Editorial: Don’t Give This to HR

Employee satisfaction is your responsibility. Don't delegate it all.

By Mary Boltz Chapman, Editor-in-Chief -- Chain Leader, 4/1/2006

Please don’t flip through this issue, drop it on the desk of your human-resources chief and then walk away. I know you’re good at delegating. But don’t pass the task of improving your company’s people practices to someone else. It’s not strictly an HR challenge. It’s a leadership challenge. It’s an operations challenge. It concerns marketing, menu development, real estate, brand strategy and more. And change has to start from the top.

If you’re not in one of the top positions in your company, give this issue to whoever is. Just contact me and I’ll make sure you get another one. Because if that person doesn’t understand how employee satisfaction affects customer satisfaction, how general-manager tenure relates to unit volume and how demographic trends soon won’t support our industry’s labor needs, the rest of the organization won’t get it.

And if you can’t convince that person of the importance of constantly improving your recruiting, retention, compensation and communication methods, consider leaving. Go directly to a company that values its people and understands their role in the success of the chain, from the CEO to the bussers, dishwashers and fry-droppers.

Wish You Were Here
This “Best Places To Work” issue is filled with examples of companies whose people practices yield results. It’s a textbook of workable, real-life ideas and solutions.

Look at these case studies, and benchmark yourself against the “Industry at a Glance” data from People Report’s 2005 Survey of Unit Level Employment Practices. Could your company be included? I challenge you to make it worthy. And next fall, fill out the survey when it arrives in your office or when you see it promoted here, on our Web site or on People Report’s site, www.peoplereport.com.

Keep in mind that People Report’s SULEP numbers mainly represent companies that care enough about human-resources metrics to keep them and improve them, so the actual industry figures are higher for turnaround, benefits offered, hours of training, etc.

As smart companies like these continue to try to improve, they are going to raise the bar. The bar needs to be raised, because we just don’t have the luxury anymore of a huge labor pool.

One More Thing
One company already raising the bar is Motek, a small Beverly Hills, Calif.-based firm that creates warehouse-automation software. The company was featured in an American Way magazine article that caught my attention: “The Best Place to Work—Period.” No fly-by-night dot-com, Motek has customers like General Electric, Heinz and ConAgra. Among its amazing list of benefits for employees are cash bonuses for taking a vacation at least three weeks long, a luxury car for those who have been there 10 years, doors that are locked on weekends and the ability to look at the company’s balance sheet whenever they want.

The article quoted Motek founder and CEO Ann S. Price: “This isn’t about being nice and pampering employees. It’s about creating a business that produces maximum results and changes thinking.” Result: In 2005, Motek’s revenue per employee was more than $217,000.

Can the restaurant industry give that much to employees? I don’t know. I do know innovation will be key to being employers of choice in the future. And everyone in the company plays an important role.

• Editorial: Don’t Give This to HR
• Guest Letter: Then and Now
• Recruiting: Bring a Friend, Says Rib Crib
• Recruiting: Morton’s Mission Critical Hiring Incentives
• Training: Standard Practice at The Palm
• Training: Ivar's Inside Track
• Retention: Room to Grow at Runza
• Retention: Healthy Competition at Main Street
• Retention: LongHorn Offers a Profitable Partnership
• Retention: All-Inclusive at Sea Island
• Retention: Fleming's Survey Says...
• Retention: Goodwill Is as Goodwill Does
• Compensation: Human Capital
• Compensation: STAR Treatment at Brinker
• Compensation: Donatos’ Benefits Focus on Quality of Life
• Compensation: Coffee Perks by the Hour