Article
Why White Castle's GMs are probably more loyal than yours
Attracting and retaining high-quality employees has never been harder than it is today with the unemployment rate at a 50-year low. White Castle, however, seems to have figured out what it takes to keep its general managers — the regional chain's turnover rate is under 10%.
September 17, 2019 by Cherryh Cansler — Editor, FastCasual.com
Attracting and retaining high-quality employees has never been harder than it is today with the unemployment rate at a 50-year low. White Castle, however, seems to have figured out what it takes to keep its general managers — the regional chain's turnover rate is under 10%, according to COO Jeff Carper.
"Hiring is the toughest now that it's been in my whole career," he said at the Future Restaurants conference Monday in Austin. "Most of our team members live paycheck to paycheck, and we have to figure out how to get them to that level the next week."
Part of that strategy is offering benefits such as health insurance, 401K and some tuition reimbursement as well as often paying above minimum wage. The chain doesn't let the government drive what it pays. Instead, it researches each of its markets, an action that led to the brand taking an aggressive approach in Minneapolis. It began paying $3.50 above the minimum wage and saw its hiring issues quickly decrease.
"It turned our business around in the quality of candidates we were getting," Carper said. "Now, that the state of Minnesota has moved up, we are now on par so we gotta step up and say, 'What do we have to do differently.'?"
Like most chains, however, White Castle can't afford to just throw money at the employee retention problem.
"When you are selling a 75-cent small square burger, there's only so much customers are willing to pay, so there's only so much you can charge to offset (wage increases)," Carper said.
Since paying employees more isn't often possible, one major way the chain keeps general managers happy is by encouraging a healthy work-life balance. CEO and President Lisa Ingram is a big believer in the 40-hour work week, for example.
"It's my job to figure out how our GMs only have to work 40 hours a week," Carper said. "Her (Lisa Ingram's) focus is on single moms and single parents who need that way of life."
The chain's outlook is that as long as employees give them a commitment of eight hours a day, five days a week, the company will provide the tools — from team member mobile apps to ongoing training — to keep GMs well trained, happy and engaged.
"I would say the philosophy is trying to build a really good quality of life outside the 'Castle' as well as in the 'Castle,'" Carper said.
The third way that White Castle is able to keep its GMs longer than many other QSR brands has to do with the amount of respect employees have for the owners of the 98-year-old brand.
"That's something that our team members really connect with," Carper said, pointing out that most of the crew members are excited when White Castle's fifth-generation owners visit their locations.
Having so many people from the same family involved could easily be chaotic, but the opposite is true in White Castle's case.
"You might have 10 of the cousins, but they stay in their lane, and really make it unique and fun and exciting," he said.
The GMs — especially those who have grown up through the company — are loyal to the family and genuinely don't want to disappoint them."
Editor's note: For more on the White Castle brand, listen to this recent QSRweb podcast with White Castle Vice President Jamie Richardson.
About Cherryh Cansler
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