Commentary

Jersey Mike's, Chipotle among powerhouse brands to discuss innovative training methods

Executives from Chipotle, Jersey Mike's, Holler & Dash and Rise Biscuits Donuts will weigh in on how and when to upgrade training methods.

Image courtesy of iStock

September 24, 2018 by Cherryh Cansler — Editor, FastCasual.com

Last week, Richard Young, the director of education for the Food Service Technology Center and for Frontier Energy in San Ramon, California, made an excellent point about the need for food trucks to take a cue from restaurant chains regarding operating practices to make their businesses more productive and profitable. Restaurant chains understand the importance of standard operating practices and have incorporated them into their cultures.

Next month, food trucks have an opportunity to hear from a group of leading fast casual brands about how they successfully train their employees.

Fast casual brands like Chipotle and Jersey Mike's resonate well with customers for a variety of reasons, but one thing they share is a passion for training and seeking out topnotch employees. After all, happy, well-trained team members provide better experience for food truck customers, which — of course — is imperative to increasing profits.

Having the desire to provide an innovative, successful training program and actually implementing it, however, are two different things and the reason the Fast Casual Executive Summit, Oct. 7-9 in Seattle, has tapped executives from Chipotle, Jersey Mike's, Holler & Dash and Rise Biscuits Donuts for advice. Executives from each of these highly successful brands will share their training strategies during a panel, "Why Your Old-School Training Methods are Failing."

Speakers include:

Peter Blair, digital employee experience manager, Chipotle Mexican Grill
Mike Chissler, COO, Holler & Dash
Tom Ferguson Jr., CEO, Rise Biscuits Donuts
Keith Hertling, VP of Leadership, Coaching & Culture, Jersey Mike's
Peter McLaughlin, senior director, customer success, PlayerLync

The discussion will center around case studies where upgraded training methods led to better communication among team members, more efficient training and lower turnover rates, which resulted in sales growth.

If your employees are still reading boring training manuals or watching outdated videos, for example, it's probably time for an upgrade. Foodservice employees, especially millennials and members of Gen Z who have grown up with technology, expect a variety of hands-on techniques to teach them about your business. And although it sounds like a no-brainer, understanding when to invest and which platforms are worth it are just a couple challenges that our experts know well.

To learn from these leaders, register here for the Summit.

About Cherryh Cansler

Cherryh Cansler is VP of Events for Networld Media Group and publisher of FastCasual.com. She has been covering the restaurant industry since 2012. Her byline has appeared in Forbes, The Kansas City Star and American Fitness magazine, among many others.

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