QSR February 2023

EVOLUT ION

For King, one post-COVID trend he sees is the need for companies to market their mission statements and values— and demonstrate those with actions—in order to attract the younger generation of employ ees and customers. In August, Donatos tapped Chr ist ina Jackson to enhance company culture and develop an inclu sive personnel plan as chief people officer. “If you want to be successful in today’s world, guests want to know what you stand for and what’s important to us as much as our teammembers do,” King says. “The younger you are, the more important it is for you to say, the brands I do business with need to align with my values, and I think it’s a fan tastic thing.” With that being said, res

BEING AN EMPLOYER OF CHOICE HAS CLIMBED ATOP DONATOS’ PLAYBOOK.

“They want to work in a really nice place where they’re appreciated for the work they do and have great team mem bers to work with. When I see great GMs who know how to take care of their team and run a restaurant, they don’t have prob lems hiring or retaining people, because good people want to work for good people,” Rothschild says. “Make sure you have great leaders and people running your restaurants, and staffing should help itself,” Rothschild adds, though he admits there are areas of the country within smaller population pockets where companies need to be cre ative about recruiting and sometimes offer unusual incentives. “One prong is attracting people to get them to apply, and the other is taking really good care of them when they do decide to work for you.” At Lemonade, Robison notes general manager turnover rates dropped to 17 percent last year—“which is unheard of in this industry,” she says, where hourly crew rates can be upward of 200 percent. Increased retention was driven by gathering feed back from general managers at retreats and at regular town hall meetings, where any employee at the company can ask ques tions and make suggestions. “If you don’t stay connected with those people, you don’t find out what makes them tick and excited and what their pain points might be, so you’re never going to find the right things that help them be better in their roles and make the restaurant better,” Robison says. The increased benefits MRC has rolled out have directly come from employee suggestions, from paid time off for volun teering to time and half pay on certain holidays. “I think every business has the opportunity to look at what their current standards and benef its are and be able to say, what else can we afford to do to take care of our people?” she adds. q

taurants that showcase how they value their staff mem bers—by increasing pay or bolstering benef its packages, for example—are gaining a leg up on competitors in their space. Donatos, for example, has raised wages and created opportunities for employees to learn more skills in the work place, especially since Donatos is a big employer of 14- and 15-year-old staff members where it’s allowed. “We’re constantly looking at quality of life and what we’re asking our team of people to do in the stores,” King says. That means outsourcing certain tasks when necessary, such as embracing third-party delivery companies to supplement loca tions where they don’t have enough drivers on staff, or at peak times on Friday nights and on Superbowl Sunday. “Five years ago, third-party delivery was just a tiny thing that was super expensive for the restaurant operator, but together, we figured out a way to make it work,” he adds. Though King believes the labor crisis will still last for years to come, a combination of competitive pay, flexibility, and oppor tunities for career advancement will help restaurants become employers of choice. The last point is crucial, because career development allows employees to grow within an organization and hopefully stay longer. Rothschild thinks the restaurant industry has a retention issue, not necessarily a hiring issue. For him, the key to increasing retention rates in restaurants is hiring exceptional general man agers as leaders, who inspire employees in a fun environment. KEVIN KING PRESIDENT/DONATOS PIZZA

Callie Evergreen in a Senior Editor at QSR . She can be reached at cevergreen@WTWHMedia.com .

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FEBRUARY 2023 | QSR | www.qsrmagazine.com