The Society for Healthcare Foodservice Management (HFM) has engaged the Center for Professional Development & Applied Research at Pennsylvania State University to compile an "environmental scan," a big-picture examination of the forces expected to impact the healthcare foodservice sector over the coming years, and to develop an educational professional development program around those findings. The study, which will look at factors both inside and outside the industry, is scheduled to be presented to HFM members at the group's Mid-Year Meeting in Phoenix next February, says incoming president Linda Lafferty.
"We will then take that information from the environmental scan and sit down with them and develop a strategic plan for education in HFM," says Lafferty. "Hopefully, through this process we will be able to tap into the trends and issues that may not be on the radar screen right now, but down the pike, our members need to know about.
"We can then develop a program that can provide HFM members with educational opportunities that can position them to deal with these future challenges." She adds that the organization will also explore a more practical educational program with Penn State that will focus on course topics that can assist members in day-to-day operations.
Lafferty also says that, down the line, the organization would like to work with Penn State to develop a two to three day symposium that would focus on helping HFM members who are at the directorial level both enhance their management competency in their current positions and to prepare them for potential advancement in their institutions.
