The Power of Servant Leadership in Reducing Turnover in the Food Industry

Juan Noguera is a transportation Manager at Gordon Food Service, where he expertly navigates the complexities of logistics to ensure timely and efficient delivery of products to clients. With 17 years of experience in the broad-line service industry, Juan has honed a keen understanding of operational efficiencies while providing unwavering support to team performance. Since launching his career in transportation in Miami, Florida, in 2007, he has remained committed to staying abreast of DOT regulations and understanding customer needs. Juan's strategic approach drives success for his team and delivers exceptional service to customers, reinforcing his dedication to excellence in every shipment.

Through this article, Juan Noguera explores the concept of servant leadership and its relevance in today's workforce, particularly in the food service industry. He highlights servant leadership's significant role in reducing employee turnover, a persistent challenge due to labor-intensive jobs and a lack of communication between employees and supervisors. Noguera shares personal insights from his 17 years of experience, emphasizing the balance between building relationships and delivering results. He discusses how leaders who prioritize empathy, clarity, and active listening foster loyalty, improve team performance, and reduce turnover. Noguera offers practical advice on how leaders can foster servant leadership within their teams.

What does servant leadership mean today, and is there a value in today’s workforce?

As companies grow, manage expenses, and work to get the most profit margin in the food industry, employee retention has always been more challenging over the past ten years.  Some studies have shown warehouse turnover rates as high as 46%. Besides operational inefficiencies, high turnover is detrimental to building a culture. We move new employees so much that they do not have the opportunity to see the value the company can provide. There are many reasons why turnover exists today. One is the labor-intensive work associated with warehouse and driver functions. Along with that is the schedule. Although we may work on implementing systems and processes to lower the physical burden of the job, one big piece of employee dissatisfaction is the lack of communication or empathy with their direct supervisor.

One area where leadership members can do and directly impact people is the relationships we build with our team members. Have you ever asked yourself what type of leader you are? What kind of impact do you have on your team? Being present does equate to being available. Servant leadership is something that I learned as soon as I entered my organization seventeen years ago. In my first week, I had to admit that the interactions were a setup that soon would disappear. On my first day, my manager knew me by my name. Over the next few weeks, he would spend time with me and ask about my day. This shocked me because I have never experienced this type of relationship with any leader. If my manager had reached out to me in the past, it was because I was doing something wrong that needed to be addressed. This type of servant leadership impacted me so much that I never looked at other companies to work. I told myself then that if I ever were in a position where I needed to serve other people, I would follow my manager's servant leadership skills.

"Servant leadership is a delicate balance between relationships and results, and the better we serve our people, the better the outcome we will have."

Three years later, I was allowed to serve people. I follow those principles today. What I see today in the food service industry by doing interviews with employees who left a food service job to work for us is that although money was part of the decision to go, it was not the most significant contributor. The most significant contributors were a lack of empathy, clarity, job expectations, and proper follow-through.  Servant leadership is not about working on relationships and disregarding the results and performance expectations of the job. Servant leadership is a delicate balance between relationships and results. It requires time to get to know your people at a personal level. What drives them? Why do they wake up every morning to come to work for you when they can go anywhere? What keeps them with your organization? There is no one system to work with your employees because they are different. They react differently when you have a challenging conversation with them, and when you work to serve them, you get to find out what they respond to, favorable or unfavorable. There’s so much to learn, but I have conducted thousands of interviews and worked with hundreds of employees. The most successful I can share is that having a servant-leader relationship with my team has enabled me and my team to succeed in challenging situations.

I genuinely believe an approach to a high turnover rate via servant leadership is a great way to reduce these numbers. It is said that an employee does not leave a company but rather their manager. What does that say about your organization? If we take it to the next level, what does that say about you as a leader? The value we receive as an organization by lowering turnover is valuable, and the reward of serving a team that feels acknowledged, valued and respected will pay itself.            

How do I start if I have little to no real relationship with my team?

The best time to plant a tree was twenty years ago; the second best time is today. This quote reminds me that it's never too late, no matter where you are. Most of the time, relationships can be turned around. It will require time and effort. When working with your people, it's essential to make sure we are actively listening to our people. Remove all distractions and be in the moment with your employee. As crucial as active listening is, it is a proper follow-up of your team's concerns. Be quick to respond; even if the response is a no, explain why. In the absence of a response, we tend to assume. I believe that the best operation numbers, strategies, and plans are going nowhere if we don’t have our people's buy-in. Lastly, I would say that even though our business cards may say transportation manager, director of operations, or any other title, we ultimately are in the people business. The better we serve our people, the better the outcome we will have.