What Got You Here Won't Get You There: Inside Our SQF 10 Webinar

Recently, SQFI Technical Director Kristie Grzywinski and I led an SQF365 webinar on a question a lot of food manufacturers are quietly stuck on: "The Power of Role-Based Training: Aligning Learning to Food Safety Responsibilities." Here's a quick look at what the session covered. We opened with the code requirements:

"Competency equals knowledge, plus skills, plus the ability to apply both on the production floor — and all three components are necessary." — Kristie Grzywinski, Technical Director, SQFI

It's no longer enough to show that training happened. Auditors now need proof the employee can do their job. A sign-in sheet or a completed course doesn't fully meet the training requirements — a real shift in what "audit-ready" means.

From there, we discussed the often-overlooked problem within the code change: most training programs weren't built to prove skill competency by job role. A training completion checkbox, one-size-fits-all sessions, and a signature on a form got them to where they are now, but that isn't what gets them to where SQF Edition 10 needs them to be. Two problems are landing at once: the proof bar moved, and the learner on the other end has changed. A program built for attendance was never designed to demonstrate competency. A program built around a classroom and a binder was never designed for how today's workforce learns. Fixing one without the other doesn't get you there.

A Workforce That's Changed Faster Than Most Training Programs

We had a robust discussion on why that gap exists: today's workforce doesn't look like the one most current training programs were built for. Most programs were designed around the workers who are leaving, not the ones taking their place:

• Turnover of 40%+ is now normal in plant roles
• 11,000 Americans are hitting retirement age per day, taking invaluable institutional knowledge with them
• Manufacturing is projected to see 2.1M manufacturing jobs go unfilled by 2030

Millennials and Gen Z are now the biggest part of the workforce, and they don't learn the way the generation before them did. The session covered exactly what you need to know to meet them where they are:

• Over 75% prefer video-based training, while SQFI's Global Training Survey found 50% of companies still just hand someone an SOP to read
• 43% of workers want self-directed training while only 20% of L&D pros are planning for it
• Over 85% value on-the-job coaching over classroom sessions
• Gen Z Workers decide whether to stay within 60 days

Here's the problem: a company can check every box on the old standard, training delivered, attendance logged, and still have no real proof anyone can do the job. The training was never built to create that evidence in the first place.

Why Role-Based Training Closes Both Gaps at Once

The session made the case that role-based training isn't a nice-to-have upgrade. It's what satisfies SQF Edition 10's proof requirement and meets today's learner preferences by replacing one generic session with training specific to that employee's job role, delivered the way they learn, along with validation of their applied behaviors.

SQFI's Global Training Survey backs this up. The roughly 20% of companies that go above and beyond on training were:

• 12x more likely to maintain strong SOP adherence
• 10x more likely to have engaged employees
• 109% more likely to drive productivity gains

The line that landed hardest in the room: tenured employees apply training, they don't just memorize it. That kind of judgment only comes from experience, and experience only builds when people stay.

It’s also clear that maintaining your static training program may not only put you at risk for training noncompliance but also limit your ability to realize quantifiable operational performance improvements.  

Proof It Works — Two Companies Discussed on the Call

Palermo's Pizza built a real career path for every employee, tying training to what each role actually needed. The result:

• Automated training assignments across all 700 job roles
• 83% retention
• A waitlist for second shift — a slot that used to be almost impossible to keep staffed

Wholestone Prestage, a pork producer owned by 235 farmers, set out to tie training directly to performance, retain critical institutional knowledge, and widen the pool of talent they could hire from. The result:

• Turnover cut by 25%
• Training engagement up 3x
• Streamlined compliance and audit readiness

Watch the Full Session

This recap only scratches the surface — the webinar goes much deeper into the data, the code language, and exactly how these companies rebuilt their programs role by role. Watch the full recording here.

Want to know where your own program actually stands before your next audit? Take our SQF 10 readiness assessment and get a clear read on the gap between what you can document today and what Edition 10 will expect you to prove.