Why you should practice Active Managerial Control
Active managerial control (AMC) is an important principle for all food managers to understand. AMC involves creating and implementing a system of food safety procedures. This ensures that you and your employees can reduce food hazards. It also allows you to build a safe environment for customers, free of risks for foodborne illness. By staying on top of AMC, you will be able to follow local health department regulations. You’ll also enhance your reputation for providing high-quality food.
The three steps of Active Managerial Control
There are three basic steps in implementing AMC. First, create policies based on your business’ needs. Second, train employees on those policies. Third, follow up with the expectation that employees are following your policies.
Step 1: Create food safety policies
Building a practical policy is crucial in helping employees reduce food safety hazards. Policies may vary based on the needs of your establishment. Identifying potential risks is the most important part of creating an effective plan.
For example, if you manage a grocery store, you have to be wary of products exceeding their shelf life. Conversely, a restaurant manager must separate preparation of allergenic and non-allergenic meals to avoid cross-contact.
Plan the steps you and your employees will take to prevent food hazards. You should also create a policy for how you will deal with any issues that arise. You can organize your policies into a Hazard Analysis and Critical Control Point plan (HACCP). By doing these things, you will have an orderly process in place to manage food risks.
Step 2: Help employees understand food safety policies
As a food manager, you are responsible for the safety of your customers. However, you will often have little contact with the food yourself. As such, it is imperative that your employees learn and apply the policies you’ve created.
You may choose to train in employee meetings or one-on-one with individual employees. Try to make training fun and engaging — people remember 75% of what they do, but only 5% of what they hear. When working one on one with an employee, it is important to be respectful and to build up rather than wear down on them. Create a trusting environment to encourage employees to practice food safety. StateFoodSafety offers a plethora of ideas for training employees.
Step 3: Follow up on food safety policies
Food workers have many procedures and safe practices to remember. Following up can help them better learn their responsibilities. In addition, following up helps employees recognize the importance of using new skills. If you don’t follow up, they may not understand why they need to incorporate safe food handling practices.
You may include follow-up as part of regular training or in one-on-one circumstances. Consider including a segment in training to review the previous topic. This is also a good time to ask for feedback from employees about store policies. Using praise to reinforce good food safety skills can also encourage employees.
Food safety starts with you and your employees. The way you manage your employees can make a huge impact on the quality of the product you provide. To learn more about AMC, check out our food manager training!
— Calvin Clark
