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| Human Resources.. |
Best Practices
How the finest retain their employees
| How do QSR restaurants, where high retention is nearly impossible, keep their workers? Here’s what two chains do. |
Human resources departments have been clawing their way to boardroom relevancy for more than a decade, and the climb is far from over. That's because it's difficult to measure the efficacy of HR in a way that relates directly to the bottom line. Unlike sales, which is all about bottom-line numbers, HR deals in the warm and fuzzy world of people, relationships, happiness and satisfaction.
How do you measure and quantify that, exactly?
One way is through employee retention rates. If employees are satisfied, they stick around. If they stay, it saves companies real money that can be outlined in black and white.
But employee retention is a tough nut to crack, especially if you're talking about industries like retail and restaurants. And for quick service restaurants? Forget about it. For QSR companies high retention rates are like the holy grail—mysterious and seemingly unattainable.
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Wendy Webb writes on human resources and training issues for the franchise industry. Wendy can be reached at wkwebb@charter.net |
"These awards go a long way in modeling to other executives how to put people at the front of the business and incent them to continue to implement best practices," says People Report spokesman, Matt Smith.
Both White Castle and Panda Express were recognized for their HR excellence based on hard numbers, Smith explains. The criteria is based on a composite score built on real data on hourly and management turnover rates, plus several other factors.
Given that employee retention is such a tough thing to achieve, what are some of the tricks and tactics of the winners of the Best Practices award? For White Castle, it's all about family.
"White Castle has created an environment for their employees in which people at every level of the business are treated like family and truly feel like they have a higher purpose in working there," says Smith. "It doesn't seem complex in terms of implementing a long series of strategic plans, but we find time and again, when a business is successful it all comes down to thinking about the long term sustainability over quarterly profits, making people feel included and special and working toward a higher purpose instead of just a paycheck."
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"When people are happy with their lives, and they have opportunities for growth and the support to achieve their goals, there's little reason for them to change jobs in search of something more." Linda Brandt |
"We have more than 17,000 associates and they come first in our company," says Brandt. "We have an organizational pyramid to support our growth that places our people at the foundation. They support the guests, followed last by financials. While most organizations put financials first, we believe that people should come first. Great people deliver exceptional experiences to our guests, these guests will recommend the restaurant to others, and the financials will fall
into place."
Like McDonald's has done so masterfully, Panda makes it clear to employees that opportunities for career growth exist.
"We create programs and incentives that make our people excited to stay with us," she says. "We have worked hard to communicate to our associates that their careers can grow with Panda. There are so many opportunities that we can create for them right here that they don't need to go elsewhere in order to advance."
It's all about removing the reasons for people to leave, she explains.
"When people are happy with their lives, and they have opportunities for growth and the support to achieve their goals, there's little reason for them to change jobs in search of something more," Brandt says.
That's a great thing for every HR pro to remember.
