The owner wishes to keep the training program informal and inexpensive

QUESTION

The owner wishes to keep the training program informal and inexpensive and also allow the new chef to become familiar with the operations of the restaurant. Which of the following, if true, makes the owner’s job easier to carry out?

A) The successful applicant graduated at the top of her culinary arts program at the community college.
B) The new chef is being hired in June, which is usually a somewhat busy time for business at the restaurant.
C) The new chef was born and raised in the community where the restaurant is based and so is familiar with local taste preferences.
D) Several of the part-time cooks have worked at the restaurant for years and have, at times, assisted the former chefs at times of peak business.
E) The restaurant’s cooking equipment was recently upgraded to make it safer to operate.

ANSWER

Answer: D
Explanation: D) While there are a number of informal training options that small businesses can devise, one of the strongest is creating an atmosphere in which employees share best practices in a free way. So Choice D is correct: if there are workers on the staff who are familiar with its operations, especially at stressful times, they are likely to be the most effective trainers (assuming they are not disgruntled at being passed over for the head chef job). The other choices all relate to facts that are convenient in some way, but do not necessarily make the job of training easier. Choices A and C, for instance, suggest that the applicant is intellectually sharp and has already absorbed many of the culinary preferences that the restaurant owner wants to stress. Neither talent, however, shows that the chef will be able to carry out the demands of the job under business pressures. Choice B gives the restaurant little space for inefficiency while the chef is picking up the trade, which does not bode well for the training process. Choice E obviously makes the workplace a safer place, but the chef (and the rest of the kitchen staff) will still need practice to learn to use the new equipment efficiently.