TM - August 2007 - (Page 44) application by Ben Warden Attention to Detail: Talent Management at Groupe Alain Ducasse Groupe Alain Ducasse, run by world-class French chef Alain Ducasse, employs more than 1,200 people across three continents. Ducasse’s challenge: to ensure the excellence and quality of his cuisine is intact throughout his ever-expanding empire. Being the first and only chef to hold three stars in the Michelin Guide (the highest ranking) in three different countries, Ducasse’s reputation for superiority certainly precedes him. To maintain his renowned artistic quality with a viable international business plan is no easy task, but compromise is as foreign to Ducasse’s vocabulary as Cheese Whiz. Jean-Francois Casanova, Groupe Alain Ducasse director of operations, said this is part of Ducasse’s longstanding overall personal philosophy. “There is no genius without a product,” Casanova said. “The product is to be always put forward in terms of the cuisine. You have to learn, and you have to teach in order to really become a strong professional. These are values that he’s lived by since his early age, and I think that’s been a big part of his success.” Ducasse has been accomplishing a great deal for more than 25 years. In 1980, he received his first position as chef, and in 1984, he was given two stars in the Michelin guide as head chef of La Terrrasse in the Hotel Juana in Juan-les Pins, which is in southern France. That same year, tragedy struck — Ducasse almost died in a Learjet crash that took the lives of everyone else onboard. But by 1990, he had his first three-star rating as chef at the Le Louis XV restaurant. As the decade progressed, Ducasse expanded his role from chef to business entrepreneur. After opening his first hotel, Ducasse received his second three-star rating for his own restaurant in Paris less than a year after it opened. August 2007 2000 to open a restaurant in New York. This has proved be the move that launched Ducasse into culinary immortality, as he received his third three-star rating in the Michelin guide book. More restaurants and a training center later, Groupe Alain Ducasse keeps expanding, more determined than ever to ensure the excellence of its cuisine is translated, regardless of where the restaurant is. When there is an opening in a new city or country, key employees work closely on-site to help get the operation running smoothly. The company also brings on an employee with extensive knowledge of the local culture and language. To continually find people with the right skills for the region, Groupe Alain Ducasse has invested in a recruitment and human capital management strategy. The system, from Technomedia, helps guide employees through the 12- to 18-month training process, which includes three steps: learning standards and practices from manuals, attending the training center in Paris and hands-on experience. Regardless of whether it’s the high-end HR system or the hands-on training, however, Casanova said it all comes down to the little things. “The bottom line is attention to detail, attention to the product and the care given to the guests,” he said. To ensure attention to detail is consistent throughout a location, all employees get a chance to work in every part of the restaurant. This technique allows them to achieve total awareness of all aspects of the high-pressure atmosphere. “We give three days to all the front-of-house employees and send them back into the kitchen — they put on white and stay behind the line and understand the care behind the product,” Casanova said. “Most of our work in the restaurant is done very differently. There is a lot of work behind the Ducasse’s next big gamble was crossing the pond in 44 talent management magazine www.TalentMgt.com http://www.TalentMgt.com
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