Campus food can be a healthy alternative for busy students on the go—but not for students in a hurry. As someone who eats on campus a lot, sometimes I’m waiting up to half an hour or more to get my order. This deplorable “fast food” time frame isn’t uncommon at Carleton Dining Services locations.
Often, staff seem confused about what they are supposed to be doing and do not put the customer first, resulting in service that is very, very slow.
But I’m not here to bash the staff. It’s clear they need more training, and the lack thereof isn’t their fault. If anyone, I am annoyed at the management.
I worked as a trainer at McDonald’s for four years in high school. There is no McDonald’s on campus, but the flow of any fast food chain is essentially the same.
Mistakes like failing to constantly switch positions while working on the table at Subway, workers figuring out their own break schedules while they’re on the job, and having staff wander aimlessly behind the bar because they do not have or are not following a floor plan are errors that make me cringe, and they make customers wait much longer than they need to.
Managers are rarely seen working alongside staff, guiding the flow of the floor. Management should be constantly hovering and helping everything run smoothly while customers are being served. They are the people who are supposed to jump in when a section is struggling, rather than letting staff do it on their own and guess at proper procedure. Management needs to be more involved on the floor, not less so.
Dining Services locations on campus are likely busier than average because of the compact nature of university campuses. But this only increases the need for proper staff training. Such a constant rush of customers can be stressful for a well-trained staff, and even more so for under-trained workers.
Aramark currently holds the contract for Carleton Dining Services, a company that holds the title of America’s largest food service provider in schools and prisons. The absence of competing companies on campus means that Aramark doesn’t have to improve their customer service to be successful—but it should be a priority no matter what.
Earlier this year the company made headlines when Memorial University students were served moldy and otherwise unacceptable food. This is another problem that more, and better, staff training can solve.
I had about 15 hours of base training when I was hired at McDonald’s, plus ongoing meetings, reviews, and quizzes, along with more training if we were learning a new area of the store. We set goals and were consistently timed on how long it took for customers go from entering the store to exiting it, food in hand. We had timers and trackers and if we achieved these goals we were rewarded; managers motivated the workers to be the best we could be.
It doesn’t seem like Aramark goes through these exercises for their employees. I’ve met very few Dining Services workers who seem to genuinely enjoy their job–most seem like they are just doing it to get by, to pay for school, or because it was the first place that would hire them.
Playing games, setting goals, and being rewarded are ways that the management can change that mediocre, complacent attitude. It is an extension of training that will improve employee retention, which will allow more money to go back into training.
But all I know is that I don’t want to wait 25 minutes for a Subway sandwich when there are less than ten people in line. Students buy food on campus because they have a busy schedule and things to do—and that doesn’t include waiting in lines.
