​When speaking to technical professionals across the food industry, I often ask a simple question:

"Which part of your role takes the most time but provides the least value?"

It's always an interesting conversation because technical teams play such a critical role in protecting food safety, maintaining compliance, and safeguarding brand reputation. Yet many candidates tell me that a significant portion of their working week is spent on tasks that feel more administrative than impactful.

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While every business is different, there are some common themes that keep coming up time and time again. One candidate highlighted specification body performance as the biggest drain on her time. As she put it:

Specification Body Performance

"It has to be specification body performance for me. Because it is the most time-consuming task and does not actually provide me with a lot of value. It stops me from making my compliance team 100% watertight, which is what I am trying to achieve."

While specifications are essential, they felt that the time spent updating systems and managing customer portals took her away from strengthening compliance processes and developing her team.

Another candidate said: “supplier approval paperwork”

"I feel that I spend a huge amount of time chasing supplier questionnaires, certificates, specifications and compliance documents."

Whilst they understood the importance of supplier approval, they felt much of the process was repetitive and administrative, taking valuable time away from auditing suppliers, assessing risk and driving improvements.

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A third candidate pointed to internal meetings.

"I don't mean meetings in general, but recurring meetings that lack a clear purpose or outcome."

They felt too much time was spent discussing issues that everyone was already aware of, leaving less time to implement solutions on the factory floor.

These conversations aren't about avoiding important responsibilities. The common frustration is that they want to spend more time adding value. Whether that's improving food safety, strengthening compliance, developing their teams, or driving continuous improvement.

By asking this question, employers can identify what's preventing their technical teams from focusing on the work that really matters. Sometimes, small changes to processes, systems, or ways of working can free up a significant amount of time and make a real difference to both engagement and performance.

So, if you asked your technical team the same question, what would their answer be?