ARAMARK at the University of Tennessee Hires Employees from BRIDGE Refugee Services, Inc.

ARAMARK Higher Education at the University of Tennessee has twelve new employees working in the dish room. They're refugees from Burundi, displaced by the ongoing war that's raged in the area for more than a decade. Having a job is a step toward normalcy for the twelve new employees, and it's a relationship that is benefiting everyone involved.

It began when Bridge Refugee Services found ARAMARK's "help wanted" ad offering a multilingual environment and contacted the hiring manager. Bridge, an ecumenical, non-profit group made possible by the help of volunteers, works with refugees in East Tennessee to find housing, jobs, even furniture and clothes.

"Over the last two years," said UT Campus Dining Executive Chef Mike Firth, "we've hired 20 people through Bridge, and 17 of them are still with us."

All of the new hires that come through Bridge attend an ongoing mandatory English language class and learn job-specific skills, including equipment usage, food safety, and components of service and cooking stations. They also learn the principles of THRIVE, Higher Education's employee recognition program.

"We give out THRIVE Checks when we catch our employees doing something that shows the tenets of THRIVE," said Firth. "So we cover that in the first class. They translate the words into Kirundi [one of Burundi's official languages], so they know why they're getting one."

THRIVE is part of the orientation to the job, as well as to Higher Education's values. With all that the new hires are adjusting to - new culture, new environment, new language, new customs, and new routines - THRIVE can serve as a foothold, a way to understand their new place and what is valued there.

As of now, said Firth, four employees have been marked for possible promotion next year, meeting the program's ultimate goal of promoting workers into new positions with increased responsibility and customer interaction. And if those four are promoted, that will mean four more slots for other refugees.

"They're doing a great job, and we're still finding out what they're good at and where they can go."

One of the biggest rewards of the program is the mutual benefit. ARAMARK and the University of Tennessee get good employees, and the refugees can stop being refugees and become trusted members of a group.

"Bridge is an employment resource for us. We are a business with many job openings...a business that supports and builds relationships with the refugees, [making] feel welcome and a part of the team," said Firth. He continued to say, "We're building trust. This really works both ways. This is something solid for people who haven't had that with the war back in Burundi."

On Earth Day, Bridge and ARAMARK hosted a celebration for the new employees. They brought in a 12-member choir to sing traditional songs from Burundi in the Presidential Court Café. It was dinner time, and about 800 students heard it, and could have dinner from a traditional African menu, approved by the new Burundian employees.

"We hosted it here, and many of the singers in the choir were family of our employees. You could see our employees were really proud."

May 2009