I absolutely agree with this and I would also like to add that food safety (in my company) hasn't been decentralized. When I bring up the need to perform traceability exercises with the inventory department - they look at me in disbelief and say "well isn't that YOUR job?" I can't help but want to respond with "Actually - this is YOUR job." They do all the work already, they have the system in place and the resources at their fingertips - when I ask them to exercise the system to see if it is effective they look at me like I am asking them to do something completely foreign. It's frustrating and very discouraging at the moment - I am a one-woman food safety team at this point and it's all too much for one person to handle. I only have two years of experience in this QA Supervisor position and frankly I don't know if I can handle this much longer - judging from the responses on this thread so far I see that I am not alone in this battle. But still, I don't understand how some people accumulate so many years of experience in the food safety field and yet stay so committed - any advice for an up and coming food safety professional?
I have stuck with it for 20 years because at this point it is "really all I know" or "am an expert on". It can be a lucrative and rewarding career choice. I can tell you based on the various experiences with different companies and under different leaders once you find a great company, with a great culture, and work under a good leader DO NOT LEAVE. Those are very rare to find. I'm lucky to have found it two times. The first time I was young and dumb enough to think I could find a less stressful environment without the same challenge. The second time I relocated to be close to family.
Now I work with a company that has a good culture overall, even though accountability is lacking. under a terrible leader/manager. If you have to choose between the two, take a great leader / manager any day. They can make your job easier even though the daily plant may frustrate the heck out of you.
Oh...and when you think you've dug deep enough with people, keep asking why.... I still slap myself in the face by putting "too much trust in others". I have to continually ask why and stress basic things over and over. It is a hard thing to do consistently because you really want to treat everyone like an adult, but sometimes you have to treat them like children.
Edited by Ryan M., 09 July 2019 - 09:32 PM.