More knowledge, less stress during audits
In a strong organisation, food safety is carried by the whole organisation. You're allowed to ask questions, employees share insights, and new requirements are genuinely understood, not just implemented. That is precisely the starting point of Eurofins Academy: a learning platform that helps organisations build up knowledge structurally, keep it up to date, and embed it in daily practice. But how do you ensure that learning actually becomes part of your organisational culture? And what does that require from management, QA and the shop floor? In this article, Max van Leeuwen and Emeli Martens-Verlouw explain why, in their view, learning goes further than just following a training.
According to Max van Leeuwen, director of Eurofins Food Safety Solutions, that shared responsibility for food safety calls for a different view of learning. “The world of product safety is developing continuously. Legislation changes, quality standards such as GFSI are being tightened, and organisations are professionalising further and further. Companies must be able to demonstrate that their people are well trained, and above all that they understand what they're doing. That requirement doesn't only come back in audits, but is also increasingly explicitly embedded in norms and standards around product safety.”
In many organisations, information is abundantly available in the form of newsletters, trade media, and updates from industry associations, etc. “The only question is: how do you make sure that knowledge lands in the organisation and is actually applied?” states Emeli Martens-Verlouw, Manager of Eurofins Academy. “Because how do you translate what you've read into your own practice? And how do you bring colleagues along? Those are recognisable challenges for many production companies. Auditors increasingly look at whether you can explain for yourself what a requirement means and how you comply with it, even if a consultant has worked something out. You're allowed to bring in expertise, but you still need to be able to explain yourself what the impact is on your company and how you implement it.”
According to Max, the challenge doesn't lie in acquiring knowledge, but in what happens afterwards. “Training can provide a lot of insight. But the real gain lies in the translation into practice. What does this mean for our processes? For our people? For the way we work? That's exactly what Eurofins Academy focuses on. The focus is shifting from one-off training to learning that moves along with practice.”
“We don't want to explain something once and then disappear again. We want to stand alongside teams. Look in on practice, come back to what's playing out in audits or complaints, and retrain on that. Sometimes on the shop floor, sometimes with management. One example of that is the Food Safety Culture training for senior management. In many organisations this theme still sits with the QA manager, while the responsibility actually lies with the board and management teams. For that target group we now develop explicit clear training courses, so that they understand and can fulfil their role. That's still often missed in practice. When leadership is visibly involved in learning, the experience within the organisation changes too. That way, learning doesn't become a mandatory box to tick, but something that fits with daily work.”
“Only once people understand what a requirement means for their own company does the knowledge really stick,” Emeli adds. With that, Eurofins Academy touches on an important difference within organisations. “For QA managers, the motivation to learn is usually there already,” she says. “But for other departments, learning about food safety is often something that ‘comes on top’. Whereas, for example, with production staff there's actually a lot of impact.”
According to Emeli, the key therefore lies not only in what you learn, but above all in how you offer it. “If you can show what it concretely means for someone's own work, learning becomes more relevant and more effective. Then it doesn't become a ‘mandatory box to tick’, but something that helps you do your job better and with more confidence.”
According to both experts, the solution lies in how trainings are structured and deployed: not as a one-off moment, but as part of a learning process that connects with daily practice.
“Our trainings are always tailor-made,” says Emeli. “We work with building blocks, different levels, and repetition. The science behind learning and development is really built into our trainings.”
The trainings are also developed by specialists who visit clients on a daily basis. “We combine educational expertise with practical experience," adds Emeli. “And where possible, we use the client's own photos, processes and house style. That makes the trainings feel as if they were made internally. In addition, Eurofins Academy goes further than just food safety, as a learning partner for issues around safety and quality for both the product and the process.”
Eurofins Academy offers various learning solutions: e-learning, live training, tailor-made programmes and knowledge subscriptions. This ranges from individual modules to multi-year learning paths, in which employees can develop step by step within their role, from production employee to senior team leader or fully qualified QA manager. According to Max and Emeli, knowledge subscriptions in particular stand up to the challenges of today.
“As a QA manager, it's sometimes hard to oversee everything you need to know and be able to do,” explains Emeli. “But ultimately, knowledge development affects the whole organisation. With a knowledge subscription, we ensure that learning doesn't stay with one person, but that we look together at which departments need support at which moment. We make sure you learn what's needed and don't miss anything. You basically get a temporary colleague: someone to debate with, who you can call with tricky questions, and who, for example, comes by four times a year. Not someone who takes over, but someone who looks together with you at which knowledge and training are needed at that moment and translates that into concrete learning solutions.”
According to Emeli, the impact of good learning lies above all in what it delivers for people in their daily work. “What we want to achieve,” says Emeli, “is that quality isn't only carried by the QA department, but is carried more broadly, from the board to production, and also translates into behaviour. That there is confidence in the quality system, less stress during audits and client visits, and that people do their work with more self-confidence. Delivering quality costs money,” says Emeli, “but not delivering quality ultimately costs a lot more. Good training is therefore not a cost item, but an investment in peace of mind and reliability.”
Max adds: “In the field of food safety, we're not competing with each other. We all share the same goal. And no one can be an expert in everything that's asked of you. That's precisely why it's important that knowledge is shared in a way that helps people make better choices in their daily work.”
Discover how learning can connect with your team's daily practice at https://www.eurofinsfoodtesting.nl/academy. Would you like to discuss specific questions on our training options or a tailor-made learning programme? Then contact Emeli Martens-Verlouw at academy@ftbnl.eurofins.com or 088-831 0330. She's happy to think along with you about what your team needs.