Developing Food Business Producer Talent

「We have revised our previous training policy of turning all sales staff into consultants and are now pursuing “selection and concentration,” selecting specific employees for development as consultants. We will develop the selected members into highly capable consultants, while sales employees will focus on honing the sales skills directly linked to expanding opportunities.」

「Regarding rating diagnosticians, who assess restaurants from the perspectives of food quality, service and hygiene, 300 rating diagnosticians, mainly from Tempos Busters, are currently active, and we have begun providing management consulting based on their diagnostic results. Together with Sunrise Service, which we plan to make a subsidiary, and MARCHE CORPORATION, in which we have invested, we intend initially to develop 2,000 rating diagnosticians.」

「However, Tempos Busters has reported lower profit because new store openings continued and it is spending 5 hours per week, or 250 hours annually, training 280 employees to develop staff capable of supporting restaurant management. We are hiring employees who are not yet fully capable, so it will take time, but we will develop them into professionals, and we ask investors to wait patiently.」

「The training for 250 sales staff that we have continued since 2019 has become more advanced each year. Recently, we have provided 5 hours per week, or 240 hours annually, with a focus on training for “rating diagnosticians,” who conduct management diagnoses of restaurants.」

「As another initiative, we accepted Vietnamese interns in October 2023. We are seeing the interns grow and absorb knowledge like sponges as they receive more training. Going forward, we will actively recruit and train foreign workers, accepting an additional 20 specified skilled foreign workers during the next fiscal year and developing and appointing them as store managers.」

「For product quality, we worked on training aimed at delivering consistent quality across all stores by introducing video manuals and practical cooking tests. Going forward, we will provide group training including for part-time employees, with the aim of improving the skills and productivity of cooking staff.」

「For product quality, we launched a new employee training program covering improvements in cooking skills and training in salad-bar preparation and cooking methods. The task ahead is to improve the skills and productivity of all cooking staff. We will provide group training, including for part-time employees, to raise skill levels.」

「We also selected the 25 highest-performing store sales staff and began training them to become doctors, or restaurant producers. However, their training proficiency is still far from where it needs to be. There is still a long way to go, and we must continue working hard.」

「As a new initiative, to increase average spending by new restaurant-opening customers, we focused on taking orders for DIY projects in which customers carry out the store construction themselves, as well as on accepting orders to undertake all interior construction in cooperation with other companies. The objective is to increase the time we spend with customers from the early stages of opening by winning interior-construction orders and to secure integrated orders covering kitchen equipment, chairs and tables, tableware and cooking utensils. We aim to increase average spending by new restaurant-opening customers through this strategy. Currently, the 253 employees covered by the program receive 5 hours of training per person per week to secure integrated orders.」

「Tempos Busters, Japan’s largest seller of used commercial kitchen equipment, has focused on thorough pipeline-management follow-up, customer outreach and 5 hours of ZOOM training per employee per week to increase the number of new restaurant-opening customers by providing not only products but also information and services useful for restaurant management through Dr. Tempos.」

「Accordingly, 260 Tempos Busters employees receive training using a web conferencing system for 5 hours per person per week, or approximately 240 hours annually. We will continue the training with the aim of providing information and services in addition to proposals for kitchen equipment, tableware, cooking utensils, chairs and tables.」

「As in the previous year, rather than increasing headcount through hiring, we worked to raise per-employee productivity, including by providing 5 hours of ZOOM training each week to 263 employees.」

「The reasons for the increase in average spending per customer in July included thorough follow-up by store managers on pipeline management for their subordinates and the fact that the 193 employees covered by the program had continued to receive 5 hours of training each week.」

「Accordingly, the 320 employees covered by the program receive training using a web conferencing system for 5 hours per person per week, or approximately 240 hours annually. We will continue the training with the aim of providing information and services in addition to proposals for kitchen equipment, tableware, cooking utensils, chairs and tables.」

「Specifically, we are providing 5 hours of training per sales employee each week using web meeting tools. On an annualized basis, this means 240 hours per employee are devoted to training. Going forward, we will expand the program to part-time employees as well, with all 175 employees who serve customers in stores receiving training to raise overall skill levels.」

「In the fourth quarter, we selected and appointed 30 employees from across Japan as opening producers. To develop them, we conduct weekly training for opening producers called the “Professional Restaurant Opening Training Program.”」

「Going forward, we plan to add a “general-ordering professional” covering kitchen equipment, furniture and cooking utensils to these “four professionals,” reorganize the members and provide further training.」

「The training using web video calls for all 250 employees across our stores, consisting of 1 hour each in the morning and evening every day and conducted since the second quarter, is continuing. In the third quarter, we added training for the “four professionals” (new-store producer, finance specialist doctor, POS specialist doctor and POP specialist doctor). From each store, approximately 40 store managers or sales staff per group are selected to receive training to become producers or specialist doctors.」

「Tempos Busters is currently in a transitional phase toward developing employees into doctors under the Dr. Tempos business, and requires store sales staff to complete 2 hours of training every day during their 8-hour working day.」

「We also prepared an educational curriculum and conducted training for employees engaged in Dr. Tempos activities.」

「We will provide training based on an educational curriculum to develop specialists in each field and place specialist doctors nationwide, enabling us to respond throughout Japan.」

「We changed and implemented the training program previously provided uniformly to all sales employees into one that sets assignments according to each individual’s level of proficiency. At FBP meetings held once a month in East and West Japan, we also provide training for store managers on pipeline management and conduct talk training for providing information and services.」

「To provide efficient employee training, we implemented an early-readiness program for part-time employees and reflected its results in evaluations. We also held a part-time employee Meister Contest, selecting and publicly recognizing the part-time employees with the strongest customer-service and departmental skills nationwide, with the aim of improving motivation. Beginning in the current fiscal year, the Meister program was expanded beyond part-time employees to include full-time employees through the Sales Meister Program, which is also intended to improve full-time employees' customer-service skills. In addition, we conducted AM candidate training to develop future area managers, store-manager candidate training to develop future store managers, and FBP training for all AMs and store managers to advance the FBP model, among other initiatives, in order to ensure that employees provide courteous service to customers who contact us.」

「Beginning in the first quarter, we launched nationwide group training for sales staff at each sales location. Previously, training was provided to area managers (AMs), who oversee sales in each region, and store managers, with those AMs and store managers then training individual sales staff at their stores. By also providing group training for individual sales staff in Tokyo and Osaka, we aim to standardize capabilities across our sales locations nationwide.」

「As part of our differentiation strategy, we provide restaurant operators with information and services they need. To do so, it is increasingly important to develop personnel with knowledge ranging from basic products we handle, such as kitchen equipment, tableware, cooking utensils, chairs and tables, to real estate, interior construction, restaurant operating metrics and operational know-how, and who can propose and provide these as needed. We conduct in-house training every month for this purpose, as well as voluntary study sessions in each area.」