Good Help is Hard to Find
When I owned my bakery, I re-discovered this truth time and time again. Yes, I enjoyed many a talented employee over the course of the nearly ten years of operating a cake business. However, there were an equal number of new hires straight from various schools with the “deer in the headlights” look.
Now that I am on the Faculty of the French Pastry School in Chicago (FPS), I understand where this look came from. I was asking someone to perform a task that was beyond their exposure.
FPS heard the industry’s pleas and is about to change all that. The School is in the process of a major physical expansion of its current state-of-the-art facilities, adding more than 11,000 square feet of new space for classrooms/kitchens to accommodate its new L’Art du Gâteau certificate program. This new program will focus on all aspects involving the creation of wedding, celebration, and specialty cakes.
What does this mean for business owners? Simple. Beginning in mid-December 2010 businesses seeking talented cake decorators with professional training will have first pick of individuals who will have completed a focused training program led by a team of world-class professionals. Since the program encompasses from-scratch baking, cake decorating, and operational concerns, this new crop of cake decorators should have much to offer.