Mary was new to this senior long-term living community. Susan recognized that and struck up a conversation with her as they filled lunch carts to deliver to residents. Susan asked how she came to work here as a food server.

“I worked at a different facility for five years,” Mary said, “and I wasn’t happy there anymore. A new food server was a bully, caused problems between long-time coworkers in foodservice. The new administration wouldn’t correct the situation even though it was brought to their attention. My friend Betty has been boasting about how good it is to work here for a long time and encouraged me to apply for a job. I was nervous about coming to a new place and learning new ways, but I am so glad that I did and I’ve only been here for a couple of weeks. What a difference!”

“Have there been other differences?” asked Susan, curious to know what it was like in other communities. She had worked only at this one, was content, and had no reason to leave.”

“Well, to start with, if we had been caught talking like this, we would have been called into the office for a reprimand for wasting time. Talking with other food servers was discouraged. ”

Susan laughed. “But we aren’t wasting time, we’re still working. Besides we are encouraged to know each other and to ask for help if we need it. We work together and depend on each other. Remember to also get to know the residents you serve. They like knowing who is bringing their meals and are more comfortable asking for help when they need it. When they are happy, we are happy. It makes for a better place to work.

“We also have a great administrative staff that jumps in to help serve meals when schedules are tight.” Susan continued. “Our Kind Dining ♥ training taught us that if we have a problem that needs solving, we can bring it to our meetings. We discuss problems with the administrative staff that attend, too. We work as teams here. It makes a big difference.”

Food servers, as well as other employees, stay on the job when they like who they work with, when they can count on their coworkers to work as a team and when there is a way of solving problems that arise in a working day. Employees look forward to going to work when they know their fellow workers are teammates.

B♥ Kind ®Tip: When it comes to Kind Dining♥  service, we can all be leaders.