March 3, 2025 • 36 mins
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Struggling to hire and keep Gen Z employees? You’re not alone. This generation thinks differently about work—and if you’re not adapting, you’re losing talent.
Hiring and retaining Gen Z employees is one of the biggest challenges facing restaurant and hospitality leaders today. In this episode, Alex Taylor, Area Manager, shares her proven strategies for building a motivated and engaged Gen Z workforce. With years of hospitality experience and a people-first leadership style, Alex has cracked the code on attracting young talent, reducing turnover, and fostering a thriving team culture.
At the same time, operational efficiency plays a huge role in employee satisfaction. No one wants to work in a disorganized or unsafe environment. Restaurant Technologies helps restaurants streamline back-of-house operations—like automated oil management—so teams can focus on service, not stressful kitchen tasks.
Tune in to learn:
✅ How to make genuine connections during the hiring process to attract top Gen Z talent
✅ The secret to maintaining a steady pipeline of seasonal employees
✅ Why one-on-one meetings are essential for engagement and retention
✅ How to build a strong team culture that encourages referrals and long-term commitment
✅ Ways to help Gen Z employees see value in their roles—even if they view them as temporary
If you’re struggling to hire and keep younger employees, this episode is packed with actionable insights you can implement right away!
#GenZWorkforce #RestaurantLeadership #HiringTips #Totaloilmanagement #Restauranttechnologies
More from Christin:
Grab your free copy of my audiobook, The Hospitality Leader's Roadmap: Move from Ordinary to Extraordinary at christinmarvin.com/audio
Curious about one-on-one coaching or leadership workshops? Click this link to schedule a 15 minute strategy session.
Podcast Production: https://www.lconnorvoice.com/
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Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:06):
Are you curious about how to hire, motivate and
manage Gen Z employees in yourfood and beverage business?
If so, stick around, as I'mgoing to introduce you to
someone who is a total badass inthis area.
Alex Taylor is the area managerfor Sweet Cow Ice Cream in
Colorado.
She oversees seven locationsand is in charge of all things
(00:28):
operations, production, hiring,training and development of 50
plus leaders and over 250employees.
In this episode, alex and Iwill discuss how she's found
success in hiring and developingGen Z employees.
Dive into the key aspects thatattract Gen Z to employment, and
how she's found success inhiring and developing Gen Z
employees.
Dive into the key aspects thatattract Gen Z to employment, and
how she has created a strongbench of applicants to fill open
(00:52):
positions immediately whensomeone gives notice.
Welcome to the RestaurantLeadership Podcast, the show
where restaurant leaders learntools, tactics and habits from
the world's greatest operators.
I'm your host, kristen Marvin.
With Solutions by Kristen.
(01:12):
I've spent the last two decadesin the restaurant industry and
now partner with restaurantowners to develop their leaders
and scale their businessesthrough powerful one-on-one
coaching, group coaching andleadership workshops.
This show is complete withepisodes around coaching,
leadership development andinterviews with powerful
(01:35):
industry leaders.
You can now engage with me onthe show and share topics you'd
like to hear about, leadershiplessons you want to learn and
any feedback you have.
Simply click the link at thetop of the show notes and I will
give you a shout out on afuture episode.
Thanks so much for listeningand I look forward to connecting
.
(01:57):
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Speaker 2 (03:50):
Hi Alex, what's up?
Hello, what's up.
How are you?
I'm just so great.
How are you?
Speaker 1 (03:58):
Good Thanks.
Thank you so much for beinghere.
I really appreciate it.
You know I so for for for thelisteners here.
Alex Taylor and I workedtogether for a brief time at
Sweet Cow Ice Cream in Denver soSweet Cow has seven locations,
yep.
And I was thinking back theother day after we talked about
(04:19):
when we first met and do youremember we were?
You came in and we you came infor an interview and we went out
back and sat on milk crates inthe back alley next to the
walk-in and and that was wherewe interviewed jayla's oldest
time.
Speaker 2 (04:35):
Yeah, we sit on a couple milk crates in the back
alley it was.
Speaker 1 (04:40):
It was amazing.
And then, and then I remembermy boss was like look, can we
not do interviews on milk crates?
I was like, well, it was reallybusy.
Speaker 2 (04:50):
Kind of brought me in more.
Speaker 1 (04:52):
Yeah, I think that the shop was really busy and I
think the seating was taken, butno, I just it was funny because
we've been, I've been talkingso much and writing some content
around, like you know how tocreate a great experience for
employees, and it really startswith the interview process, and
I just thought it was hystericalthat you know, here we are,
here we were interviewing a GMcandidate on milk crates in the
(05:14):
back alley.
So anyway, just a little fondmemory of how I first met you.
Speaker 2 (05:19):
So, yeah, I have that memory embedded in my brain as
well, so it was a great way tomeet.
Speaker 1 (05:24):
Awesome.
So again, I'm super excited tohave you on the show you know
again.
So a little bit of background.
You came on with Sweet Cow totake over in a GM role, to take
over one of the busiestlocations in Denver in the
Highlands, at 32nd Lowell, andthen eventually worked up to
(05:45):
take over the area managerposition when I left, which was
just incredible to have you asan awesome partner in crime in
that in the short time that wewere able to work together.
But one of the things that I'msuper excited to share with
listeners today is yourleadership style and your
(06:06):
approach to working.
A transitioning into a shopthat was struggling from a
cultural perspective and from aturnover perspective and from a
perspective of kind of having alittle bit of a divide between
operations and leadership in mymind and I was obviously the
(06:30):
middleman for that.
So that was super challenging,working with the management team
that I had at the time and yourability to really connect with
your team, to invest in thepeople that you were working
with, to strategize aboutbuilding the perfect schedule,
(06:50):
about how to motivate your team,inspire your team, and I really
loved how you were able tobuild a bench internally.
That was one of the mostincredible things that I've ever
seen from an operatorstandpoint, and I'm totally in
awe of what you did during thattime and what you still do, and
I'm just super excited to shareall of those wonderful
(07:13):
leadership skill sets with thelisteners today.
Speaker 2 (07:16):
Oh, thank you for all those kind words.
Speaker 1 (07:19):
Very sweet.
Yeah, absolutely.
So again, let's talk a littlebit about your, your background,
before Sweet Cow.
Speaker 2 (07:30):
Yeah Well, I really I feel like I've always worked in
a realm of hospitality.
In the very beginning.
I remember working at a pizzashop when I was 18 with all my
friends.
I had a passion for kids and sothere was a moment when I spent
(07:52):
a lot of time just with veryyoung people in after school
programs.
And then, when I moved toDenver, hospitality came up
again because I really wanted tomeet more people.
My age and I embarked on myjourney at Whole Foods.
That I didn't know was going tobe a journey, but I started out
just as a team member andthroughout seven years with that
(08:15):
company I was promoted 10 timesand really learned a lot, not
only about hospitality and foodbut about building relationships
, working with different typesof teams, working and developing
others, and also I had somereally great mentors there that
(08:38):
taught me skills that I use tothis day.
So it was like the core of whatmy leadership was and my
hospitality knowledge reallycame from that space.
Then I moved on to reallyfinding food as like my passion
and I started bakingprofessionally after that for
(08:58):
the kitchen Denver andeventually moved into a private
chef role in Manhattan.
That lasted all until COVID.
So when I moved back to Denverin 2020, starting over again and
really considering where Iwanted to go Sweet Cow made
sense to me because it was abusiness that I had loved when I
lived in Denver before and italigned with a lot of the values
(09:19):
I had regarding leadership,hospitality, great quality
ingredients and great people.
So that's really my backgroundin a nutshell, and yeah, what do
you think was a secret?
Speaker 1 (09:35):
I mean, I don't think I remembered from your
background that you werepromoted 10 times at Whole Foods
.
Holy moly, that's incredible.
What do you think the reasoningwas for those, for so many
promotions and for so manyopportunities for you at Whole
Foods?
Speaker 2 (09:54):
Well, first I started from the bottom.
Now I'm here, kind of always goback to those Drake lyrics when
I'm looking for inspiration.
No, I think because I started asa scooper or, I'm sorry, not as
a scooper, I'm in sweet cowmode.
I started just as a team memberat Whole Foods and I think
(10:15):
because they had such a largefootprint in general over many,
many locations, many differentroles existing within the
company, there wereopportunities that existed for
me that made it very easy tofind another role to continue to
satiate my knowledge and myquest for development, and I
(10:41):
really found that because of thementors I had at Whole Foods as
well, there was a guidance forme to try different things so
that I would be able to broadenmy you know my skill set, for
like what shops I would work at,for example, could work with
teams that maybe weren't verysuccessful and were having
(11:04):
issues operationally orculturally, or I would work for
teams that were very successfuland already had great systems in
place, and sometimes promotionsdon't have to be big.
Sometimes it would be somethingsmall, like moving into a
supervisor role and then fromthere, agm and then multiple
roles as a general manager.
(11:26):
So, in a lot of ways.
Once I was promoted that ninthor 10th time, it was really more
about learning new teams, newlocations, new styles and that
really helped me to be flexibleand nimble and different
environments.
Speaker 1 (11:42):
Were those opportunities that you were
actively seeking out?
Or were your mentors and peerscoming to you saying there's an
opportunity we want to consideryou?
Speaker 2 (11:53):
It was both.
It was both In the beginning.
It was me.
In the beginning I was like youknow, looking back, I was
probably applying for thingsthat I wasn't quite ready for,
because I was hungry and I wasexcited and I had ambition.
And I lucked out a couple timeswith those positions because at
Whole Foods we had panelinterviews for any job you had,
(12:13):
so you could be chosen forsomething if the majority of the
people in the room really feltlike you were that right fit.
And later on in my career itwas more about the people who I
worked with, my mentors guidingme and saying you know, I think
this is a great opportunity foryou, this is a new skill set.
To go to our flagship store torun the largest division that we
(12:36):
have in Rocky Mountain region.
That's how I was guided towardsthe end of my career.
Speaker 1 (12:43):
I, you know, obviously your success in
leadership was really crucialfor you know, when you and I
were interviewing for part ofthe reason why I really I mean,
obviously your personality isamazing and you're so warm and
comfortable and just authenticand comfortable in your skin but
your success in leadership wassomething that was really really
(13:04):
attractive, because I've alwaysreally tried to hire leaders
that have achieved successbefore.
They know what it feels like,they know how to go get after it
Right.
There's great experience in,yeah, working for places where
systems need to be put intoplace and there are operational
challenges.
But when somebody has thattrack record of success it
(13:28):
really just propels theirleadership and everybody around
them.
And in the Highlands perspective, you know, at that shop we, you
know my what I saw with theteam was that there was a
breakdown in culture.
There was a severe lack ofenergy and engagement with the
(13:50):
customers and there was a peoplepleaser type of leadership
style in there where therewasn't a lot of coaching and
development happening and it wasreally impacting the progress
of the team.
So I want to ask you a littlebit about because you had so
(14:10):
much experience transitioninginto all of these different
roles with Whole Foods.
What was your approach totransitioning into the Highlands
location?
Speaker 2 (14:23):
For me with my approach.
I feel like the first thing Ilike to do when I come into a
new space where I don't knoweveryone yet is to just remember
that I don't know everyone yet,is to just remember that I
don't know everyone yet.
It's really important for me tobuild new relationships, get to
(14:43):
know people on the level theywant to meet me at, not make any
assumptions about where we'vebeen or where we're going, but
really try and figure out wherepeople are at right at that
moment and start making genuineconnections, Not necessarily
worrying about, like you know,oh, this looks dirty over here
(15:06):
or oh, this person isn't wearingtheir uniform.
I'm not necessarily like takingtally of those things.
I'm more thinking about how doI connect with this person in
the moment and try to actuallyget to know them, as if I was
going to a party and beingintroduced to someone.
Speaker 1 (15:24):
I love it.
One of the things that I and Istruggled with this you know,
the majority of the team atSweet Cow are in high school or
college and I'm in my fortiesand you're in your thirties
right, and I talked to operatorsnow who've been in the business
for a long time.
Right, and Jen Jen Z is comingin.
It's the future generation of,and current of, restaurant
(15:45):
employees.
Right, and they're beingblended in and a lot of
operators ask me, like how do Iconnect with Jen's ears?
Like what do I talk to themabout?
And that was a struggle for metoo, because I well, I'm an
introvert, so I can be awkwardat first and small talk is
really hard and exhausting forme.
Speaker 2 (15:58):
But I didn't know what to.
Speaker 1 (16:00):
I didn't know what to talk about.
You know what I mean, so Iwould just I would just lean
towards ice cream.
But how did you build, connect,personal connections with your
team?
Speaker 2 (16:10):
Um, I, I can kind of be a little Barbara Walter-y,
like I can be.
20 questions, I think.
Sometimes it doesn't alwaysmake people feel the most like
comfortable to open up, but Ithink it's a good place to start
is just to ask questions andpick up on things that you can
(16:30):
connect with Absolutely.
So for me, I think, listeningto people asking specific
questions and then finding outhow I can bring that up again in
another conversation, orfiguring out if somebody has a
more lighthearted personality,if I see them engaging with
(16:51):
other people and joking I alsowant to have that kind of
relationship with someone.
So a lot of it is like payingattention to what's happening,
both verbally and non-verbally.
Some people really want toconnect through direct
questioning and genuineconversation and some people
(17:12):
want to connect morenon-verbally.
Speaker 1 (17:15):
Unlock the skills to transform your leadership with
the Hospitality Leaders RoadmapMove from ordinary to
extraordinary, packed withpractical strategies to lead
with confidence and createlasting impact in your
restaurant.
Visit kristinmarvincom slashaudio to download your free
(17:36):
audio book today Marvincom slashaudio to download your free
audio book today.
So I also want to talk aboutthat you're hiring strategy,
because in Sweet Cow, becausethe business is so seasonal, we
almost had to double our staffin some locations to get ready
for summertime and you were soon top of that staffing plan.
(17:59):
What was your strategy for that?
And I want to pick your brain alittle bit about this, because
I just read an article in Forbesa couple of days ago that
Generation Z is becoming mastersat ghosting employers because
it feels like they have controlover their careers and they are
(18:22):
either not showing up forinterviews or they're accepting
positions and they're notshowing up.
So will you talk a little bitabout your experience with
hiring, with interviewing, withghosting?
How did you handle that withghosting?
How did you handle that?
Speaker 2 (18:37):
Yeah, I mean, I think people ghost I for me.
I I understand it's.
There's generationaldifferences.
Things change.
I remember people ghosting mefor many years.
I think it's a part of justbeing young.
Um, I think some people thinkthey can commit to you and they
can't.
Some people, um, you know,people think they can commit to
(18:59):
you and they can't.
Some people you know come inand their guns a blazing that
they want a specific job, andthen you never hear from them
again.
And those people I put in thereview mirror very fast and I'm
on to the next.
It's about finding talent thatshows up number one, and you can
see some of those things justin a work history, just like we
(19:20):
do for any interview we have,where you really review
someone's past.
And it's also about figuringout what makes somebody drawn to
a position and why they'reinterested in being there in the
first place.
So cultivating a great teamstarts with who you already have
(19:42):
and creating that buy-in withthose individuals and especially
the leaders in the room.
So if you have a manager, ashift lead, a supervisor, those
individuals are going to make alot of decisions, bring a lot of
the culture and they're theones that are going to be
interacting with your team everyday more than anyone else, and
(20:03):
so I think if you build a reallystrong leadership team,
supervisor group, whatever thatlooks like for you, then you
start to develop the culturethat people want to work with.
Start developing the culturewhere a young person comes in on
a saturday night to your icecream shop per se and they see
(20:23):
how much fun everyone is havingand they want to be a part of
that.
Everyone wants to be a part ofsomething that looks like it's
fun, that looks like people are,you know, friends and it's also
genuine, authentic.
You're still going to havepeople that ghost.
You're still going to havepeople that are not as qualified
(20:46):
as you thought they were, andthat's okay, because you'll find
twice as many people that areinterested if you have a great
culture.
Um, and with hiring, you knowseasonality is big in a lot of
industries and, although Ididn't work in ice cream before,
I worked in bakeries andbakeries are very, very, very
(21:10):
busy for a very short window.
So ice cream was like great, wehave three months to be busy In
bakery land.
You have two weeks where it'slike this is holiday season, you
ramp up and your sales aregoing to be tripling,
quadrupling, and it's only goingto be for 60 days or less, and
(21:30):
then you need to minimize yourteam again.
So I had a lot of experiencefrom my past life in baking to
prepare myself for ice cream.
I knew about flexibility, Iknew about part-timers and how
many you'd want and I also thinksome of it's luck.
I was in a part of town wherepeople were still applying and I
(21:53):
was getting applicant flow.
Speaker 1 (21:54):
Yeah, yeah, and I mean one of the.
You know, one of the things thatI didn't realize about ice
cream when I started working init is that it's 100% turnover
industry anyway, right, and so,just because of the seasonality
and some of that, it's not allbad turnover right.
Some of those people, thoseemployees, go back to school so
they take a break and then theycome back, which is included in
the turnover Right.
But you guys, you guys did havegreat applicant flow and one of
(22:18):
the things that was smart aboutwhat we did was our job
postings were always open right,always, which which was
overwhelming at times, but alsoreally kept a nice flow of
applicants coming in, right.
I remember people being likecan we please shut this off now?
Yeah, but it helped us buildrelationships and create
customers right of people thatwe weren't able to apply or to
(22:38):
bring onto the team.
I mean, and I saw that shiftwith you and your team down the
road where you didn't have tolean on those applications
towards the end of your career.
What started to shift there?
What happened?
Speaker 2 (22:53):
communications um, towards the end of your career,
what?
What started to shift there?
What happened?
Again, it's like people enjoytheir job.
Why do they enjoy it?
I think people enjoy their jobsbecause they make good money,
they have a great schedule andthey love the people they work
with.
Um, those are the three thingsthat I think we got really good
at with Sweet Cow Um, and wealso set high standards, so
(23:13):
everyone in the room wasexpected to meet those, meet
those goals.
And then people would just belike my friend wants to work
here, or I have like fourfriends that want to work here,
and I'd be like great, just tellme who you got, because if I
knew someone was amazing, theirfriends were just as amazing.
You know, I had this group ofhigh school boys I don't say
(23:36):
boys, they were men, they were,you know, growing up in front of
my eyes, but they were.
You know, I had one person onmy team who was 16 and so mature
and had great follow through,and everyone just appreciated
him.
And then I hired one of hisfriends and he was the same.
(23:58):
And I hired another one of hisfriends, he was the same too.
And I eventually had like four,four of them, their crew, all
worked at the shop, and it'sincredible how, if you find one
wonderful person, they mostlikely have friends that are
wonderful, and so that reallybecame a part of what we did as
(24:20):
well.
Speaker 1 (24:22):
Yeah, and I, you know , I remember doing, you know
schedule calls with you everysingle week and we'd be like,
okay, where are you at staffingwise, what do you need to hire
for?
Where you know what's applicantflow look like.
And you're like, oh, I got areferral, I got a referral, I
got a referral.
I mean you just you created,you had such a great culture
where you created a bench ofemployees future employees that
were coming in, and I can onlyimagine how much time and energy
(24:44):
that saved you to be able tofocus on investing in your team.
Speaker 2 (24:50):
Yeah, and going back to like the leadership part of
things you know, finding peoplewho also make the room bright
and fun and understand how tohave high standards, while also
bringing you know that thatupbeat vibe, that ice cream shop
needs putting those people incharge Uh, that charge, that's
(25:14):
very, very important, likepicking out talent and promoting
that talent, because, at theend of the day, I'm not going to
be able to connect with everysingle person, I'm not going to
be able to work every shift, soembodying that and the people I
hired and developed was how Ithink the culture was
consistently happeningthroughout each day.
Speaker 1 (25:32):
Yeah, and one of the things that was built into the
Sweet Cow culture which I loveis is mixing up the manager
schedules.
Right, where is your shop wasopen?
The Highland shop was open tillfrom 10 AM to midnight, right,
and you guys would be rockinguntil you know, get out of there
at 1, 2 AM in the morning andso doing that kind of volume and
having a line out the door forhours and hours.
You did a really great job ofmixing in your schedule so that
(25:54):
you could work with your entireteam.
You'd work morning shifts,you'd work some mid shifts,
you'd work some closing shifts,but one of the things that
really stood out about yourleadership was you were so on
top of making sure that you wereholding one-on-ones and doing
performance reviews with yourteam.
Will you talk a little bitabout how you planned for those,
how you executed those, howmuch time those took you as well
(26:17):
?
Speaker 2 (26:19):
Yeah, I think I spent a lot of time on that because
it's important to me to havethat, and so if something's
important to me, it's going tobe important to someone else,
and what I found from working atWhole Foods else, and what I
found from working at WholeFoods one of the things that we
were required to do every yearwas have a it was called a job
dialogue, but every singleperson would get one throughout
(26:41):
the year, and not only that, butyou would get one for yourself
as well.
So there was a time where Iwould have to read comments from
every person on my team abouthow I was doing, and I noticed
that, after giving feedback toeach person throughout the year,
I started to see that peoplewere more bought in to being on
(27:07):
the team, or people would startimproving the areas that I
wanted to see growth in, ormaybe someone would also find
their way off of the teambecause they were realizing that
it wasn't the best fit for them, and there's also nothing wrong
with that.
So when I started at Sweet Cow,we had a review system and I
(27:29):
really wanted to develop moreone-on-ones, especially with the
people who were leaving therooms, because being seen for
five or ten minutes and having aconversation about how you're
doing, what's going well, whatare your opportunities.
Those five or ten minutes wheresomeone has one-on-one time
makes such a big impactlong-term, with people feeling
(27:52):
like they don't want to call out, or people feeling connected to
authentic culture, where theyactually think that this is a
family and it's also a job thatcomes from authenticity, and I
think that's where you get that.
Speaker 1 (28:09):
Yeah, you kind of briefly mentioned it, but would
you highlight during that fiveor 10 minute conversation what
were some of the things that youwould bring up and were you
consistent with each employee?
Speaker 2 (28:21):
Yeah, I was really consistent.
So it was organized.
It would be every other week Iwould have a one-on-one with
someone, so it'd be the entiregroup together one week and then
one person on their own everyother week.
And what I did was I cameprepared with just direct
(28:42):
feedback for everyone so whatthings are going well and what
opportunities do we have, notjust for them, for me, but also
what do they see, what are theopportunities that I have as a
leader, what are theopportunities that the shop has?
What do they need to besuccessful in their role?
So it would be 30 minutes andtypically we would start out
(29:04):
with what was going right, whatwas going well, what the
opportunities were for thatindividual where they could find
the information or the trainingto improve, and then it would
be an open forum to discussanything they had on their mind.
So people looked forward tothose and if I canceled one, I
(29:27):
immediately would reschedule itfor another time, because that's
the other thing is.
If you don't follow up on thesethings, if you don't
consistently have them it's onlyonce that you do it and then it
falls off then people don't useit as a platform to really say
what they need or to reallydevelop on the plans that you've
set from the previousconversation.
(29:49):
The follow through isn't on,isn't going to happen on your
end if it's not happening onyour end yeah, and you did this
not only with your leadershipteam, but with every employee in
the shop.
Speaker 1 (30:00):
yes, did you find that your younger employees that
were you know this was theirfirst job right and that they
weren't necessarily looking tomake ice cream a career?
How did they, how did theyaccept that feedback?
Speaker 2 (30:16):
Most people, um, were very open to it.
Um, you know, how you saysomething is just as important
as what you say.
So I think it's really great totell people that they are
developing skills that they canput on their resume for the rest
of their life.
I mean, this might be yourfirst job, but I think if you
(30:39):
can learn how to interact withpeople, not only on the team but
also with customers, if you canteach the skills that they
would need for organization orfor consistency, cleanliness, a
lot of the things that we do inan ice cream shop every day
apply to every job you'll havefor the rest of your life.
(30:59):
So I think, coming from thatmentality and really putting it
into a perspective that's biggerthan ice cream and making it
more about them and their careergrowth, starting right now even
in high school, that resonatedwith a lot of people.
Speaker 1 (31:18):
And how are you applying those same ideas and
philosophies with yourmanagement team?
Now that you're area director,you're overseeing seven
locations right, You've got sixshift leads and two managers,
ideally in every location.
How are you teaching them howto develop their team and
(31:40):
motivate and inspire theiremployees?
Speaker 2 (31:43):
Well, I think one thing that's happened from being
an area manager is I'm moreorganized than ever before,
which is great.
We actually have templates forevery manager now to use for
one-on-ones, not only for myselfand the manager, but we also
have templates that they can usefor themselves and their
(32:03):
assistant manager.
We also do the same thing withour shift leads.
We have not everyone connectsin the same way.
Not every manager connectsthrough the same questions or
the same conversation, um.
So we really wanted to set upsome kind of template for people
(32:25):
to use so that way they wouldhave a guideline as to how they
would want those one-on-ones toflow.
So we catered it to each shop,each manager, by tweaking things
that really were priorities forthem.
But it's the same template andit's a requirement that you
schedule those.
When you're not having a shiftlead meeting one week, you're
(32:48):
having a one-on-one, and we arerevamping the review process as
well and making it easier.
So we don't want it to be wordy.
We don't want you to have tosit writing something for over
an hour to give to someone.
We want it to be easy where youcan really highlight the things
that are going well and talkabout the development piece.
(33:09):
So we've also come up with acouple of different ways of
doing that that save time forour managers, so they can spend
more one on one time with theteam and with their shift leads.
Speaker 1 (33:22):
That's the, that's the beauty.
The beauty and the goal right.
The more systems that you canput into place, the more
opportunities that your, yourmanagers, have to spend with
their team right, and the moreopportunities the team have to
spend with the guests for sure.
I want to ask you one lastquestion what do you find Gen Z
really wants out of a job?
(33:43):
When they're coming tointerview, what are they asking
for?
Speaker 2 (33:48):
I think people are again going back to what I said
before, like multiple times.
But I think people are againgoing back to what I said before
, like multiple times.
But I think people are lookingfor like authenticity.
I think they're looking foreither a manager or a company or
a team that will genuinely careabout them.
So if you are having a mentalhealth day, you can have it, and
(34:13):
that's on the manager to makesure that we have enough people
so that when that comes up, noone is shamed for a new unit day
or no one is shamed for beingsick.
I think that came from COVID aswell, not just Gen Z.
But then it's the part ofreally genuinely connecting just
on a human level and ensuringthat you are asking the right
(34:35):
questions about what things wewant to grow in their career and
what things we feel arestrengths that we want to just
see maybe that person teachingothers.
So I think it's authenticconnection and I think it's
really consistently showing upand bringing you know, bringing
(34:59):
that sense of care that not justGen Z, but I think we all want.
Speaker 1 (35:06):
Yeah, absolutely.
I love it.
Well, Alex, you're amazing.
Thank you so much for beinghere.
How are?
Speaker 2 (35:13):
you.
Speaker 1 (35:19):
We're sitting on milk crates.
I know just like we are right.
I love it.
I'm backed up in my closet andyou're in a stairwell.
This is just yes.
Speaker 2 (35:23):
This is just how we roll, so just where we deserve
to be I love it.
Speaker 1 (35:26):
Um, again, just really appreciate you being here
and sharing your nuggets ofwisdom and, uh, so excited that
we've been able to stayconnected and I can't wait to
see you in person very, verysoon.
Yeah, thank you.
All right, okay, everybody, besure to share this podcast with
any leaders you know in therestaurant industry and be sure
(35:48):
to check out my step by stepguide on how to retain your
employees at kristinmarvincomand follow me on LinkedIn at
kristin-marvin.
We'll talk to you next week,everybody.
Thanks.
Are you curious about how to hire, motivate and
manage Gen Z employees in yourfood and beverage business?
If so, stick around, as I'mgoing to introduce you to
someone who is a total badass inthis area.
Alex Taylor is the area managerfor Sweet Cow Ice Cream in
Colorado.
She oversees seven locationsand is in charge of all things
(00:28):
operations, production, hiring,training and development of 50
plus leaders and over 250employees.
In this episode, alex and Iwill discuss how she's found
success in hiring and developingGen Z employees.
Dive into the key aspects thatattract Gen Z to employment, and
how she's found success inhiring and developing Gen Z
employees.
Dive into the key aspects thatattract Gen Z to employment, and
how she has created a strongbench of applicants to fill open
(00:52):
positions immediately whensomeone gives notice.
Welcome to the RestaurantLeadership Podcast, the show
where restaurant leaders learntools, tactics and habits from
the world's greatest operators.
I'm your host, kristen Marvin.
With Solutions by Kristen.
(01:12):
I've spent the last two decadesin the restaurant industry and
now partner with restaurantowners to develop their leaders
and scale their businessesthrough powerful one-on-one
coaching, group coaching andleadership workshops.
This show is complete withepisodes around coaching,
leadership development andinterviews with powerful
(01:35):
industry leaders.
You can now engage with me onthe show and share topics you'd
like to hear about, leadershiplessons you want to learn and
any feedback you have.
Simply click the link at thetop of the show notes and I will
give you a shout out on afuture episode.
Thanks so much for listeningand I look forward to connecting
.
(01:57):
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Speaker 2 (03:50):
Hi Alex, what's up?
Hello, what's up.
How are you?
I'm just so great.
How are you?
Speaker 1 (03:58):
Good Thanks.
Thank you so much for beinghere.
I really appreciate it.
You know I so for for for thelisteners here.
Alex Taylor and I workedtogether for a brief time at
Sweet Cow Ice Cream in Denver soSweet Cow has seven locations,
yep.
And I was thinking back theother day after we talked about
(04:19):
when we first met and do youremember we were?
You came in and we you came infor an interview and we went out
back and sat on milk crates inthe back alley next to the
walk-in and and that was wherewe interviewed jayla's oldest
time.
Speaker 2 (04:35):
Yeah, we sit on a couple milk crates in the back
alley it was.
Speaker 1 (04:40):
It was amazing.
And then, and then I remembermy boss was like look, can we
not do interviews on milk crates?
I was like, well, it was reallybusy.
Speaker 2 (04:50):
Kind of brought me in more.
Speaker 1 (04:52):
Yeah, I think that the shop was really busy and I
think the seating was taken, butno, I just it was funny because
we've been, I've been talkingso much and writing some content
around, like you know how tocreate a great experience for
employees, and it really startswith the interview process, and
I just thought it was hystericalthat you know, here we are,
here we were interviewing a GMcandidate on milk crates in the
(05:14):
back alley.
So anyway, just a little fondmemory of how I first met you.
Speaker 2 (05:19):
So, yeah, I have that memory embedded in my brain as
well, so it was a great way tomeet.
Speaker 1 (05:24):
Awesome.
So again, I'm super excited tohave you on the show you know
again.
So a little bit of background.
You came on with Sweet Cow totake over in a GM role, to take
over one of the busiestlocations in Denver in the
Highlands, at 32nd Lowell, andthen eventually worked up to
(05:45):
take over the area managerposition when I left, which was
just incredible to have you asan awesome partner in crime in
that in the short time that wewere able to work together.
But one of the things that I'msuper excited to share with
listeners today is yourleadership style and your
(06:06):
approach to working.
A transitioning into a shopthat was struggling from a
cultural perspective and from aturnover perspective and from a
perspective of kind of having alittle bit of a divide between
operations and leadership in mymind and I was obviously the
(06:30):
middleman for that.
So that was super challenging,working with the management team
that I had at the time and yourability to really connect with
your team, to invest in thepeople that you were working
with, to strategize aboutbuilding the perfect schedule,
(06:50):
about how to motivate your team,inspire your team, and I really
loved how you were able tobuild a bench internally.
That was one of the mostincredible things that I've ever
seen from an operatorstandpoint, and I'm totally in
awe of what you did during thattime and what you still do, and
I'm just super excited to shareall of those wonderful
(07:13):
leadership skill sets with thelisteners today.
Speaker 2 (07:16):
Oh, thank you for all those kind words.
Speaker 1 (07:19):
Very sweet.
Yeah, absolutely.
So again, let's talk a littlebit about your, your background,
before Sweet Cow.
Speaker 2 (07:30):
Yeah Well, I really I feel like I've always worked in
a realm of hospitality.
In the very beginning.
I remember working at a pizzashop when I was 18 with all my
friends.
I had a passion for kids and sothere was a moment when I spent
(07:52):
a lot of time just with veryyoung people in after school
programs.
And then, when I moved toDenver, hospitality came up
again because I really wanted tomeet more people.
My age and I embarked on myjourney at Whole Foods.
That I didn't know was going tobe a journey, but I started out
just as a team member andthroughout seven years with that
(08:15):
company I was promoted 10 timesand really learned a lot, not
only about hospitality and foodbut about building relationships
, working with different typesof teams, working and developing
others, and also I had somereally great mentors there that
(08:38):
taught me skills that I use tothis day.
So it was like the core of whatmy leadership was and my
hospitality knowledge reallycame from that space.
Then I moved on to reallyfinding food as like my passion
and I started bakingprofessionally after that for
(08:58):
the kitchen Denver andeventually moved into a private
chef role in Manhattan.
That lasted all until COVID.
So when I moved back to Denverin 2020, starting over again and
really considering where Iwanted to go Sweet Cow made
sense to me because it was abusiness that I had loved when I
lived in Denver before and italigned with a lot of the values
(09:19):
I had regarding leadership,hospitality, great quality
ingredients and great people.
So that's really my backgroundin a nutshell, and yeah, what do
you think was a secret?
Speaker 1 (09:35):
I mean, I don't think I remembered from your
background that you werepromoted 10 times at Whole Foods
.
Holy moly, that's incredible.
What do you think the reasoningwas for those, for so many
promotions and for so manyopportunities for you at Whole
Foods?
Speaker 2 (09:54):
Well, first I started from the bottom.
Now I'm here, kind of always goback to those Drake lyrics when
I'm looking for inspiration.
No, I think because I started asa scooper or, I'm sorry, not as
a scooper, I'm in sweet cowmode.
I started just as a team memberat Whole Foods and I think
(10:15):
because they had such a largefootprint in general over many,
many locations, many differentroles existing within the
company, there wereopportunities that existed for
me that made it very easy tofind another role to continue to
satiate my knowledge and myquest for development, and I
(10:41):
really found that because of thementors I had at Whole Foods as
well, there was a guidance forme to try different things so
that I would be able to broadenmy you know my skill set, for
like what shops I would work at,for example, could work with
teams that maybe weren't verysuccessful and were having
(11:04):
issues operationally orculturally, or I would work for
teams that were very successfuland already had great systems in
place, and sometimes promotionsdon't have to be big.
Sometimes it would be somethingsmall, like moving into a
supervisor role and then fromthere, agm and then multiple
roles as a general manager.
(11:26):
So, in a lot of ways.
Once I was promoted that ninthor 10th time, it was really more
about learning new teams, newlocations, new styles and that
really helped me to be flexibleand nimble and different
environments.
Speaker 1 (11:42):
Were those opportunities that you were
actively seeking out?
Or were your mentors and peerscoming to you saying there's an
opportunity we want to consideryou?
Speaker 2 (11:53):
It was both.
It was both In the beginning.
It was me.
In the beginning I was like youknow, looking back, I was
probably applying for thingsthat I wasn't quite ready for,
because I was hungry and I wasexcited and I had ambition.
And I lucked out a couple timeswith those positions because at
Whole Foods we had panelinterviews for any job you had,
(12:13):
so you could be chosen forsomething if the majority of the
people in the room really feltlike you were that right fit.
And later on in my career itwas more about the people who I
worked with, my mentors guidingme and saying you know, I think
this is a great opportunity foryou, this is a new skill set.
To go to our flagship store torun the largest division that we
(12:36):
have in Rocky Mountain region.
That's how I was guided towardsthe end of my career.
Speaker 1 (12:43):
I, you know, obviously your success in
leadership was really crucialfor you know, when you and I
were interviewing for part ofthe reason why I really I mean,
obviously your personality isamazing and you're so warm and
comfortable and just authenticand comfortable in your skin but
your success in leadership wassomething that was really really
(13:04):
attractive, because I've alwaysreally tried to hire leaders
that have achieved successbefore.
They know what it feels like,they know how to go get after it
Right.
There's great experience in,yeah, working for places where
systems need to be put intoplace and there are operational
challenges.
But when somebody has thattrack record of success it
(13:28):
really just propels theirleadership and everybody around
them.
And in the Highlands perspective, you know, at that shop we, you
know my what I saw with theteam was that there was a
breakdown in culture.
There was a severe lack ofenergy and engagement with the
(13:50):
customers and there was a peoplepleaser type of leadership
style in there where therewasn't a lot of coaching and
development happening and it wasreally impacting the progress
of the team.
So I want to ask you a littlebit about because you had so
(14:10):
much experience transitioninginto all of these different
roles with Whole Foods.
What was your approach totransitioning into the Highlands
location?
Speaker 2 (14:23):
For me with my approach.
I feel like the first thing Ilike to do when I come into a
new space where I don't knoweveryone yet is to just remember
that I don't know everyone yet,is to just remember that I
don't know everyone yet.
It's really important for me tobuild new relationships, get to
(14:43):
know people on the level theywant to meet me at, not make any
assumptions about where we'vebeen or where we're going, but
really try and figure out wherepeople are at right at that
moment and start making genuineconnections, Not necessarily
worrying about, like you know,oh, this looks dirty over here
(15:06):
or oh, this person isn't wearingtheir uniform.
I'm not necessarily like takingtally of those things.
I'm more thinking about how doI connect with this person in
the moment and try to actuallyget to know them, as if I was
going to a party and beingintroduced to someone.
Speaker 1 (15:24):
I love it.
One of the things that I and Istruggled with this you know,
the majority of the team atSweet Cow are in high school or
college and I'm in my fortiesand you're in your thirties
right, and I talked to operatorsnow who've been in the business
for a long time.
Right, and Jen Jen Z is comingin.
It's the future generation of,and current of, restaurant
(15:45):
employees.
Right, and they're beingblended in and a lot of
operators ask me, like how do Iconnect with Jen's ears?
Like what do I talk to themabout?
And that was a struggle for metoo, because I well, I'm an
introvert, so I can be awkwardat first and small talk is
really hard and exhausting forme.
Speaker 2 (15:58):
But I didn't know what to.
Speaker 1 (16:00):
I didn't know what to talk about.
You know what I mean, so Iwould just I would just lean
towards ice cream.
But how did you build, connect,personal connections with your
team?
Speaker 2 (16:10):
Um, I, I can kind of be a little Barbara Walter-y,
like I can be.
20 questions, I think.
Sometimes it doesn't alwaysmake people feel the most like
comfortable to open up, but Ithink it's a good place to start
is just to ask questions andpick up on things that you can
(16:30):
connect with Absolutely.
So for me, I think, listeningto people asking specific
questions and then finding outhow I can bring that up again in
another conversation, orfiguring out if somebody has a
more lighthearted personality,if I see them engaging with
(16:51):
other people and joking I alsowant to have that kind of
relationship with someone.
So a lot of it is like payingattention to what's happening,
both verbally and non-verbally.
Some people really want toconnect through direct
questioning and genuineconversation and some people
(17:12):
want to connect morenon-verbally.
Speaker 1 (17:15):
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(17:36):
audio book today Marvincom slashaudio to download your free
audio book today.
So I also want to talk aboutthat you're hiring strategy,
because in Sweet Cow, becausethe business is so seasonal, we
almost had to double our staffin some locations to get ready
for summertime and you were soon top of that staffing plan.
(17:59):
What was your strategy for that?
And I want to pick your brain alittle bit about this, because
I just read an article in Forbesa couple of days ago that
Generation Z is becoming mastersat ghosting employers because
it feels like they have controlover their careers and they are
(18:22):
either not showing up forinterviews or they're accepting
positions and they're notshowing up.
So will you talk a little bitabout your experience with
hiring, with interviewing, withghosting?
How did you handle that withghosting?
How did you handle that?
Speaker 2 (18:37):
Yeah, I mean, I think people ghost I for me.
I I understand it's.
There's generationaldifferences.
Things change.
I remember people ghosting mefor many years.
I think it's a part of justbeing young.
Um, I think some people thinkthey can commit to you and they
can't.
Some people, um, you know,people think they can commit to
(18:59):
you and they can't.
Some people you know come inand their guns a blazing that
they want a specific job, andthen you never hear from them
again.
And those people I put in thereview mirror very fast and I'm
on to the next.
It's about finding talent thatshows up number one, and you can
see some of those things justin a work history, just like we
(19:20):
do for any interview we have,where you really review
someone's past.
And it's also about figuringout what makes somebody drawn to
a position and why they'reinterested in being there in the
first place.
So cultivating a great teamstarts with who you already have
(19:42):
and creating that buy-in withthose individuals and especially
the leaders in the room.
So if you have a manager, ashift lead, a supervisor, those
individuals are going to make alot of decisions, bring a lot of
the culture and they're theones that are going to be
interacting with your team everyday more than anyone else, and
(20:03):
so I think if you build a reallystrong leadership team,
supervisor group, whatever thatlooks like for you, then you
start to develop the culturethat people want to work with.
Start developing the culturewhere a young person comes in on
a saturday night to your icecream shop per se and they see
(20:23):
how much fun everyone is havingand they want to be a part of
that.
Everyone wants to be a part ofsomething that looks like it's
fun, that looks like people are,you know, friends and it's also
genuine, authentic.
You're still going to havepeople that ghost.
You're still going to havepeople that are not as qualified
(20:46):
as you thought they were, andthat's okay, because you'll find
twice as many people that areinterested if you have a great
culture.
Um, and with hiring, you knowseasonality is big in a lot of
industries and, although Ididn't work in ice cream before,
I worked in bakeries andbakeries are very, very, very
(21:10):
busy for a very short window.
So ice cream was like great, wehave three months to be busy In
bakery land.
You have two weeks where it'slike this is holiday season, you
ramp up and your sales aregoing to be tripling,
quadrupling, and it's only goingto be for 60 days or less, and
(21:30):
then you need to minimize yourteam again.
So I had a lot of experiencefrom my past life in baking to
prepare myself for ice cream.
I knew about flexibility, Iknew about part-timers and how
many you'd want and I also thinksome of it's luck.
I was in a part of town wherepeople were still applying and I
(21:53):
was getting applicant flow.
Speaker 1 (21:54):
Yeah, yeah, and I mean one of the.
You know, one of the things thatI didn't realize about ice
cream when I started working init is that it's 100% turnover
industry anyway, right, and so,just because of the seasonality
and some of that, it's not allbad turnover right.
Some of those people, thoseemployees, go back to school so
they take a break and then theycome back, which is included in
the turnover Right.
But you guys, you guys did havegreat applicant flow and one of
(22:18):
the things that was smart aboutwhat we did was our job
postings were always open right,always, which which was
overwhelming at times, but alsoreally kept a nice flow of
applicants coming in, right.
I remember people being likecan we please shut this off now?
Yeah, but it helped us buildrelationships and create
customers right of people thatwe weren't able to apply or to
(22:38):
bring onto the team.
I mean, and I saw that shiftwith you and your team down the
road where you didn't have tolean on those applications
towards the end of your career.
What started to shift there?
What happened?
Speaker 2 (22:53):
communications um, towards the end of your career,
what?
What started to shift there?
What happened?
Again, it's like people enjoytheir job.
Why do they enjoy it?
I think people enjoy their jobsbecause they make good money,
they have a great schedule andthey love the people they work
with.
Um, those are the three thingsthat I think we got really good
at with Sweet Cow Um, and wealso set high standards, so
(23:13):
everyone in the room wasexpected to meet those, meet
those goals.
And then people would just belike my friend wants to work
here, or I have like fourfriends that want to work here,
and I'd be like great, just tellme who you got, because if I
knew someone was amazing, theirfriends were just as amazing.
You know, I had this group ofhigh school boys I don't say
(23:36):
boys, they were men, they were,you know, growing up in front of
my eyes, but they were.
You know, I had one person onmy team who was 16 and so mature
and had great follow through,and everyone just appreciated
him.
And then I hired one of hisfriends and he was the same.
(23:58):
And I hired another one of hisfriends, he was the same too.
And I eventually had like four,four of them, their crew, all
worked at the shop, and it'sincredible how, if you find one
wonderful person, they mostlikely have friends that are
wonderful, and so that reallybecame a part of what we did as
(24:20):
well.
Speaker 1 (24:22):
Yeah, and I, you know , I remember doing, you know
schedule calls with you everysingle week and we'd be like,
okay, where are you at staffingwise, what do you need to hire
for?
Where you know what's applicantflow look like.
And you're like, oh, I got areferral, I got a referral, I
got a referral.
I mean you just you created,you had such a great culture
where you created a bench ofemployees future employees that
were coming in, and I can onlyimagine how much time and energy
(24:44):
that saved you to be able tofocus on investing in your team.
Speaker 2 (24:50):
Yeah, and going back to like the leadership part of
things you know, finding peoplewho also make the room bright
and fun and understand how tohave high standards, while also
bringing you know that thatupbeat vibe, that ice cream shop
needs putting those people incharge Uh, that charge, that's
(25:14):
very, very important, likepicking out talent and promoting
that talent, because, at theend of the day, I'm not going to
be able to connect with everysingle person, I'm not going to
be able to work every shift, soembodying that and the people I
hired and developed was how Ithink the culture was
consistently happeningthroughout each day.
Speaker 1 (25:32):
Yeah, and one of the things that was built into the
Sweet Cow culture which I loveis is mixing up the manager
schedules.
Right, where is your shop wasopen?
The Highland shop was open tillfrom 10 AM to midnight, right,
and you guys would be rockinguntil you know, get out of there
at 1, 2 AM in the morning andso doing that kind of volume and
having a line out the door forhours and hours.
You did a really great job ofmixing in your schedule so that
(25:54):
you could work with your entireteam.
You'd work morning shifts,you'd work some mid shifts,
you'd work some closing shifts,but one of the things that
really stood out about yourleadership was you were so on
top of making sure that you wereholding one-on-ones and doing
performance reviews with yourteam.
Will you talk a little bitabout how you planned for those,
how you executed those, howmuch time those took you as well
(26:17):
?
Speaker 2 (26:19):
Yeah, I think I spent a lot of time on that because
it's important to me to havethat, and so if something's
important to me, it's going tobe important to someone else,
and what I found from working atWhole Foods else, and what I
found from working at WholeFoods one of the things that we
were required to do every yearwas have a it was called a job
dialogue, but every singleperson would get one throughout
(26:41):
the year, and not only that, butyou would get one for yourself
as well.
So there was a time where Iwould have to read comments from
every person on my team abouthow I was doing, and I noticed
that, after giving feedback toeach person throughout the year,
I started to see that peoplewere more bought in to being on
(27:07):
the team, or people would startimproving the areas that I
wanted to see growth in, ormaybe someone would also find
their way off of the teambecause they were realizing that
it wasn't the best fit for them, and there's also nothing wrong
with that.
So when I started at Sweet Cow,we had a review system and I
(27:29):
really wanted to develop moreone-on-ones, especially with the
people who were leaving therooms, because being seen for
five or ten minutes and having aconversation about how you're
doing, what's going well, whatare your opportunities.
Those five or ten minutes wheresomeone has one-on-one time
makes such a big impactlong-term, with people feeling
(27:52):
like they don't want to call out, or people feeling connected to
authentic culture, where theyactually think that this is a
family and it's also a job thatcomes from authenticity, and I
think that's where you get that.
Speaker 1 (28:09):
Yeah, you kind of briefly mentioned it, but would
you highlight during that fiveor 10 minute conversation what
were some of the things that youwould bring up and were you
consistent with each employee?
Speaker 2 (28:21):
Yeah, I was really consistent.
So it was organized.
It would be every other week Iwould have a one-on-one with
someone, so it'd be the entiregroup together one week and then
one person on their own everyother week.
And what I did was I cameprepared with just direct
(28:42):
feedback for everyone so whatthings are going well and what
opportunities do we have, notjust for them, for me, but also
what do they see, what are theopportunities that I have as a
leader, what are theopportunities that the shop has?
What do they need to besuccessful in their role?
So it would be 30 minutes andtypically we would start out
(29:04):
with what was going right, whatwas going well, what the
opportunities were for thatindividual where they could find
the information or the trainingto improve, and then it would
be an open forum to discussanything they had on their mind.
So people looked forward tothose and if I canceled one, I
(29:27):
immediately would reschedule itfor another time, because that's
the other thing is.
If you don't follow up on thesethings, if you don't
consistently have them it's onlyonce that you do it and then it
falls off then people don't useit as a platform to really say
what they need or to reallydevelop on the plans that you've
set from the previousconversation.
(29:49):
The follow through isn't on,isn't going to happen on your
end if it's not happening onyour end yeah, and you did this
not only with your leadershipteam, but with every employee in
the shop.
Speaker 1 (30:00):
yes, did you find that your younger employees that
were you know this was theirfirst job right and that they
weren't necessarily looking tomake ice cream a career?
How did they, how did theyaccept that feedback?
Speaker 2 (30:16):
Most people, um, were very open to it.
Um, you know, how you saysomething is just as important
as what you say.
So I think it's really great totell people that they are
developing skills that they canput on their resume for the rest
of their life.
I mean, this might be yourfirst job, but I think if you
(30:39):
can learn how to interact withpeople, not only on the team but
also with customers, if you canteach the skills that they
would need for organization orfor consistency, cleanliness, a
lot of the things that we do inan ice cream shop every day
apply to every job you'll havefor the rest of your life.
(30:59):
So I think, coming from thatmentality and really putting it
into a perspective that's biggerthan ice cream and making it
more about them and their careergrowth, starting right now even
in high school, that resonatedwith a lot of people.
Speaker 1 (31:18):
And how are you applying those same ideas and
philosophies with yourmanagement team?
Now that you're area director,you're overseeing seven
locations right, You've got sixshift leads and two managers,
ideally in every location.
How are you teaching them howto develop their team and
(31:40):
motivate and inspire theiremployees?
Speaker 2 (31:43):
Well, I think one thing that's happened from being
an area manager is I'm moreorganized than ever before,
which is great.
We actually have templates forevery manager now to use for
one-on-ones, not only for myselfand the manager, but we also
have templates that they can usefor themselves and their
(32:03):
assistant manager.
We also do the same thing withour shift leads.
We have not everyone connectsin the same way.
Not every manager connectsthrough the same questions or
the same conversation, um.
So we really wanted to set upsome kind of template for people
(32:25):
to use so that way they wouldhave a guideline as to how they
would want those one-on-ones toflow.
So we catered it to each shop,each manager, by tweaking things
that really were priorities forthem.
But it's the same template andit's a requirement that you
schedule those.
When you're not having a shiftlead meeting one week, you're
(32:48):
having a one-on-one, and we arerevamping the review process as
well and making it easier.
So we don't want it to be wordy.
We don't want you to have tosit writing something for over
an hour to give to someone.
We want it to be easy where youcan really highlight the things
that are going well and talkabout the development piece.
(33:09):
So we've also come up with acouple of different ways of
doing that that save time forour managers, so they can spend
more one on one time with theteam and with their shift leads.
Speaker 1 (33:22):
That's the, that's the beauty.
The beauty and the goal right.
The more systems that you canput into place, the more
opportunities that your, yourmanagers, have to spend with
their team right, and the moreopportunities the team have to
spend with the guests for sure.
I want to ask you one lastquestion what do you find Gen Z
really wants out of a job?
(33:43):
When they're coming tointerview, what are they asking
for?
Speaker 2 (33:48):
I think people are again going back to what I said
before, like multiple times.
But I think people are againgoing back to what I said before
, like multiple times.
But I think people are lookingfor like authenticity.
I think they're looking foreither a manager or a company or
a team that will genuinely careabout them.
So if you are having a mentalhealth day, you can have it, and
(34:13):
that's on the manager to makesure that we have enough people
so that when that comes up, noone is shamed for a new unit day
or no one is shamed for beingsick.
I think that came from COVID aswell, not just Gen Z.
But then it's the part ofreally genuinely connecting just
on a human level and ensuringthat you are asking the right
(34:35):
questions about what things wewant to grow in their career and
what things we feel arestrengths that we want to just
see maybe that person teachingothers.
So I think it's authenticconnection and I think it's
really consistently showing upand bringing you know, bringing
(34:59):
that sense of care that not justGen Z, but I think we all want.
Speaker 1 (35:06):
Yeah, absolutely.
I love it.
Well, Alex, you're amazing.
Thank you so much for beinghere.
How are?
Speaker 2 (35:13):
you.
Speaker 1 (35:19):
We're sitting on milk crates.
I know just like we are right.
I love it.
I'm backed up in my closet andyou're in a stairwell.
This is just yes.
Speaker 2 (35:23):
This is just how we roll, so just where we deserve
to be I love it.
Speaker 1 (35:26):
Um, again, just really appreciate you being here
and sharing your nuggets ofwisdom and, uh, so excited that
we've been able to stayconnected and I can't wait to
see you in person very, verysoon.
Yeah, thank you.
All right, okay, everybody, besure to share this podcast with
any leaders you know in therestaurant industry and be sure
(35:48):
to check out my step by stepguide on how to retain your
employees at kristinmarvincomand follow me on LinkedIn at
kristin-marvin.
We'll talk to you next week,everybody.
Thanks.
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