HR for Corporate caterers: what to set up first

Think of a caterer feeding a software park at noon: nine hundred plates across two cafeterias and a pantry on every floor. The dal is fine. What goes wrong is a server who snaps at a developer, a cook who does not turn up after Ganesh Chaturthi weekend, or a token machine that counts differently from the plate tally. The facilities head sees all of it and raises it on the Monday call.

Anyone running corporate catering, this is a build order for the people side. Matters shared with every kitchen group sit on the catering and institutional food services hub.

A cafeteria runs on rules the client sets: serving windows, menu cycle by weekday, live counter days, guest meal protocol and what is free versus charged. Often these live in the head of the kitchen supervisor. Write them on one page and give a copy to every new cook, server and helper.

• Client name, facilities head, security desk number, and the person above the facilities head.
• Windows for breakfast, lunch, evening tea and night snacks, with tray return times.
• Menu cycle, festival specials and any diet rules, such as no onion or garlic on fasting days.
• How tokens or coupons are verified, and what to do if the system is down.
• Uniform, hair net, glove and apron standard, and where staff can change.
• Escalation: cook to kitchen supervisor to area manager, with phone numbers.

Most failures cluster in two windows. The first is the early prep, when vegetables are cut, dal is on the burner and the first tea trolley moves at eight. A cook arriving late there delays everything. The second is the lunch peak between twelve and two, when queue discipline and counter manners are tested.

1. 1

   6 a.m. roll call

   Supervisor or lead cook confirms who is in, who is on leave, and which relief person is covering. Absences are known by 6.15, not 11.

2. 2

   12.15 counter check

   Trays loaded, sambar and curd topped up, a second billing or token line ready, a runner assigned for the live counter.

3. 3

   2.30 close and handover

   Cold-room check, leftover log, wash-area clean-up, notes for the evening shift and the next morning.

Clients pay per plate or on a fixed headcount. Token machine data, plate counts from the dishwash line and the invoice should align. When they do not, someone blames a server. Give a store keeper or a coordinator the daily reconciliation and a rule that gaps beyond a stated tolerance are reported the same day.

Two or three trained people who rotate across sites absorb absences, events and sudden headcount changes. Pay them a modest premium for flexibility. Give each a short brief for every site, because turning up at an unknown cafeteria without notes is how mistakes happen. For the roster, use the attendance, shift and leave process for corporate caterers.

Clients audit kitchens without warning. A cook who forgets a hair net or a helper who handles cooked rice with bare hands can end a contract. Name a hygiene lead per site. Give that person a daily sheet: cold-room temperature, fryer oil change, colour-coded chopping boards, pest-control visit dates, handwash station stock.

• Medical checks for food handlers filed with a due date for the next one.
• Apron and cap issue register, signed on joining and on replacement.
• Separate boards and knives for vegetarian and non-vegetarian lines in mixed cafeterias.
• A leftover disposal log that the kitchen supervisor signs daily.

Diwali, Pongal, Eid and Onam weeks empty kitchens. Staff travel to villages and some do not return on time. Decide in advance how many may leave at once, who gets first choice this year and who next year, and what happens to a worker who returns late. Put the rule on the site brief so it cannot be argued from memory.

Servers face the same four hundred faces each day. Teach three phrases in the languages diners use, one way to deal with a complaint without argument, and the habit of calling the supervisor early. The customer service skills page has role-play ideas.

Event days need a plan too. A launch lunch for two hundred guests pulls hands from the daily counter. Brief a banquet captain, borrow from the relief pool, and tell the regular crew a day before, so tiffin boxes and snack trays still leave the kitchen on time.

List dining feedback, wastage trend, absences covered, complaints closed and hygiene checks done. One page. Walk the facilities head through it. This turns the Monday call from a list of grievances into a review of facts.