DALLAS —Economic conditions that have made the business climate difficult in 2007 are expected to continue next year, but companies that can improve their human resources practices will have an edge over others, foodservice experts told attendees at this month’s annual People Report Best Practices Conference here.
“When the poo hits the fan, there is opportunity,” said Phil Hickey, former chairman and chief executive of Rare Hospitality International of Atlanta, operator of the Capital Grille and Longhorn Steakhouse chains. Hickey stepped down last month when Orlando, Fla.-based Darden Restaurants bought Rare, whose chains have some 320 units. —Economic conditions that have made the business climate difficult in 2007 are expected to continue next year, but companies that can improve their human resources practices will have an edge over others, foodservice experts told attendees at this month’s annual People Report Best Practices Conference here.
Hickey told the People Report conference crowd at the Addison Marriott Quorum Hotel that his company knew 2007 was going to be a tough year, so it increased its training budget, regardless of whether others were limiting such expenses. —Economic conditions that have made the business climate difficult in 2007 are expected to continue next year, but companies that can improve their human resources practices will have an edge over others, foodservice experts told attendees at this month’s annual People Report Best Practices Conference here.
“The companies that are going to win are those that are extraordinary at [managing] people,” Hickey told attendees of the two-day event during a panel discussion on leadership. —Economic conditions that have made the business climate difficult in 2007 are expected to continue next year, but companies that can improve their human resources practices will have an edge over others, foodservice experts told attendees at this month’s annual People Report Best Practices Conference here.
People Report, based in Dallas, tracks human resources metrics for more than 100 member companies. Each year the firm presents awards to restaurant chains in four industry categories for initiatives that result in low employee turnover and higher levels of racial and gender diversity among managers. —Economic conditions that have made the business climate difficult in 2007 are expected to continue next year, but companies that can improve their human resources practices will have an edge over others, foodservice experts told attendees at this month’s annual People Report Best Practices Conference here.
Hickey was not surprised to see Rare’s brands take the honors for their segments in this year’s Best Practices Awards. The upscale Capital Grille was recognized for leading the fine-dining, high-volume segment, an honor it had received in 2005. —Economic conditions that have made the business climate difficult in 2007 are expected to continue next year, but companies that can improve their human resources practices will have an edge over others, foodservice experts told attendees at this month’s annual People Report Best Practices Conference here.
The fine-dining category of People Report members had management turnover of 24 percent and hourly turnover of 90 percent this year, the firm said. —Economic conditions that have made the business climate difficult in 2007 are expected to continue next year, but companies that can improve their human resources practices will have an edge over others, foodservice experts told attendees at this month’s annual People Report Best Practices Conference here.
Longhorn Steakhouse received the honor for the casual-dining segment and for posting better figures than the segment’s average manager turnover of 26 percent and hourly turnover of 107 percent. —Economic conditions that have made the business climate difficult in 2007 are expected to continue next year, but companies that can improve their human resources practices will have an edge over others, foodservice experts told attendees at this month’s annual People Report Best Practices Conference here.
The winner in the fast-casual, limited-service and family-dining segment was Panda Express, the chain of more than 1,000 Chinese-food outlets, based in Rosemead, Calif. It had management turnover of 18.7 percent and hourly turnover of 109 percent, compared with the segment’s annual management turnover of 29 percent and 121-percent hourly turnover. —Economic conditions that have made the business climate difficult in 2007 are expected to continue next year, but companies that can improve their human resources practices will have an edge over others, foodservice experts told attendees at this month’s annual People Report Best Practices Conference here.
In the quick-service segment, 320-plus-unit White Castle, based in Columbus, Ohio, was awarded for the second year in the row for its high diversity and low turnover. The hamburger chain’s management turnover was 6.9 percent and its hourly turnover was 117 percent. The quick-service segment overall had an average of 41-percent management turnover and 147-percent turnover for hourly workers. —Economic conditions that have made the business climate difficult in 2007 are expected to continue next year, but companies that can improve their human resources practices will have an edge over others, foodservice experts told attendees at this month’s annual People Report Best Practices Conference here.
Overall, for People Report members, the average management turnover was 26 percent and hourly turnover was 106 percent, said Teresa Siriani, president of People Report. —Economic conditions that have made the business climate difficult in 2007 are expected to continue next year, but companies that can improve their human resources practices will have an edge over others, foodservice experts told attendees at this month’s annual People Report Best Practices Conference here.
The 2007 figures were slightly lower than last year’s, but overall turnover has been on the rise, Siriani said. —Economic conditions that have made the business climate difficult in 2007 are expected to continue next year, but companies that can improve their human resources practices will have an edge over others, foodservice experts told attendees at this month’s annual People Report Best Practices Conference here.
Siriani and Ron Paul, president of the Chicago-based consulting and research firm Technomic, presented a state-of-the-industry report to the more than 200 human resources and senior executives who attended the conference. —Economic conditions that have made the business climate difficult in 2007 are expected to continue next year, but companies that can improve their human resources practices will have an edge over others, foodservice experts told attendees at this month’s annual People Report Best Practices Conference here.
Paul pointed out that although the nation is seeing a slowdown in the economy, the industry overall is still growing in sales and in number of jobs. —Economic conditions that have made the business climate difficult in 2007 are expected to continue next year, but companies that can improve their human resources practices will have an edge over others, foodservice experts told attendees at this month’s annual People Report Best Practices Conference here.
“This industry, in spite of issues and negative pressures, continues to do very well,” Paul said. “The customer likes what foodservice provides.” —Economic conditions that have made the business climate difficult in 2007 are expected to continue next year, but companies that can improve their human resources practices will have an edge over others, foodservice experts told attendees at this month’s annual People Report Best Practices Conference here.
Yet when People Report polled members before the conference, some expressed a great deal of concern about their businesses, said Joni Thomas Doolin, founder and chief executive of People Report. —Economic conditions that have made the business climate difficult in 2007 are expected to continue next year, but companies that can improve their human resources practices will have an edge over others, foodservice experts told attendees at this month’s annual People Report Best Practices Conference here.
“This is the worst year of my career,” Doolin said, repeating some of the comments. “I never remember it being this hard. It’s just hard.” —Economic conditions that have made the business climate difficult in 2007 are expected to continue next year, but companies that can improve their human resources practices will have an edge over others, foodservice experts told attendees at this month’s annual People Report Best Practices Conference here.
Such issues as rising commodity prices, housing prices, immigration, minimum-wage hikes and tightening credit markets are impacting operators, as is an ongoing labor shortage, Doolin said. —Economic conditions that have made the business climate difficult in 2007 are expected to continue next year, but companies that can improve their human resources practices will have an edge over others, foodservice experts told attendees at this month’s annual People Report Best Practices Conference here.
Companies will need to go beyond standard benefits and competitive pay to attract and retain workers, Doolin said. —Economic conditions that have made the business climate difficult in 2007 are expected to continue next year, but companies that can improve their human resources practices will have an edge over others, foodservice experts told attendees at this month’s annual People Report Best Practices Conference here.
“Think about the customer experience,” she said. “What are you doing to create experiences that cause people to come back? What is the employee experience? What do they feel like when they are working for you?” —Economic conditions that have made the business climate difficult in 2007 are expected to continue next year, but companies that can improve their human resources practices will have an edge over others, foodservice experts told attendees at this month’s annual People Report Best Practices Conference here.
Leaders have to remain positive, said James Broadhurst, chairman and chief executive of Pittsburgh-based Eat’n Park Hospitality Group, which operates more than 70 Eat’n Park restaurants and the Parkhurst Dining Service and CURA Hospitality contract foodservice companies. —Economic conditions that have made the business climate difficult in 2007 are expected to continue next year, but companies that can improve their human resources practices will have an edge over others, foodservice experts told attendees at this month’s annual People Report Best Practices Conference here.
In accepting the People Report Legacy Award, Broadhurst discussed how Eat’n Park has taken a hit in sales since deciding earlier this year to ban smoking in all of its restaurants, many of which are located in blue-collar neighborhoods. —Economic conditions that have made the business climate difficult in 2007 are expected to continue next year, but companies that can improve their human resources practices will have an edge over others, foodservice experts told attendees at this month’s annual People Report Best Practices Conference here.
“People look at me and look for signs of stress when they see same-store sales are worse than they have ever been,” Broadhurst said. “If I look down and looked depressed, they are likely to look for another place to work. Now is the time to pick ourselves up, dust ourselves off and get positive about the future.” —Economic conditions that have made the business climate difficult in 2007 are expected to continue next year, but companies that can improve their human resources practices will have an edge over others, foodservice experts told attendees at this month’s annual People Report Best Practices Conference here.
In challenging times, it’s the people and culture of a company that can make the difference, said restaurant executives who participated on the leadership panel with Hickey. —Economic conditions that have made the business climate difficult in 2007 are expected to continue next year, but companies that can improve their human resources practices will have an edge over others, foodservice experts told attendees at this month’s annual People Report Best Practices Conference here.
Joining him were Mike Hislop, chairman and chief executive of Il Fornaio (America) Corp. of Corte Madera, Calif., whose system includes 22 high-end Il Fornaio Italian restaurants and about 100 Corner Bakery Cafe outlets, and Wally Doolin, chairman and chief executive of Buca Inc., the Minneapolis-based parent of the 100-unit Buca di Beppo chain. Lewis Hollweg, chairman and chief executive of the human resources consulting and research firm BatrusHollweg Inc., was panel moderator. —Economic conditions that have made the business climate difficult in 2007 are expected to continue next year, but companies that can improve their human resources practices will have an edge over others, foodservice experts told attendees at this month’s annual People Report Best Practices Conference here.
Wally Doolin said it was the attitude of Buca’s employees that convinced him three years ago to tackle the job of turning around the chain. —Economic conditions that have made the business climate difficult in 2007 are expected to continue next year, but companies that can improve their human resources practices will have an edge over others, foodservice experts told attendees at this month’s annual People Report Best Practices Conference here.
Hislop said it was the enthusiasm of Corner Bakery’s executives that convinced him to pursue buying the chain from Dallas-based Brinker International. —Economic conditions that have made the business climate difficult in 2007 are expected to continue next year, but companies that can improve their human resources practices will have an edge over others, foodservice experts told attendees at this month’s annual People Report Best Practices Conference here.
Also during the conference, People Report presented the Heart of the Workplace award to the high-end Boston-based chain Legal Sea Foods. The honor is given to a company that encourages its employees and managers to give back to their communities. —Economic conditions that have made the business climate difficult in 2007 are expected to continue next year, but companies that can improve their human resources practices will have an edge over others, foodservice experts told attendees at this month’s annual People Report Best Practices Conference here.