Source and initiate external relationships in a food and drink environment
Overview
This standard is about the skills and knowledge needed for you to source and initiate external relationships in a food and drink environment. Creating new relationships with organisations and people external to your food and drink business is important to a number of functions across an organisation. The strategic and day to day running of a food and drink business relies on the building of productive relationships with external suppliers, customers and stakeholders. You will need the skills and knowledge to locate useful links, initiate contact using a variety of methods and conduct yourself in a manner that promotes a positive image of yourself and your organisation. You will also need the skills and knowledge to record and retain information relating to the external organisation. This standard is for you if you work in food and drink manufacture and/or supply operations and are involved in sourcing and initiating external relationships in a food and drink environment.
Performance criteria
You must be able to:
Locate possible contacts
source and initiate external contacts according to organisational
requirements
research the identification of useful contacts, suppliers or
customers external to your organisation using a variety of
methods
invest time in determining innovative and useful sources of
external contacts
access the methods of communication available in your
organisation including verbal, non-verbal, paper and e-based
Initiate contact
use a variety of methods to initiate communication with external
contacts
exploit unplanned opportunities to initiate contact with external
organisations
conduct yourself in a way that promotes a positive image of
yourself and your food business
adapt your behaviour to acknowledge that people have different
ways of communicating and working
communicate clearly and in a timely manner, what the purpose of
contacting the external person is
Record information
record information relating to the contact in a secure and
organised manner
record any commitments you make and how you plan to adhere to
them
recommend other people or organisations if you are unable to
provide a service or product
Knowledge and Understanding
You need to know and understand:
the regulatory and organisational requirements relating to the
sourcing and initiating of external contacts
- the sources of information that can be used to source useful
external organisations including web-based, social media,
business networks, trade associations, customers, suppliers and
informal contacts
how to research the identification of useful external contacts
why it is important to invest time in determining innovative and
useful sources of external contacts
- the methods of communication available in your organisation and
how to use them
- how to use every day meetings and opportunities to initiate
communication with external contacts and why it is important to
do so
- why it is important to conduct yourself in a way that promotes a
positive image for you and your food and drink business
- how to adapt your behaviour to take into account other people's
culture, methods of communication and methods of working
- why it is important to communicate the purpose of you initiating
contact with a person or organisation and how to do this
- the paper and e-based methods for recording contacts and
information relating to contacts and how to follow them
why it is important to record information securely
why it is important to adhere to any commitments you make
how to be helpful even if you are unable to provide a service or
product and why it is important to do so