, a terrible decision, but you need more than a good chef, you need a manager who is up for the challenge of knocking the team into shape. “Working to rule” is completely unacceptable. One good thing the new chef has done is pick up on poor hygiene, but the good hygiene of a kitchen should be a team endeavour. That team needs to understand that there will be consequences if this behaviour continues. The next poor soul who comes in to manage this crew will have a real battle to fight: they have seen off their last two managers and will be expecting to put the next one in his or her place too. The LM, HT and you will need to make it clear that they stand behind the next cook or chef and will not allow this to happen again. If that means warnings being issued or even dismissals, so be it. If you can’t turn this around you’ll have no customers and will be making redundancies and buying in just enough Turkey Twizzlers for your own school.

In reply to Elizabeth Divver:

Thanks for your sound advice as usual Elizabeth. The reason I have been hesitant about taking this to the dismissal stage is that we use an external HR resource who have advised the following;


• His first review period wasn’t held until 18.1.18 (he started in
November 17)
• In his first review documentation it doesn’t refer to a monitoring period or if he doesn’t improve during the monitoring period he is at risk of failing his probationary period (you may have this in other documents i.e notes of other meetings
• He hasn’t had the opportunity to improve
• Fair process hasn’t been followed

If you want to move to a final hearing then the outcome doesn’t always have to be dismissal it may be that a decision to put a further period of support is put in place at that hearing and then a final is reconvened say after a 4 week period

I am meeting with the HT tomorrow, who I know is going to want to invite the LC to a formal meeting which could (most likely will) result in his dismissal. This meeting would have to be held on the first day back from half-term. Your advice suggests we can do this and I think we have little choice if we are to save the income.

Managing the team is going to be difficult and hard to get to the bottom of as to who really is at the centre of the trouble. They all moan/cry/argue and are awful to each other. We have had lots of meetings (involving the HT) together and separately and always a different story is told. Do you have any suggestions of how we can manage them when we don't know the full story?
Thank you

In reply to Elizabeth Divver:

Totally agree with Elizabeth: harsh as it may seem upon the LC, fairly clear that there’s little option but to try to avoid commercial disaster by some firm emergency action, involving recruiting and selecting someone who can both keep the customers satisfied and control the nest  of vipers that seems to make up the kitchen staff.

A ‘tall order’ perhaps, but succeed or fail, with hindsight it’s been a salutary lesson on how not to run things.

In reply to David:

Hi Sharon

Crossed with your last response - the external HR Resource sounds pretty useless to me to be honest. And your organisation’s best hope for dealing effectively with the kitchen staff is probably someone entirely used to dealing with things in commercial kitchens and the worst probably your head teacher and business manager

In reply to Sharon :

The points raised by your HR resource are no doubt perfectly correct, but in the meantime the catering business has moved on from circling the drain to disappearing down it. You have not got time to reset monitoring periods. Without swift action, you will be making most of this team redundant. Your HR resource is not getting the situation. If you start resetting objectives, this time with a date and all the other good things your HR resource has recommended, you really will be rearranging the deckchairs on the Titanic. It a hoary old cliche, but a good fit for what you are being asked to do.

Also, the advice you have been given is a bit cut and paste from a textbook. The LC was recruited to head your kitchen team. He was not recruited to report to someone more senior from the same professional background and he knew this when he took the job. I think your school was entitled to expect him to be able to run a kitchen and produce appetising meals without detailed feedback and managerial support. If this was still the Senior Assistant acting up, you would expect to provide more support but this person was supposed to come with the experience and skills to do the job in the knowledge that for all things kitchen-related, the buck stops with him. Possibly because of skimping on the salary, that isn’t what you’ve got. Having said that, he has been given feedback in “many conversations” even if it doesn’t match a text-book example of best practice, and he hasn’t listened. He has actually had a review, even if it wasn’t on the date the HR resource thinks it should have happened. He is failing on the two main measures of his job: producing decent food and managing the team. I do not think it is unfair to call time on this now.

I’d try and do it as humanely and fairly as possible. Invite him to a meeting, tell him dismissal may be an outcome, at the meeting listen to what he has to say and then take a decision. I can’t think of anything he could say that could change the outcome - he isn’t going to be able to turn this around. If that’s the way it goes, acknowledge his contribution to raising hygiene standards, tell him that on reflection his skills would be a great fit in a different environment, but he isn’t the right person for this job. Offer him an appeal.

You need to get someone in very rapidly who has got the skills to get good wholesome food out to the schools that remain. This will cost you, but if it were me I’d look for a specialist agency that can provide catering staff at the right level of seniority or a catering company who put someone in to run the kitchen. If you get resistance on using budget, I’d point out the value of the revenue from the two lost schools versus the money saved on the chef’s salary. You have another school poised to go. People talk to each other. Other schools will be watching how this develops and wondering if the solution the two schools you have lost have gone for would work for them too.

You are managing a crisis. Your Head (or whoever is appropriate) should send something out to your remaining customers acknowledging that standards had slipped, apologising and thanking them for their feedback and patience, and informing them that they should see a change from now on. Be ready with a statement in case this does attract local attention and brief everyone on the staff on who should handle any queries from press, radio or tv - school dinners have made the news before now.

Regarding the team, I would think performance management was appropriate. You have had “lots of meetings” but “always a different story is told” - not unusual in investigations, formal or informal. It shouldn’t stop you forming a view on what is going on. Peter has written an excellent piece on reasonable belief which you will find in the Discussion Threads of Note section. However, having tried talking to them to find out why they are behaving as they are, I think you need to move on to setting some standards and, if necessary, enforcing them. Have they all had hygiene training? If so, I would be conveying that proper hygienethis is non-negotiable and formal action will follow if anyone fails to achieve the standard set. Poor hygiene in a kitchen that feeds the children of several schools is completely unacceptable. If this isn’t sorted out, you will be in the local media as the cause of an outbreak of food poisoning or the kitchen will get inspected and shut down. Or both.

The one point where I have some sympathy for the staff is leaving on time. My guess is that these are low-paid jobs. If they can’t get the job done in the time allotted *when they are working properly* - heavy stress on “properly”! - you need to look at staffing levels or pay overtime. Your school was making a profit out of this kitchen; that profit shouldn’t come from low-paid staff working additional hours for nothing.

What was the cause of the last chef’s absence during his notice? Was it stress or anxiety? If so, that was a warning sign.

You could be the person who saves this situation, or you could be the person that the management team sees as faffing around not getting it while the whole revenue stream slips away and the kitchen has to be radically cut or closed.

In reply to Elizabeth Divver:

Thank you Elizabeth I really do appreciate the advice you have given and will put this forward to the HT/BM in the hope that they will agree. I will come back to let you know the outcome.

In reply to Sharon :

The alternative of course is to recognise that you may well have an unsustainable business model that is sucking up vital resources and time from Senior Management that is taking them away from their core duties (teaching kids). The risks / rewards aren't sustainable and therefore you need to exit out of this service and at best retain cooking food for just your own school/schools but for no ones else's. You just aren't good at doing this and don't have the size and scale to become good. So exit stage left, run it all down and move on.

If not I would go with Elizabeth's advice.

In reply to Keith:

Hi Keith, thank you for your contribution to my issue(s). I did consider this option over the weekend when trying to think of all possible solutions and think you might be right. We aren't good at providing a solid catering service to external clients and the hassle involved with the team just compounds matters further. I do believe this is where we may be heading but it will take the Leaders/Governors a while longer to agree. This is all learning which is positive, for me anyway.

In reply to Keith:

My thoughts exactly, Keith.

Sharon... are you part of an academy trust... or a school which has this side business? If the latter, is it entirely separate? If not, are school budgets entangled in so far as the performance of the catering business positively - or negatively - affects teaching resources? Are school governors qualified to effectively run this business? I have so many questions...

Hi Sharon - I tried to edit the title of your thread so that it is less generic. I've changed it... but hope you don't see it as 'flippant'. I can appreciate this is causing you a lot of concern.

In reply to Sharon :

In spite of my advice, this also crossed my mind. I was listening to a programme on Radio 4 about councils all around the country that have tried to shore up their budgets by amassing an investment portfolio. Some of them have discovered that investments can go down as well as up and have got into a real mess. Budget cuts have pushed all sorts of organisations into all sorts of stratagems.

In this case, there is an immediate crisis to deal with and nothing else that we know of to fill the hole in the budget. It really is a mess, but however you look at it, your HR resource is in cloud cuckoo land if their best advice is to set better objectives. You need to think like a businesswoman as well as an HR professional.

In reply to Elizabeth Divver:

Just to observe that it *can* make a a compelling business case to supply meals to other schools, but both very careful cost and management accounting and business management is needed.

You need to cost out the full implications of pulling out of meals totally and buying them in yourselves compared with the comparative costs of producing your own and that plus selling them on to other schools. Presumably the school already has the premises and equipment so cost of food plus employing prep and cooking and managing staff has to be accounted for: some will be fixed costs and some marginal costs, so if the school  can sell meals to other schools for more than the marginal costs of making the extra meals, you're at least offsetting the fixed costs you'd have to pay anyhow, just doing it for yourselves alone.

But unless there's the business management competence to cope with all that, it might indeed be better to get out of the kitchen completely - or to change the management......