“There are no shortcuts, I’m always involved” - Roger @Compass Group

Compass Group is one of the world’s leading distributors of food services and other support services. The total amount of employees exceeds 500 000 which speaks for itself. The majority of Compass Group’s business is made up of restaurants, and in Sweden alone they run 150 restaurants.

We have had the pleasure of interviewing Roger Pettersson, one of the regional managers in Sweden, and had the opportunity to find out how on earth this works.

Roger has been employed by Compass Group for 15 years and during this time he has worked his way up to the position of regional manager. Today he is responsible for 8 different restaurants and oversees 110 people. All of Compass Group’s regional managers and their respective areas use Get Compliant but Roger is by far the most successful. We took the time to find out why.

A need for a better solution

The cooperation between Compass Group and Get Compliant really started several years ago when Roger and his colleagues discovered the need for a more organized way of working. Everyone who works in the food industry are painfully aware of the struggles of managing large amounts of perishables and the consequences and costs that result from poor implementation.

The restaurants we run and the deliveries we make are often in large quantities as well as volumes. We worked on a complete solution for about six years before we landed on Get Compliant. Everything in this industry comes down to routines and standards. As we are ISO 9001, ISO 14001 and OHSAS 18001-certified, it is important to be able to follow up on other operational areas, not only food safety. This is simply undeniable and is why Get Compliant is essential, explains Roger.

A lot of help from his own background

Compass Group uses Get Compliant to keep everything organized and up to date. This includes everything from checking the freezer temperature and changing filters, to making sure everything is up to standard.

- All of our restaurants are given a phone from our IT-department. That phone contains everything the staff needs, including Get Compliant. We call it COMPIS, COMPass Internal System. COMPIS means “Friend” in Swedish, as we want it to be a helping hand for the recording our metrics. It includes all of the checklists, and information about what needs to be done during the day, says Roger.

Why is it necessary?

- I used to work in the kitchen myself for many years. I know the struggles and therefore I welcome everything that might help make things easier. Get Compliant makes a visit from the health department or the NFA a pleasure instead of a pain, as we already know that everything meets the correct standards and regulations.

Three key elements

Even though everyone within Compass Group uses Get Compliant well, Roger’s results stand out. So we just had to ask him what the key behind his success is. - I think it has to do with a few of different things; motivation, transparency and continuous support. These three factors are the key to successfully managing a team. What do they mean to you and how did you develop these elements?

- When we first rolled out Get Compliant, I created a competition with the help of the key figures. I divided the different restaurants into teams so that they competed together as groups and whoever had the highest results on the key figures won a prize

- it increased the motivation to use Get Compliant and developed good habits..

He continues:

- Every week I send out an email with each restaurant’s results, which means everyone is aware of how the other restaurants are performing. I don't provide feedback on their results within the email, but this transparency keeps everyone on their toes. The last thing I do is make sure that everyone who needs help gets a lot of support. If you’re falling behind on your key figures, I’ll help you. They work as an indication of who requires more attention and support. We want to thank Roger for these insights and taking the time to speak to us. If you are curious about how Get Compliant can make your work life easier - contact us.