LaRosa's Internal Affairs

LaRosa’s Pizzeria promotes hourly employees via its management-training program.

By Lisa Bertagnoli, Contributing Editor -- Chain Leader, 4/15/2004

The 14-week management-training program at LaRosa's prepares hourly staff to become supervisors, assistant managers and general managers.

"We’re 50 years in business this year, and promotion from within has always been a part of our culture,” says Michael LaRosa, president and chief people officer of Cincinnati-based LaRosa’s Pizzeria. In fact, more than half its managers have been promoted from hourly positions.

“[Promoting from within] inspires other hourlies and shows people there’s growth,” says Karen Fox, president of The Hunter Group, a Northfield, Ill.-based hospitality recruiting firm. “Hourlies already know the corporate culture; they’ve seen management and know what works and what doesn’t.”

The Layered Approach
LaRosa’s hourly employees at both company and franchised units can embark on a 14-week management-training program. The first four weeks turn an hourly into a supervisor. The next four weeks cover assistant-manager material, and the final four weeks target general-manager candidates.

Those 12 weeks of training, which consume 35 to 40 hours a week, take place mostly in a training-certified store. Trainees spend one day a week in the classroom at LaRosa’s Center for Learning in Cincinnati for “a different kind of training, such as PowerPoint and group teaching,” LaRosa says. General-manager trainees spend an intensive final two weeks at the center.

After each four-week segment, employees can step out of or be pulled from the track. For instance, a promising cook might train four weeks to be a supervisor, then remain a supervisor until he or she decides to continue up the ladder. “It’s a layered approach to gradually get people into management,” LaRosa says.

Would-be managers take a test that ascertains their potential. Based on assessment tests of its best managers, LaRosa’s created a model of an effective manager with skills such as mental acuity, communication, organization and energy. “If someone profiles similarly, we figure it’s safe to move them up,” LaRosa explains.

The trainee’s home store pays $1,000 for an employee to go through the 14-week program.

Tweaking Training
About 75 percent of managers at company stores and 50 percent of those at franchised locations have risen from the hourly ranks. LaRosa’s annual turnover rate is about 113 percent for all employees, compared to the National Restaurant Association’s national average of 130 percent for casual and family restaurants.

Still, this year the program is due for a few changes. The company will reorganize materials so classroom work reinforces that week’s restaurant-based training. The chain also plans to keep trainees at a store for longer periods of time so they can establish relationships with the staff.

LaRosa’s will examine sales to determine whether the training and promotion affects the bottom line. But even lacking quantitative figures that link well-trained managers to higher sales, LaRosa knows that good training means good business. “We’re only as good as the management team in each location,” he says. “They set the tone for the quality of service, the quality of food and the care that takes place within the four walls of the building.”

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