3. Training Your Staff
When i opened my bakery, i did not plan to have it on a massive scale with deliveries and consigments, nope. It was the year after my radiation, i went through a year of chemotherapy and all the works so i just wanted to do something different.
I hired an 18 year old girl who lives near our subdivision, and she was about 5'10 tall so that was a bonus. I had no other applicants at that time but it would have been better of course if i had other choices, maybe i could have asked her if she was interested in baking breads, or if she thinks this could be a career path for her etc.. etc., I liked her because she lives near and she seems nice.
It went well in the end, she learned how to mix and shape the pandesal etc., The production was not at all that too big, we were only doing Pandesal, Spanish bread, cookies and cupcakes but no loaf breads. The scheduling got to me, siempre i hired someone who does not know how to bake so the bulk of the production went to me. This did not sit well with my mother, she found out i have to wake up at 4 am and then close the bakery at 8 pm etc.,, so she told me to stop.
I closed the bakery, i regret doing that because i should have just hired a baker and paid him per day and let him do all the work. The problem with this is that I DO NOT LIKE THEIR RECIPES. These bakers do not want to do other recipes, maiiba kasi ung timpla nila, mag iiba ung diskarte, at siempre para sa kanila what you're paying is what they can deliver. Their recipes make them. That is their trade. I was not willing to compromise at that time, and i was not feeling too well also so i ditched the whole thing. That's the thing with surviving cancer, even if the whole chemo and radiation is over, the effects stay with you forever.
In the meantime, i concentrated on my hands on classes. If i do not feel well, i can always move the session to another date. That is why my sessions always have a two day gap. I needed that rest time to prevent my back from getting worse.
So in your case, you have two choices. Either mag hire kayo ng panadero, hire someone who is already a master baker and pay him per day or per sack. In the Philippines, that is how they do it. You pay the master baker for every sack of flour (25 Kgs), current rate is at P500 to P525.00/sack. He will create the variations out of this 1 sack, spanish bread, pan de coco, pan de limon etc., You just have to tell him what breads to make.
I don't believe that a baker can do 2 sacks a day. If that is true, then i doubt if he can go back to work the next day or if he can then he will be probably sore the whole time. It's not humane to make him do such, so give him a helper or two.
May mga downside para sa akin ang pag hire ng master baker or someone who is already in the trade for 10 plus years. I have worked with some of them and meron na silang sariling paraan ng paggawa ng tinapay kaya madalas mahirap silang pasunurin sa gusto mo. Hindi naman lahat, most of these bakers also want to learn new trends so ingat rin sa pag hire ng baker. If you will ask me, i would rather hire someone that i can train.
Someone who is not yet on the level of a master baker, with potential and very keen in learning and staying with you. Imagine spending 2 months training someone and then end up with no one to bake with you after 3 to 4 months. That would be a disaster. The good thing is that you can just simply train someone again because you know how to bake. You can also make a quick hire just to help you make the day's sales instead of closing the shop because your baker ran away without notice. Believe me, it happened to my friends.
Finding the right person. That is my problem too. I am currently on the look out for someone to train and stay with me for at least a year. In fairness to my first helper, she wanted to stay on. It was just me who decided to close the shop for health reasons. Take note. Train and stay. That is my goal. Not just to train someone how to bake and manage the production, but someone who will love the craft and stay with it, with me, with the shop.
Who are your candidates? First, he or she must love food and specifically baking. Someone who is not out there just to make money but the kind who enjoys seeing people beam with joy when they eat what he/she bakes. Hindi yung makabenta ka lang tapos na.
He or she is also someone who is not in a hurry to go home or finish the job kahit marumi pa ung la mesa niya at hilaw ung tinapay. Hire the proper person. This is not a regular 9 to 5 job.
Bakers work even after the bread is baked. Bakers think about how to improve their breads, how to make innovations, how to make the breads more attractive and pleasing to the customers and so on. It's a lifestyle. Not just a plain routine. If your baker is not interested in talking about how to create a better Pandesal or frowns when you ask him to polish on his shaping skills, then forget about him.
You cannot make a square out of a circle. Don't waste your time. Your time costs money. Maybe he has another calling somewhere in this universe.
Cut your losses and find another one. If you let him stay on, both of you will not be happy. Believe you me, i have seen this happen many times. Huwag ninyo pilitin kung hindi talaga siya interesado. I have 7 nephews and all of them i managed to expose in bread baking. Expose meaning, i would bake almost everyday and see if one of them would ask to help out. Mahirap kasi itong ipilit sa isang hindi naman interested.
Out of 7 isa lang ang talaga ang interested. Merong apat who would help out occasionally but only because i asked them to. It wasn't voluntary. Samantalang ako, i wrote several bakeries asking them to allow me to train with them with no allowance but no one took me in. Kasi nga interested talaga ako, kahit nasaan pa yan. ( i went to Binan, Laguna to train and my mother found out so i left after 3 months).
If i hear a student say, "ang hirap pala nito, bibili na lang ako", or "i don't think i will have this much time for a loaf of bread". It saddens me of course to hear such comments during class, but i understand. Baking breads is not for everybody. You need to invest a lot of time and WEAR IT LIKE A SKIN.
I am a BS Psychology graduate, taught nursery for 7 years but went back to school to learn how to bake breads.
You don't have to find someone like me, hey, i am a rare species hahaha, but someone almost like me would do.
So there you have it, good luck on your hunt for the best apprentice or trainee. Give him or her all your love, teach them not only how to bake, but also how to love the bake. Every morsel, every crumb.
SIDE NOTE: I will be accepting trainees ages 17 to 22 years old, male or female once my bakery opens and my classes resume. This of course is contingent on what happens to our fight against Covid. Vaccination will be a requirement.
1 student per session for free, this is the 3 days class will proceed to take at least 2 weeks training in the bakery once it opens. This is for free as long as you show me a proof that you have no capacity to pay for the baking class.
You cannot avail of the training without taking the 3 day course. This is a requirement.
I can give the trainee an allowance for his or her transportation with free meals of course. I
I am not sure when we will be able to start with this program, as you know, i am a cancer survivor so i am very susceptible to all kinds of virus and bacteria. I would require a proof of vaccination and your parent's proof of occupation or none and a certification from your barangay.
Moving on to the making a check list on what to buy....next article.
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