The Y Theory

The first week of my externship I was expecting to have some sort of orientation or training because the bakery I worked at was a part of a group. Restaurant groups generally have an orientation because they want to keep standards the same. In order to do so they usually end up telling you their goals and ask you to help them achieve them, while achieving your own. I was given an employer hand book and after about the first week I realized why they really didn’t need a full orientation. The work ethic of everyone in the kitchens’ was amazing. Everyone wanted to be there and as far as I knew the majority of the employees working there, actually wanted to be there. Most everyone was working there because of the reputation not because of the extremely low pay scale.
When it came to my training it was more of a day to day thing depending on what I did. My first week I really didn’t make anything thing, which was a downer because I was afraid my whole externship would replicate that. I was soon told that was not the case and that the first week they wanted to “feel me out” as I was told. So the way they started their training was by testing me first, to see what I could do. After that I slowly started doing more, and by the end of my externship I just completed my list like everyone else and didn’t have to go up to my chef every 5 minutes asking what’s next. I really liked their training technique because they focused on everyone individually and by them wanting us all to succeed in our careers, it made us want to help make the company better.
The way the employees made the group’s core values shine meant they really didn’t need to do a separate orientation process before beginning work. All they really had to do was put you in the kitchen for a few minutes and you’d understand what they were asking of you, which really wasn’t a lot. As long as you really had a passion for what you were doing and shared the same values they had, you would succeed yourself as well as help the company grow.