Restaurant Franchising & Innovation Summit

Salad House, Barcelona Restaurant Group, Knuckies Hoagies execs talk tech, talent acquisition, retention

A panel at the Restaurant Franchising and Innovation Summit highlighted the importance of balancing technology with human interaction in hiring and retaining restaurant staff, emphasizing the need for personalized onboarding and diverse training methods.

Photo: Willie Lawless/Networld Media Group

April 3, 2025 by Mandy Wolf Detwiler — Editor, Networld Media Group

Navigating the restaurant industry's insatiable appetite for top-tier talent, a panel at the recent Restaurant Franchising and Innovation Summit unveiled a playbook for success, dissecting the digital tools and culture-building strategies that are transforming how franchises attract, develop and retain their most valuable asset: people.

Panelists included David "Rev" Ciancio, CMO forSalad House, Amy Hom, COO of Barcelona Restaurant Group and Kendall Ware, founding board member of Knuckies Hoagies and a franchising consultant.

The panel was sponsored by Axonify, with Axonify's Director of Solution Design Josh Felix moderating the talk.

The Restaurant Franchising and Innovation Summit is owned by Networld Media Group, operator of Fastcasual.com, PizzaMarketplace.com, QSRweb.com and more.

Hiring

Felix said technology is essential to the hiring process in today's modern restaurants.

"How do we ensure that we're not using technology too much and that we're making sure we're bringing in the human touch to bring in the best talent?" Felix said.

Hom said technology must be used in a smart way. "If you use AI to do resumes or to apply through your application system, unless you actually work on programming it, it will not work because it will actually turn away a lot of applicants and you will not know that you are discouraging people from applying," she said.

Once a prospective employee comes in to interview, you're looking for emotional intelligence, priorities, schedule availability and more.

Ciancio said one mistake restaurants make is not hiring from their customer base.

"It's much easier to hire someone who might like or know our patented experiences than it is to cast a wide web," Ciancio said. "It the same principle to guest retention. It's way easier to get someone to come back again and again than it is to get a new guest."

Ware works with both full-service and counter-service restaurants and said it important for restaurants to find people who understand the culture of the brand.

"I think if you lean too heavy on the AI side, you're going to have people very confused and, in some cases, embarrassed," Ware said.

Hom said the generation today checks out a brand first before applying. They look at Google ratings and talk to other employees.

Ware said restaurants may lose interest in social media if they're not getting enough likes or shares, but social media is important to the prospective employee.

Building trust

Ware also said that trust in the hiring tools is started by understanding the process and how AI and the tools work. If brands haven't gained feedback and are improvising along the way, there can be issues with hiring applicants.

Ciancio leans on his marketing background when it comes to hiring. "I think if your content as a brand does not show that it's a fun place to work and that the employees enjoy being there or that they enjoy interacting with guests, we're missing the boat," he said. "When people go to a brand's social profile, if they've never been there, they're looking to get a confirmation of whatever they've heard about the place."

Humanizing onboarding

Hom said most new employees do their paperwork online before they walk into their first day of work, though some come in and still need help with it.

"When they walk in the door, it should be a party," she said. "Whether they're trying their first glass of wine … if they're coming in, you need to set standards and accountability and you need to balance that with the human touch. It's getting to know their favorite coffees or drinks, so we ask that on a form when they're filling things out (and) if they want to share anything about their family so when they walk in the door, we've got some cards … We do that on the data collection side and then we use that to humanize it a little bit.

"At the end if the day, we're in the human business, the human connection business whether QSR, fast casual or you're running sit down in the casual segment."

Making that first day special for the new employee is essential and brands should refrain from bundling employees into a group on their first day, Ware added.

Training

Employees learn differently, and Ware said the 7x7 method is effective. That's where you teach an employee seven times in seven different ways so they're learning.

"And don't forget there's seven different learning styles," he said. While some employees enjoy learning electronically, others need training manuals in print.

He said brands should stop worrying about turnover and instead focus on what they can teach an employee to make a lasting impression.

Hom said her brand stopped doing exit interviews in lieu of why people are staying at a restaurant and finding out what's working and what's not is paramount to success.

Employees feel like they're being surveilled, so how does management use tools to ensure they're getting that critical feedback, but don't feel like surveillance is necessary?

"We make sure the team understands why we do something," Ciancio said. "For me, because I'm a marketer, getting people into our loyalty program is really important because I can see the difference in" lifetime value.

Making sure the food looks amazing is important because restaurants want pictures to be taken of it and put on social media.

"If (employees) care about it, then they understand the impact it has on their day (and) you get better performance," Ciancio said.

The next Networld Media Group show is the Pizza Leadership Virtual Summit July 30th followed by the Fast Casual Executive Summit October 5-7 in Austin, Texas.

About Mandy Wolf Detwiler

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Mandy Wolf Detwiler is the managing editor at Networld Media Group and the site editor for PizzaMarketplace.com and QSRweb.com. She has more than 20 years’ experience covering food, people and places.
 
An award-winning print journalist, Mandy brings more than 20 years’ experience to Networld Media Group. She has spent nearly two decades covering the pizza industry, from independent pizzerias to multi-unit chains and every size business in between. Mandy has been featured on the Food Network and has won numerous awards for her coverage of the restaurant industry. She has an insatiable appetite for learning, and can tell you where to find the best slices in the country after spending 15 years traveling and eating pizza for a living. 

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