FoodTech: Do More with Less Amid Layoffs

31 July 2022

With growing number of foodtech headlines have been following the trend of layoffs, restructurings, and shutdowns, it is vital to implement resource documentation and processes in order to increase efficiency with less employees.

As of late-July, foodtech layoffs continue to take place at companies all over the United States. More are expected in the coming months with many analysts predicting that a recession is around the corner. Arvo, a software platform for creating employee training, how-tos, manuals, and standard operating procedures (SOPs) offers a new way to clean house after you’ve “cleaned house” - get your operations documented. Having a well-documented company reduces the number of employees needed to do the job due to higher efficiency, and it increases employee happiness.

We all know layoffs at a company are stressful...

1. There is worry they will be next.
2. More workload on employees causes stress and burnout when there are fewer people to do the jobs to be done.
3. Where do they go to ask questions when their go-to co-worker is no longer there?

When stress at companies is high due to layoffs and large structural changes, it is the time to start focusing on documentation and process, but you need to start in a way that doesn’t make the team feel they will be replaced next.

Alane Boyd, President and Co-founder, Arvo,

Here are the top 5 ways to implement resource documentation and new processes at a company:

1. Empower teams to be the solution to a huge problem they are all facing. Fun tip: You can make it a contest for the team that creates the most how-tos!
2. Make it about reducing the stressful workdays so everyone can get their jobs done easier - imagine a day when people ask you how to do something, and you don’t have to take the time to explain. They can simply look up a how-to on it. Think about how many managers and co-workers cannot take a real vacation or just be OOO because they need to be available to answer questions. It causes burnout and frustration when there is not enough documentation to know how to do the jobs to be done, especially in their moment of need.
3. Make it a company-wide movement so no team is isolated and the workload of documentation is spread out across all the areas of responsibility.
4. Pick a software they will enjoy using and don’t try to do things in PDF and Google docs where formatting is challenging, most of your time is requesting access to them, and searching is cumbersome. For a modern SOP creation software, check out Arvo, where you’ll never have to look at another black and white text doc again but is as easy as typing to build your knowledge docs.
5. Look at what could be automated and remove the “busy” tasks done by people (expensive resource) and instead done by automation (least expensive resource - look at Make.com or Zapier).

When documentation on processes can easily be found, teams are less stressed, happier, and more work can be done by fewer people. It also begins your building blocks for kick butt employee onboarding and training when hiring starts back up again!

About Arvo
Arvo (askarvo.com) is a cloud-based platform that reimagines business process documentation for today's hybrid workforce.  Through the use of pre-built "smart components", Arvo makes converting existing processes into easy-to-follow playbooks extremely easy.  It's powerful enough to incorporate all forms of media (images, GIFs, emojis, diagrams, videos, audio, and more) while also ensuring that any page, playbook, or library of playbooks can be embedded or shared directly in popular work management systems such as Asana, ClickUp, and Monday.com so that the "how to do it" works directly with the "what to do."

Media Contact:
Emily LaRue
press@askarvo.com
(931) 548-3530