Solve Employee Training and Competency Management with Icicle ERP

As the global economy recovers from recent supply chain disruptions, there is still one issue causing great challenges for food manufacturers. In 2022 alone, labour and skills crises cost the Canadian manufacturing industry an estimated $7.2 billion as businesses were hit with penalties, delivery delays, and lost contracts caused by understaffing.

Food manufacturers in particular rely on workers to participate in food safety and traceability compliance activities, making the stakes for finding and training staff more acute. Especially for job positions with high turnover rates or large vacancies, food manufactures require an advanced solution to ensure that employees receive necessary training and that errors in training management don’t end up costing your company in terms of safety, quality, or your bottom line.

Why is Employee Training a Big Problem for Food Manufacturers?

Inadequate employee training is a threat to the safety of the workers and can also pose significant financial and legal risk to companies due to recalls and other food safety issues. On the flip side, well-managed competency management can significantly reduce risk: a global 2022 survey from Intertek Alchemy reported that tailoring employee training to a specific job role increased the likelihood that the employee would take action to prevent a food safety incident by 60%. The survey results underscore the importance of skills training for the food manufacturers in particular and highlight the potential long-term benefits of adopting a more systematic approach to training in general.

However, when understaffing and high turnover rates are added into the mix, managing employee training is easier said than done. Even scheduling training times for new workers adds pressure with short-term losses in production efficiency. And high turnover rates increase the risk that training may be undermined by bad practices or misinformation passed down from other employees in an effort to be efficient and get back to usual levels of productivity.

Here’s where technology can provide the support you need to manage training for unexpected events like sudden employee transitions to the kind of long-term strategic planning you need to achieve success. With user-friendly automation systems, food manufacturers can:

• Enable leadership to assess the status of employee training at a glance, schedule training efficiently, and verify training completion
• Bridge competency management with regulatory compliance, so you never have to worry about lapsed training threatening your certifications and market access
• Decrease the potential slip ups in employee training that could jeopardize both food safety and worker safety

Let’s find out how it works with Icicle ERP’s integrated training competency management software.

3 Steps to Better Competency Management with Icicle ERP’s Training Records Matrix

Icicle’s Training Records Matrix connects all departments of your business to manage the training status of your employees from one centralized, easy-to-use place. This interface doesn’t only make it easy to view and manage training – the system will also notify managers when training is required or about to expire to ensure your company is always up-to-date on food safety and compliance standards.

Managers can also assign training tasks to employees to ensure clear communications and deadlines, complete with notifications to keep everyone on track. Even during labour crises and supply chain issues, we’ll show you just how easy it is to manage employee training to stay on top of food safety compliance and maximize productivity and profit.

1. Assign Your Skills and Procedures to Users

Imagine you hire a baker at a facility. Icicle ERP users can be linked to Icicle Skills, which are groups of procedures that you have linked with a defined job. After a user account is created for the new employee, navigate to their User Detail page and assign the correct skills.

In our example, once you designate the “baker” Skill to the new employee, Icicle will then automatically assign them training associated with the linked procedures for that Skill, in this case:

• General Food Safety Policy
• GMP procedure for Personnel Hygiene
• SOP for Enhanced Employee Health and Hygiene SOPs for Use During Pandemics
• SSOP for Ovens
• Mixer Manual (or other equipment training)

You can customize which procedures from that Skill should be assigned to that user as well, or create new Skills directly from the User Details page. Skills and procedures are always customized to your account, letting you adjust training requirements for users at any time. In addition, you can assign individual procedures to a user without Skills, giving you maximum control over important regulatory compliance matters.

2. Track Training Status and Enhance Leadership Competency

After training is assigned to the user, their training progress can be tracked from the Training Records Matrix found under the Work Safety tab. Different star symbols are used in the matrix to indicate if an employee requires initial training, has soon to be expired or expired training, or if their training is in good standing. This makes it crystal clear to see which employees need to complete or refresh their training.

In the example above, managers can see at a glance that the new employee’s initial training is incomplete – and if other employees need refresher training too, allowing you to combine training for efficiency. If you introduce new procedures that require training (for example, procedures associated with a new certification program or regulatory requirement), you can track employee training or retraining in one place.

3. Create Training Records with Accountability

Once you’ve set up training requirements for the new baker, you can create Training Records for the necessary training by clicking on the “+” icon. Select the trainee and the procedure for training and assign a due date to clearly communicate that the training must be completed within the designated time frame (or indicate the date training took place).

When you assign training, Icicle’s Task Management feature will alert the employee that a new task has been assigned. Tasks and notifications streamline communication between management and workers to ensure accountability for completed training.

Once training is complete, the new employee can electronically sign their name to the training record directly from the Icicle interface. Icicle will automatically record all the necessary information for compliance, including who approved the completion of the training and when. And with the updated Training Record saved, the Training Records Matrix will show a green star for that employee – indicating that their training is in good standing.

Embrace Innovation and Strategic Thinking with Icicle ERP’s Competency Management Software

Icicle’s automated employee training management features lets you quickly assess the status of employee training and customize training procedures to be job-specific. The Training Records Matrix is just one of many features from our food and beverage industry specific software that strengthens food safety culture while optimizing both productivity and profit for your company. With Icicle, forget about the tedious struggles of staff and data management, and focus your energies on growing your business and embracing success.

Did you know that Canadian companies can apply for funding to support new hiring and skills upgrading as part of a digital transformation? Find out more >>

Learn how Icicle ERP can help you navigate labour disruptions and compliance requirements. Request a demo to see it in action >>