Succeed as a Director - School Nutrition · Succeed as a Director People –You •Be true to who...

Succeed as a Director

The Crash Course from a Seasoned Director

My experience

• 36.5 years experience

• Three school districts: medium, large & small

• Worked for six superintendents

• Two different states

• Benefited from long-time membership & participation in SNA

Learning Objects

1. Overview of what it means to be a director, tips & wisdom

2. Evaluate your program, track data & use available resources

3. Tell your story to stakeholders

Time to share:

As a new or aspiring director what are your concerns or

apprehensions?

School nutrition directors are leaders in a noble profession.

“It is easier to build strong children than to repair broken men.”

Frederick Douglas

“Anyone who does anything to help a child is a hero to me”

Fred Rogers

Words of wisdom from my major professor

• Behave in the community where you work

• Don’t get hung up in operations, delegate to others

• Upon your arrival do not start up like a bulldozer.

• Keep a box of tissues in your desk

At the conclusion of my career I can confirm the value of this

advice.

Your focus must be on the BIG PICTURE. Lead your organization.

• Plan

• Do

• Check

• Adjust

“A leader is one who knows the way, goes the way & shows the way.”

John C. Maxwell

Spend time in your schools, even if you can only do pop in visits.

• You get what you check

• Employees need to know you care about them & the operations

• Visits allow for coaching employees

• Most of what really matters happens in schools, not the central

office

Document each and every visit

• Short standard form (use for quick visits)

• Detailed review form (for more thorough assessments)

• Documenting each visit allows you to see how an operation is

doing over time.

• Documentation may help later with corrective action plans.

• Keep a chart of schools and dates of visits.

As a new director the job may seem overwhelming.

• Observe the program, learn current processes & develop

relationships before making changes

• Start and build

• Small steps add up to big progress over time

• Rough day? Come back to the bottom line. Were the students

• Keep a sense of humor

District size may impact what you can achieve, industry interaction,

resources available and more

• Small districts (One Woman Wonders)

• Medium size districts

• Major City/Large Districts (typically more resources & staff)

For Better Decisions Understand How Processes Actually Work

• Ask lots of questions to gain understanding

• Example – What do distributors need? How does this impact

your purchasing decisions & product costs?

• Example – Understand the commodity program and how your

requests tie into the state and federal systems.

Be aware & have basic knowledge of contemporary issues,

examples

• Clean labels

• Local foods

• Farm to School

• GMO

Time to share:

Other issues?

Try to anticipate hot topics in advance & take action in your district,

examples:

• Does your community expect vegetarian options?

• Are stakeholders looking for local, Farm to School menu items?

• Is there a perception that fresh foods are not offered?

Offer & market before concerns amplify

Carve out time to focus on projects

• Multi-tasking is a myth. Your brain can only focus on one thing at

a time.

• The good is the enemy of the best

• Schedule a block of time to work on projects

Remember – You are providing a nutrition program!

• Maintain nutrition integrity (Keys of Excellence – Nutrition)

• Be a role model

• Nutrition guidance evolves with research, politics & current

issues

• No one entity has the final word or all the answers on nutrition

“If the childhood obesity epidemic remains unchecked, it will condemn many of our

kids to shorter lives, as well as emotional and financial burdens of poor health.”

Richard Carmona

Everything in school nutrition comes down to:

People

• You spend most of your day at work value your co-workers

• Build relationships with all stakeholders

• You cannot succeed without other people

• In this profession you will make friends for life

People – Think of all involved

• Communicate with internal & external parties

• Explain the program – There is no other universe where a green

bean is not a green vegetable but a grain is a meat substitute!

• When making a decision or implementing a project consider all

involved & communicate as needed

• Know & follow the chain of command in your district

• Industry members can be good partners for information

People – You

• Be true to who you are

• Watch what you say (Would you sell the office parrot to the town

gossip?)

• Respond to questions & information requests in a timely manner

• Keep learning, growing & be open to new opportunities

• Your formal education is essential for knowledge & credibility

JFK said, “Leadership and learning are indispensable to each other.”

People – You, continued

• Engage in your profession (appropriate to your duties &

resources)

• Join SNA (& other associations, example: ACDA)

• Participate in local, state & national levels

• Attend conferences

• Serve on a short-term project, committee or as an officer

• Participate in regional projects & networks, example: NCPA

• The benefits will exceed the time & energy given

People – Organizational Superiors (What do they want?)

• Provision of nutritious, quality meals to enhance student

performance

• Good financial standing

• Problems solved by you, not them

• Communication to prevent superiors from being blindsided

• Awards and good publicity

People – Employees

• There are no perfect employees

• It is your duty to equip employees to do their jobs

• Provide the equipment & resources needed

• Provide an employee handbook. Obtain signatures & dates

• Communicate

“The art of communication is the language of leadership.”

James Humes

People – Employees, continued

• Provide initial training for new employees (Welcome to SN)

• Provide & track ongoing professional development

• Maintain documentation for progressive employee discipline

(verbal, written, corrective action, further discipline and/or

dismissal)

• Never give a bad reference – confirm employment with no further

comment

• Food safety is the highest priority

• Buy the best quality your budget will allow

• Report product problems & deficiencies, USDA & purchased

• Procurement procedures must provide free & open competition

Food, A cycle menu is a must

• Builds volume for lower prices

• Improves efficiencies (example, keeping nutrient analysis up to

date, maintaining production forms & more)

• Facilitates costing

• Improves distributor fill rates

• Aides in meeting regulatory requirements of the meal patterns

Food, continued

• Manage inventories to avoid waste

• Upon arrival check dates of inventory

• Join with others to create buying groups to build volume & lower

prices

• Make commodity choices to fit your planned menu (not the other

way around)

• Commodity foods should be viewed as revenue, not as “free”

Money - State and Federal Requirements

• In order to obtain government funding you agree to fulfill

requirements

• Participate in comment periods on proposed regulations

• Reviews are an opportunity to learn & improve your program

• Preparation for reviews - place primary focus on avoiding

monetary reclaims

• The biggest expenses are food & labor. Get these under control

• Take every vacancy as an opportunity to review labor costs

• A financially sound program allows you the freedom to do more

• Be aware of the potential for theft & put standard operating

procedures in place

• Apply for grants (consider the time involved versus reward)

To help set goals ask the questions:

• What do people say about your program?

• What do you wish people would say?

• Set goals to bridge the gap

Assess the status of your program - SNA Keys of Excellence

• Looks at the four Key areas: Operations, Administration,

Nutrition, Communications/Marketing

• Allows benchmarking against other districts

• Heightens your awareness of areas needing attention

• Others in your organization can share in the assessment

Track Data from before you arrived & throughout your tenure

• Data provides objective measurements of progress & concerns

• Data demonstrates the impact of regulatory changes

• Data can be used to tell your story

• Data allows benchmarking of your district to other comparable

districts

• Data allows you to be ready for information requests

Examples of Data to Track

• Health Department point deductions by school

• Profit/Loss

• Percent participation for breakfast & lunch

• Free & reduced percentages

Examples of Data to Track, continued

• Numbers of snacks, breakfasts & lunches served daily

• Meals per labor hour

• Cost per meal equivalent

• Keep an ongoing list of your accomplishments

Use available resources & tools. Don’t reinvent the wheel.

• Keys of Excellence

• Professionals standards hub

• Talking points, issue papers & fact sheets

• Institute of Child Nutrition

• Smarter Lunchroom Movement

• Archived SNA meetings & webinars

Use available resources & tools. Don’t reinvent the wheel

• Call on your local health department

• Ask for help from your state agency

• Extension agents may help with training

• Network, share & borrow with other directors

• Industry may be able to help with resources & training events

• Subscribe to electronic newsletters (Tuesday Morning, SNA

SmartBrief, etc.)

Tell your story - Social Media & Website

• Know your school district social media policies and

expectations

• Inform employees of district policies

• Participate as allowed by your district

• Post helpful information on your website (menu, prices, special

diet information, news releases & more)

Tell your story - Issue frequent press releases, examples

• Report on professional development activities

• Tell about Farm to School happenings

• Share about grants obtained

• Examples follow

News Release

School Nutrition Promotes Food Safety with ServSafe course for all employees

News Release

School Nutrition Back to

School Training

News Release

North Carolina Sweet

Potatoes Featured in

School Cafeterias

Release

State &

National

Scholarship

Recipient

News Release

Fresh Salads Offered by

School Nutrition

News Release

School Nutrition

Wins Best in State

for Fresh Salads

Release

School

Nutrition

Participates

in National

Conference

News Release

School Nutrition

Receives

Equipment

Grant to Display

Yogurt Parfaits

Release

Regional

Buying

Cooperate

USDA Best

Practices

News Release

School Nutrition & County

Partner for Recycling in

Schools

Release

NC K-12

Culinary

Institute for

School

Nutrition

Employees

Time to Share

• Tell about a director that you have admired and consider a role

model.

Conclusion

• Get the basics straight

• Don’t just maintain your program, advance your program

• The best to you as you serve the nation’s students

“Work is love made visible.”

Kahlil Gibran

Disclaimer

• Carol Sykes, MS, SNS (Retired Director)

• This session is presented for public service and out of personal

interest in advancing school nutrition careers.

• I have nothing to disclose. Neither I nor any member of my

immediate family have any relevant financial relationships with

any commercial industry organizations associated with my

presentation.

Professional Standards Code

• This session provides one (1) CEU

– Key Area 3: Administration

– Professional Standards Code: 3210

Retirement office:

Carol Sykes, MS, SNSbeginbuild@gmail.com

Succeed as a Director - School Nutrition · Succeed as a Director People –You •Be true to who...

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