Compensation: Benefits of Culture

California Pizza Kitchen’s benefits help retain managers by being true to the company’s culture.

By Mary Boltz Chapman, Editor-in-Chief -- Chain Leader, 5/1/2007

California Pizza Kitchen managers can focus on employees and guests rather than explaining benefits because the support center has taken that out of their hands.

CPK outlines the skills and training necessary to move to the next job up the ladder and provides opportunities to get them.

Employees told CPK they want their benefits program to include opportunity for career growth.

California Pizza Kitchen managers can enroll in traditional benefits such as medical, dental, vision, disability and 401(k). But what management believes sets the company’s program apart is its attention to what the employees want, perks beyond the traditional benefits package, and the communication of options. And they are sure that this helps keep manager turnover low: 21.6 percent last year.

“Our focus is really about satisfying the employees,” says Vice President of Human Resources Peter Liivoja, referring to CPK’s R.O.C.K. philosophy: respect, opportunity, communication, kindness. “R.O.C.K. is really what separates CPK from all of our peers and competitors. It represents the four principles that we live by each and every day.”

Solid Foundation

The company uses that foundation for all it does, including developing its benefits program. CPK surveys all its employees annually to gauge satisfaction levels, and is pleased with an 80 percent participation rate. Exit interviews also provide valuable information, Liivoja says.

In the process, CPK learned that its employees want more than a traditional benefits package. “They want to know there’s a career path for them,” Liivoja says. “We are in expansion and growth mode, and exciting opportunities for career growth are created when you link up with a company like CPK.” It plans to open 16 to 18 full-service stores and three CPK ASAP outlets in 2007.

Beyond initial training, CPK highlights a “roadmap to success,” outlining what it takes to move up to the next position in the company. It hosts Management Skills Development Workshops, inviting hand-picked managers for a four-day session of skills training and leadership development. Managers must succeed in a 10-week initial training program where they learn every part of running a restaurant. They continue to learn at development workshops and annual GM conferences, where they get additional leadership training, recognition and access to CPK’s top executives.

Clear Communications

CPK uses layers of communication to ensure employees know what benefits they can take advantage of.

Each year, a benefits menu details options and eligibility requirements in both English and Spanish. Very much like a menu, the oversize document uses the fonts, colors and trademarks that CPK customers see at the restaurants.

Benefits news and reminders are also often featured in managers’ weekly newsletters from CPK’s support center and conference calls with regional and corporate leaders.

The information is also available on CPK’s Web site as well as posters in the stores. The detailed posters outline how to use each benefit; for example, what happens when a worker takes a leave of absence. Hourly employees who have been with the company for six months and average 25 hours a week are eligible for the same health-related and savings benefits as managers. Those waiting for coverage to begin and hourlies with less than 25 hours a week can enroll in a “mini-med” plan which bundles medical, dental, vision and accident insurance.

CPK’s enrollment center allows any employee to call into a toll-free number to select benefits, and a live person will walk them through the process. No paperwork or computer access is required. Spanish operators are available, as is a translation line for speakers of other languages.

The company also considers the enrollment line and frequent communication benefits for unit management. “We want [managers] be in the business of running the operations of our restaurants and taking care of our guests, so we’ve taken on a lot of the responsibility,” says Director of Employee Benefits P-Kay Wass.

Getting Better All the Time

Next up, CPK’s human resource department is pursuing issuing benefits statements. “For our management team, it’s a reality check, assigning a dollar value to every benefit that’s available to our CPK managers,” Liivoja says. “If you go through the motions, you would be shocked at how much it really costs an organization to provide the kind of benefits we provide.”

Liivoja adds that over the next 18 months, a Web tool will provide measurements that will help identify stars among the management ranks. This would help CPK promote managers or place them in new stores.

“CPK is a ‘work with’ not a ‘work for’ company. It’s all in an effort to attract and retain the best of the best, and that’s our competitive advantage as well,” he concludes. “To help ensure our ongoing growth.”

Measuring Up: Mazzio’s Italian Eatery keeps top-performing managers around by offering bonuses tied to unit performance.
Long Time Coming: Lawry’s Restaurants offers benefits to hourly employees to keep those who want a career.
Bang for the Buck: Applebee’s gives managers the nontraditional benefits that employees feel have the most value.

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