Special Promotional Feature

The tourism industry organization’s training initiatives have earned acclaim across the foodservice sector.

Industry challenges are, generally speaking, best resolved using industry solutions. This notion, coupled with awareness that British Columbia’s industry training system wasn’t meeting industry needs, led to the formation of the Industry Training Authority (ITA) in 2004, as well as Industry Training Organizations (ITOs) as the mechanism to revamp training throughout the province. 

The first ITOs — each comprised of industry representatives — improved training in their respective sectors: horticulture, automotive and residential construction. However, go2’s appointment as an ITO by the ITA in December 2006 was unique. “go2 was a pre-existing organization, plus it took on responsibility for not one but three sectors: tourism, hospitality and foodservice,” says ITA CEO Kevin Evans.

Now that four years have elapsed, is go2’s venture a success? If its first order of business — revamping the Professional Cook Program — is anything to go by, the answer is a definite yes. “Prior to our involvement, $10 million was being spent every year in BC to give 100 cooks their Red Seal certificates,” says go2’s CEO Arlene Keis. “By contrast, our revamped program has just ended its first full year of operation, during which time 700 certificates were issued.” 

BC Chefs Association president Donald Gyurkovits describes his profession as having been “elevated enormously” by go2’s work. He says the traditional perception of cooks as being low-skilled labour is already changing in BC. “The program is inspiring chefs to take on apprentices,” he says, “and it’s sending a strong message that cooking isn’t merely a job, it’s a rewarding career.”

Established by the industry in 1979, go2 supports tourism and hospitality industry growth by strategically addressing industry’s challenges of attracting, training and retaining employees. By the time ITOs were being created, go2 was intensively committed to labour market research, career awareness and certification programs like emerit and Serving It Right^TM. “We thought taking on the industry training mandate made sense and would be a good fit,” Keis recalls, explaining that go2’s overall mandate is to coordinate and implement the BC tourism industry’s human resources strategic plan, which includes training. “When we were approached to revamp the Professional Cook Program, which was a badly outdated mechanism, we lost no time getting to work,” she says.

Prior to go2’s intervention, talented cooks in BC received no provincial certification other than Red Seal, which takes years and enormous dedication to acquire. “Plus, our industry is constantly changing and evolving, and the training techniques of the old system didn’t reflect that,” says Gyurkovits.

Gyurkovits credits Dennis Green, go2’s senior manager for industry training, for assembling “the best industry professionals from hotels, restaurants and learning institutions.” He adds that “a lot of egos were at the table, but because we were so frustrated by our training system, we singularly focused on what was best for our profession.”

Led by go2, the task group transformed the Professional Cook Program into a three-level skill system with certification for each level: Professional Cook 1, Professional Cook 2 and Professional Cook 3/Red Seal. Employers can hire an apprentice at any level, work with that person to attain certification, then either continue to the next level or keep the apprentice employed at the current certified level. The progressive credential is more aligned with the career paths of professional cooks. “It makes our profession appealing to a broader range of people, and establishments that take on apprentices qualify for tax incentives and credits,” says Gyurkovits. “Also, having certified cooks in one’s kitchen is a powerful marketing tool.”

Gyurkovits is noticing that “big and small companies alike are offering the program to their employees. Meanwhile, Alberta is currently revamping its cook program and has been in contact with go2, so it looks like our formula can be duplicated to a certain extent.”

go2 is also receiving enthusiastic feedback for its test-piloting of the new Multiple Assessment Pathways (MAP) program, which seeks to give skilled cooks an alternative way to obtain trade credentials. According to Daryle Nagata, the new chef and director of food and beverage at Edgewater Casino in Vancouver, the MAP initiative is shaping up to be a useful complement to the Professional Cook Program; at his previous position at Pan Pacific Vancouver, he put two apprentices through the pilot project. “MAP is an ideal certification alternative for talented cooks because it takes a holistic approach to assessment,” he says. “It provides multiple assessments — written, verbal and practical — that collectively determine the candidates’ competencies.”

MAP involves having a Red Seal-certified chef evaluate the ability of a cook challenger to meet the occupational performance standards set by industry. “Amongst other things, MAP will more consistently quantify the holder of a Red Seal due to its multiple assessments,” says Nagata. “Prior to this, the Red Seal didn’t have a lot of value in my eyes. For example, someone could obtain the Seal by just passing a theoretical test without having to do a practical exam.”

For his part, Kevin Evans praises go2 for “achieving success as an ITO in a short space of time. It’s a remarkable accomplishment, it sets the bar for other ITOs, and it’s proof that as the labour market seeks ways to secure best practices, go2’s approach works.”

As an HR professional, Keis encourages others in the profession to shape technical training for the future by getting involved in your sector’s ITO. A complete list can be found at www.itabc.ca.