Strengthen Your People, Strengthen Your Brand
Behind every successful brand is a strong and committed team that helps propel the brand forward. A team that is motivated to continuously work hard and deliver results, while never veering away from a brand’s core values. In order to build and maintain a strong team, the recruitment process needs to be tried and tested. By bringing the right people into the system, and then making employee retention a priority, the brand will have the proper support system to lead them to greatness.
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Recruiting from Within
When a company is tasked with finding the best person to fit a certain role, sometimes the best place to look is within the existing staff. Employees that already have a passion for the brand and are interested in being a part of its growth and success are a step ahead of an outside recruit, who would need to develop this type of passion over time. If you are recruiting for a role in Training and Supply, don’t overlook someone in Operations and IT who understands the business and is passionate enough to learn a new set of skills in order to continue to grow within the company.
Bring People in from the Outside When Necessary
While internal growth is extremely important to ensure a company is filled with people who are aligned and committed to its success, it’s also vital to look outside of the existing staff when building a team. If roles are only filled by existing employees, a team doesn’t have the opportunity to get a fresh perspective. It may take an outside employee extra time to develop a passion for the brand—but this feat is not impossible. Plus, an outside recruit is able to come in with a fresh outlook and push for the team to try new things, which keeps the concept fresh and forward-thinking.
Incentivize for Longevity
Incentives are built into company structures for a reason. Performing the same role day after day can become monotonous, but with a good challenge and healthy competition, employees find more excitement in the role. Creating employee programs that honor the systems’ top performers with a trip or recognizing stores that have seen year-over-year sales increases give employees a reason to strive for new personal and team bests and beat their own records. Some internal competition allows for growth and innovation, and motivates employees to succeed year after year within the system.
Treat Employees Like a Family
The best way to establish longevity in a system is to foster a culture wherein employees begin looking at the brand as their family. Beyond incentives, it’s important to establish programs that take care of your employees. This can be education reimbursement, transportation aid, or anonymous surveys that better gauge how employees are feeling about the company – these types of programs go beyond monetary incentives and show the brand’s commitment to each person as both an employee and as an individual. They also allow for an open conversation of how a company can better its processes in order to create the best environment for its employees.
When done well, recruiting is able to strengthen the backbone of every business—its people. Without over complicating processes and combining internal and external mindsets, paired with thoughtful incentives and robust internal programs, any brand has the chance to build out a strong and lasting team.
Read more: Post sale, here’s why Checkers is gaining more momentum.
Cynthia Cancio Perez, who graduated from the University of Tampa, is an astute Talent Management professional with a strong background in employee engagement and recruitment strategy. Her broad expertise includes strategic workforce planning, talent and succession planning, talent mobility, diversity & inclusion, change management and performance management She is a member of the Women in Foodservice Forum (WFF) and has been honored by Diversity Journal Women Worth Watching. Cynthia is currently the Director of People Acquisition & Engagement at Checkers & Rally’s.
