The Emirates Group’s in-house newspaper serves up a winner

What’s an average workday like for a chef who prepares 100,000 meals daily? To find out, Emirates Flight Catering went right to the source.

In each issue of its employee newspaper, Safar, the staff of four asks employees key questions about their jobs—how they got into their line of work, what their jobs entail, and what they think their biggest achievements have been. The employees themselves add the real flavor, though, with a sort of journal entry that runs down a given day.

This up-close-and-personal approach delivered the right recipe for success, as Safar scores in Ragan’s Employee Communications Awards for 2011 in the Best Interview/Profile (Print Publication) category.

Take, for example, Mukesh Tugnait, executive chef for Emirates Flight Catering, 2011 Mercury Award winner and creator of the catering service’s “zero fat” meals. He wakes up at 6 a.m.; that’s the only part of any day that’s ever regular or routine. On this particular day, he had a 700-kilogram chicken delivery on hold, and he spent a couple hours of the morning getting it in place. By 1 p.m., he was cooking fish. By 3:30, he was figuring out why vegetables weren’t arriving on time. And just as the day was ending, he saved a batch of noisettes from overcooking.

Every two weeks, Emirates employees get the opportunity to meet another employee. It’s great for developing camaraderie among people in a large organization.

To view the winning work please click here and here.