It’s no secret that food banks experience increased traffic during the holidays. The increase in traffic necessitates food banks to hire more people to assist in running the organization.
One way to make hiring new people much more manageable is using an Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP) system. Aside from aiding in the hiring process, the tool helps those new hires do tasks more effectively, including managing inventory and preparing recipes. Our tool, GoldFinch ERP, has several features that make work easier for the human resource departments. This article explains how an ERP supports food bank holiday hires.
Streamlining the Recruitment Process
One of the ways an ERP supports food bank holiday hires is by streamlining the recruiting and onboarding process. It provides a central database to manage things like job postings and applicant resumes. This eliminates the need for manual tracking systems. Aside from that, it can streamline the recruitment life cycle by tracking candidates’ progress through various stages of the hiring process—including automating communication with applicants.
Centralized Data Management
Once you have hired your team, the next step is managing their data. This will help you streamline your HR workflow. An ERP stores all information about your employees, including personal information, the departments they hold, and performance reviews. This centralization eliminates the need to use several spreadsheets.
With a centralized database, it becomes easy for HR professionals to retrieve employee data at any time. This promotes efficiency in the organization by reducing time spent looking for employee information. In addition, it allows HR to respond quickly to inquiries from management about employees. Another benefit of centralizing data is data consistency. Any changes or updates made to employees’ records are reflected in real-time. For instance, if an employee leaves, this information is reflected almost immediately, preventing confusion or discrepancies.
Inventory Management
Another way an ERP supports food bank holiday hires is through inventory management. For starters, it gives employees real-time visibility into inventory levels. They will know the types of food available and their quantities—promoting better planning and decision-making. In addition, updated information on inventory levels allows employees to optimize stock levels, preventing overstocking or understocking.
As mentioned, the holiday season often has a higher food demand. Thanks to ERP capabilities, ordering and receiving inventory becomes much more accessible—allowing employees to work more efficiently and accurately. In addition, ERP systems come with tools that demand forecasting. This enables staff members to use that information to plan the procurement and distribution of foods more effectively.
Recipe Management
Certain ERPs feature recipe management capabilities, which help food bank employees perform their duties well. It does this by streamlining the planning and execution of diverse and tailored meals. An ERP provides a central database where employees can store information about recipes. This can be information about the list of ingredients, quantities, and cooking instructions. With a centralized location for this information, it becomes easier to prepare meals.
In addition, an ERP system enables the standardization of recipes to ensure consistent meal preparation. As we have mentioned, the tool stores recipe information, allowing for standardized recipes, thus maintaining consistent quality and taste across different batches of meals. In addition, an ERP system can provide role-based access controls, ensuring only authorized personnel can edit or approve recipes.
Employee Training and Development
The issue of food insecurity is quite severe, necessitating the need for food banks. In fact, according to data from the U.S. Department of Agriculture, throughout 2022, about 12.8 % of U.S. households were food insecure. That is why food banks play a crucial role in society. That said, if a food bank doesn’t train its employees to serve the community, it won’t be able to offer much help. Thankfully, GoldFinch ERP makes employee training and development much more straightforward.
For instance, the tool can help create and manage training programs. This can be scheduling training sessions and tracking attendance. It ensures that training initiatives are not only efficient but also align with organizational goals. Doing so allows a foodbank to deploy skilled people to help the community while achieving its mission and vision.
Nutritional Analysis
Many food banks run Congregate and Medically Tailored Meal Programs. The former targets individuals who can’t afford to buy food. At the same time, the latter caters to individuals with specific dietary needs brought about by a health condition like diabetes. ERPs come in handy in such instances through nutritional analysis. For example, it ensures food bank staff meet specific dietary guidelines or requirements for the meals they serve.
In addition, it allows staff members to serve meals that contribute to the well-being of the recipients. This is particularly important for Medically Tailored Meal Programs. Staff members must adhere to strict dietary guidelines if they’re serving individuals with medical conditions. An ERP tool ensures that tailored meals meet specific nutritional requirements.
Distribution Planning
Lastly, ERPs support food bank holiday hires through distribution planning. This is important to ensure meals reach the intended recipients in time. It does this by optimizing routes and ensuring delivery vehicles take the most efficient paths to reach many locations. It also makes scheduling easy by automating distribution activities, such as assigning delivery times to various locations.
This tool aids staff in distribution planning by providing real-time monitoring of distribution activities. Staff members can track vehicle movement and check on the status of deliveries, making food distribution more effective. It can also generate notifications to staff members in case of issues with inventory availability or delays. This allows staff members to make informed decisions regarding the distribution of food.
GoldFinch ERP—Your Go-To Solution for Supporting Food Bank Holiday Hires
Since the holiday season can be a busy time for food banks, they need additional staff to help them run operations. GoldFinch ERP is an effective tool that will make recruiting individuals easy. It further assists staff members, ensuring they can efficiently perform various tasks like meal preparation and distribution. Are you ready to experience the capabilities of GoldFinch ERP? Talk to us today.
