Editorial: Employment Opportunity

Companies that recognize people are an asset, not an expense, will keep their best workers.

By Mary Boltz Chapman, Editor-in-Chief -- Chain Leader, 12/1/2005

At People Report’s Best Practices Conference last month in Dallas, founder and CEO Joni Doolin looked back at how human resources has changed over the last 10 years. She pointed out that one of the first successful efforts to really make the link between employee satisfaction and guest satisfaction was The Service Profit Chain, by W. Earl Sasser, Leonard A. Schlesinger and James L. Heskett, published in 1997.

But Doolin also looked ahead at demographics that show a shrinking teenage work force, the need to build greater trust with employees and the growing expectation that companies work toward a cause more important than profits.

For those who don’t know, People Report benchmarks and analyzes restaurant-industry people practices for its consortium of member companies and for the industry at large. Research findings from People Report’s Survey of Unit Level Employment Practices primarily determine which companies Chain Leader features in our special “Best Places To Work” issue each year.

Learn from the Best
At the conference, some may have felt Doolin was preaching to the choir. Many companies in the room already have sophisticated, long-term staff development and measurements in place. But Doolin challenged even those organizations to innovate. And interestingly, those companies are willing, even driven, to share how they recruit and retain their best employees to help others do the same.

I spoke to two human-resources executives who unwittingly demonstrated the range of commitment to people practices in the industry. In one conversation, I learned of a large restaurant company that is trying to get around regulations that restrict it from offering benefits to the employees of its franchisees. In another, I was surprised to hear that the franchisees of a large QSR chain don’t get support or guidance on HR issues from the franchisor. I find it hard to believe that there are still chains that don’t consider servers an important part of their brand. Where does your company fit along that spectrum?

Action and Talk
If you feel that the people in your organization are an asset to be managed well, it’s a good start, as far as Doolin and whoever runs HR in your company are concerned. Admitting you have a problem is the first step. Taking action is the hard part.

Invite your human-resources executives to the table. They should be an equal partner with operations and finance. They need to help determine your company’s goals rather than just execute them. They already know all about the link between people and profits, and I’ll bet they’ve even tried to tell you about it.

The companies featured at the conference and those that regularly appear on “best places to work” and “most admired” lists usually have operations, finance and human-resources executives who communicate and work toward the same goals.

A note to HR: Sometimes it’s not that your presidents and CEOs don’t want to hear you, it’s that you’re not talking their language. Learn what’s important to them: same-store sales, return on investment, cost savings, through-put time. Not only will you make your case in terms they understand, but it will demonstrate that you are engaged in the business. Chain leaders love that.