TM - June 2008 - (Page 52) application by Bill Perry Zaxby’s: Making Employees’ Jobs as Palatable as Its Menu there’s nothing easier than fast food. It’s convenient tasty and affordable. , But finding and keeping the people who make and serve it is tough. On average, employee turnover in the food service industry exceeds 100 percent annually. According to a recent article from Nation’s Restaurant News, “restaurant managers — encouraged to drive sales rather than develop people — turned, burned and churned their way through their workforce to the extent that 100-percent annual turnover is still considered best in class today.” A focus on making sales quotas distracts many restaurateurs from developing and retaining the people who ultimately build a business. While restaurant chains grow — some at annual sales rates of up to 42 percent — industry pundits say corporate chieftains do little to put together talent management programs that restaurant managers or franchise owners see as meaningful or strategic. Zaxby’s — a self-described fast-casual restaurant chain with locations mostly in the southern United States, as well as Texas and Ohio — has grown rapidly in recent years. Nation’s Restaurant News named Zaxby’s the No. 1 growth chain in the country. Featuring chicken sandwiches, chicken fingers and buffalo wings prepared to each customer’s order, the company competes with the likes of Chipotle Mexican Grill. Since 1990, when the first Zaxby’s opened in Statesboro, Ga., the chain has grown to more than 430 restaurants and counting. The March 3, 2008, edition of Progressive Grocer estimated Zaxby’s sales growth at 21.1 percent, and Zach McLeroy, creator and chief executive of the Athens, Ga.-based chain, said Zaxby’s is “opening about one store a week somewhere in the 12state area.” Meeting the talent expectations inherent to that level of growth requires the organization find and retain talented people who can make the business of selling good-tasting fast food look easy. Unfortunately, growth and turnover put a significant strain on Zaxby’s talent management activities. “Our turnover among team members and store managers exceeds the restaurant industry average,” said Richard Fletcher, senior director of learning and organiza- tional development for Zaxby’s Franchising Inc. “We decided our talent management solution for this would be to develop the managers at the store level. This approach has always been one of our core values.” Fletcher’s plans might seem at odds with reality. Zaxby’s corporate vision states developing talent is essential to achieve growth. Complementing this vision is a commitment, advertised on its Web site, “to attract, motivate, recognize and develop the best, most diverse talent possible.” A company that claims one of its core values is developing talent shouldn’t have challenges retaining people, right? “Early on in Zaxby’s history, every person who owned or managed a store was brought to headquarters for an indoctrination of sorts,” Fletcher said. “Zaxby’s corporate management bonded with the franchisees and managers and left them with a very clear, consistent idea of how to do business the Zaxby’s way.” But as the number of Zaxby’s franchises mushroomed across the southeastern United States, it became harder and harder to make the personal connections that had been the chain’s hallmark. One-on-one meetings to groom franchisees and managers became difficult, if not impossible, to replicate, and Fletcher’s small staff couldn’t keep pace with Zaxby’s meteoric growth. “Five years ago, we had only two people at Zaxby’s who were responsible for managing learning and talent,” Fletcher said. “At that time, there were 125 stores in the system. A year later, we knew we needed to dedicate someone to developing our corporate talent, so we added another person.” That kind of piecemeal talent management approach is not uncommon for fast-moving entrepreneurial firms, Fletcher said. Without an overarching talent management strategy, companies end up adding a talent manager here, a training director there, but the work usually is not aligned with a growing business’ needs. The pain point that led Zaxby’s to develop a more comprehensive talent management strategy came approximately one year later. 52 June 2008 talent management magazine www.talentmgt.com http://www.talentmgt.com
Table of Contents Feed for the Digital Edition of TM - June 2008 TM - June 2008 Editor’s Letter Contents Human Performance Leading Edge Foundations The New Components of Compliance Candid Culture: Embracing Employee Complaints Transitioning to a New Era: C&B at Nonprofits Three Ways to Build Successful Manager-Employee Relationships Implementing Successful Learning Programs The Succession Fix Fifth Third Bank: Putting People First Zaxby’s: Making Employees’ Jobs as Palatable as Its Menu Workforce Readiness: Preparing Personnel to Meet Business Goals Kelley Blue Book: Writing the Book on Performance Management Advertisers’ Index Editorial Resources Full Potential TM - June 2008 TM - June 2008 - (Page Intro) TM - June 2008 - TM - June 2008 (Page Cover1) TM - June 2008 - TM - June 2008 (Page Cover2) TM - June 2008 - TM - June 2008 (Page 3) TM - June 2008 - Editor’s Letter (Page 4) TM - June 2008 - Editor’s Letter (Page 5) TM - June 2008 - Editor’s Letter (Page 6) TM - June 2008 - Editor’s Letter (Page 7) TM - June 2008 - Editor’s Letter (Page 8) TM - June 2008 - Contents (Page 9) TM - June 2008 - Contents (Page 10) TM - June 2008 - Contents (Page 11) TM - June 2008 - Human Performance (Page 12) TM - June 2008 - Human Performance (Page 13) TM - June 2008 - Leading Edge (Page 14) TM - June 2008 - Leading Edge (Page 15) TM - June 2008 - Foundations (Page 16) TM - June 2008 - Foundations (Page 17) TM - June 2008 - The New Components of Compliance (Page 18) TM - June 2008 - The New Components of Compliance (Page 19) TM - June 2008 - The New Components of Compliance (Page 20) TM - June 2008 - The New Components of Compliance (Page 21) TM - June 2008 - The New Components of Compliance (Page 22) TM - June 2008 - The New Components of Compliance (Page 23) TM - June 2008 - Candid Culture: Embracing Employee Complaints (Page 24) TM - June 2008 - Candid Culture: Embracing Employee Complaints (Page 25) TM - June 2008 - Candid Culture: Embracing Employee Complaints (Page 26) TM - June 2008 - Candid Culture: Embracing Employee Complaints (Page 27) TM - June 2008 - Candid Culture: Embracing Employee Complaints (Page 28) TM - June 2008 - Candid Culture: Embracing Employee Complaints (Page 29) TM - June 2008 - Transitioning to a New Era: C&B at Nonprofits (Page 30) TM - June 2008 - Transitioning to a New Era: C&B at Nonprofits (Page 31) TM - June 2008 - Transitioning to a New Era: C&B at Nonprofits (Page 32) TM - June 2008 - Transitioning to a New Era: C&B at Nonprofits (Page 33) TM - June 2008 - Transitioning to a New Era: C&B at Nonprofits (Page 34) TM - June 2008 - Transitioning to a New Era: C&B at Nonprofits (Page 35) TM - June 2008 - Three Ways to Build Successful Manager-Employee Relationships (Page 36) TM - June 2008 - Three Ways to Build Successful Manager-Employee Relationships (Page 37) TM - June 2008 - Three Ways to Build Successful Manager-Employee Relationships (Page 38) TM - June 2008 - Three Ways to Build Successful Manager-Employee Relationships (Page 39) TM - June 2008 - Implementing Successful Learning Programs (Page 40) TM - June 2008 - Implementing Successful Learning Programs (Page 41) TM - June 2008 - The Succession Fix (Page 42) TM - June 2008 - The Succession Fix (Page 43) TM - June 2008 - The Succession Fix (Page 44) TM - June 2008 - The Succession Fix (Page 45) TM - June 2008 - The Succession Fix (Page 46) TM - June 2008 - The Succession Fix (Page 47) TM - June 2008 - The Succession Fix (Page 48) TM - June 2008 - The Succession Fix (Page 49) TM - June 2008 - Fifth Third Bank: Putting People First (Page 50) TM - June 2008 - Fifth Third Bank: Putting People First (Page 51) TM - June 2008 - Zaxby’s: Making Employees’ Jobs as Palatable as Its Menu (Page 52) TM - June 2008 - Zaxby’s: Making Employees’ Jobs as Palatable as Its Menu (Page 53) TM - June 2008 - Zaxby’s: Making Employees’ Jobs as Palatable as Its Menu (Page 54) TM - June 2008 - Zaxby’s: Making Employees’ Jobs as Palatable as Its Menu (Page 55) TM - June 2008 - Workforce Readiness: Preparing Personnel to Meet Business Goals (Page 56) TM - June 2008 - Workforce Readiness: Preparing Personnel to Meet Business Goals (Page 57) TM - June 2008 - Workforce Readiness: Preparing Personnel to Meet Business Goals (Page 58) TM - June 2008 - Workforce Readiness: Preparing Personnel to Meet Business Goals (Page 59) TM - June 2008 - Kelley Blue Book: Writing the Book on Performance Management (Page 60) TM - June 2008 - Kelley Blue Book: Writing the Book on Performance Management (Page 61) TM - June 2008 - Kelley Blue Book: Writing the Book on Performance Management (Page 62) TM - June 2008 - Kelley Blue Book: Writing the Book on Performance Management (Page 63) TM - June 2008 - Kelley Blue Book: Writing the Book on Performance Management (Page 64) TM - June 2008 - Editorial Resources (Page 65) TM - June 2008 - Full Potential (Page 66) TM - June 2008 - Full Potential (Page Cover3) TM - June 2008 - Full Potential (Page Cover4)
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