Fast Casual Executive Summit
How diversity became Shake Shack's key ingredient
Shake Shack set big goals for diversity. At the Fast Casual Executive Summit, Idris Stover, director of diversity, equity inclusion and engagement, discussed how the restaurant made it work.
October 10, 2023 by Bradley Cooper — Editor, ATM Marketplace & Food Truck Operator
With the labor market remaining tight, hiring and retaining the right workers is a major challenge for restaurants, as well as maintaining a diverse staff. How can restaurants hire the right individual for the job? The answer is building a people-first culture that recognizes the power of diversity, according to Idris Stover, director of diversity, equity inclusion and engagement at Shake Shack
She spoke about how Shake Shack was able to support diversity while creating a people-first culture during a keynote at the Fast Casual Executive Summit held in Louisville, Kentucky, from Oct. 8 to 10.
Setting goals
Cherryh Cansler, VP of events, moderated the discussion with Stover, who said Shake Shack has 11,500 team members across 262 locations in the U.S., and 77% of its employees were people of color and 52% are women. However, when Shake Shack took a look at its leadership in 2020, the company realized it was lacking diversity at the top.
"We needed to do something different. We decided to need to get intentional," Stover said.
She said that Shake Shack set actionable goals in the future to see a mixture of 50% women and 50% people of color in manager roles as well as 50% women and 30% people of color in higher, executive roles.
"We have seen some real progress since setting those goals. We had an increase of 33% in women in Shack leadership roles and 18% of people of color. When you give something attention, you see results," Stover said.
How'd it work?
When asked how the restaurant accomplished this, Stover pointed to a multifaceted approach focused on recruitment and training.
On the recruitment side, Shake Shack expanded its search process and adjusted its requirements as needed, since many job descriptions have so many qualifications, comparing it to looking for a unicorn."
She also said the team held meetings with HR to discuss why they did or didn't hire a particular person. She emphasized this wasn't to get them in trouble but for them to explain their process.
"We hired the best talent regardless of the demographics," Stover said.
With its team members, Stover said Shake Shack noticed that many times women and people of color did not apply for higher managerial roles. When the restaurant looked into the issue, it saw that many times there was a lack of confidence with employees not believing that they had the required expertise or education.
To address this issue, Shake Shack began offering a training program to teach such skills.
"We started a 16-week program to help participants learn financial management, use Powerpoint, how to do presentations and leadership principles." The sessions are "led by someone who understands the community" in which they are speaking.
The strategy also extends to helping the various groups within the company understand each other. Shake Shack hosts a Stand Together series, which features topics related to the experiences of a variety of racial and gender groups.
Making it work
Although many companies are embracing diversity, equity and inclusion efforts, recent backlashes have also occurred. Stover said some of this was driven by how companies responded in the aftermath of 2020 and the deaths of several African Americans including George Floyd. Many people perceived the way companies spoke out about the deaths of African Americans as insincere or having the wrong motivations.
Another reason for the backlash is that many believe DEI efforts could lead to the exclusion of some groups in favor of others.
"Some believe a commitment to diversity is a zero-sum game," Stover said. "That's a very dangerous way to think about it. Whatever you do for a part will benefit the whole."
Lastly, Cansler asked Stover how restaurants that do not have the budget of Shake Shack can do DEI initiatives. Stover emphasized that restaurants should not copy Shake Shack's strategy since it wouldn't be "true to you."
"Think about why it [diversity] should matter to your organization," she said.
The first step should be to talk to your employees, Stover said. This could help identify problems that can be solved, perhaps as simply as setting clear policies.
In the end, Stover said restaurants should, "align it [diversity efforts] to your purpose. Don't just think about the dollars, think about the impact."
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