Institute Insights

Februrary 2022

MEET THE SMALL BUSINESSES WORKING TO IMPLEMENT THE GOOD JOBS STRATEGY.

While all businesses are adapting to new challenges—from supply chain disruptions to inflation to the Great Resignation—small businesses are navigating this landscape with fewer resources. In these uncertain times, how can small businesses compete for talent and offer differentiated service to customers and still turn a profit? By creating a system that maximizes employee productivity, contribution, and motivation, or what we call the Good Jobs Strategy.

We are excited to share some of the insights from our work with small-medium size companies in hospitality and restaurants.

IMPLEMENTING THE GOOD JOBS STRATEGY IN HOSPITALITY

In 2021, leadership at Lucky Eagle Casino & Hotel knew that the business needed to change to stay competitive. Covid-19 created new risks for their employees and staffing shortages prevented them from opening some venues, including certain games and several of their restaurants. When CEO JaNessa Bumgarner learned about the Good Jobs Strategy, she and Hotel Director Ben Scholl assembled a cross-functional team to start making changes, using the GJS as a guide. From Bumgarner:

“We want to be known as the friendliest casino and among the employers of choice. Which means we’ve had to make some concessions around things that we’re going to offer and the hours that they’re offered. Food variety will go down, but if it makes it easier for the team to serve the guest, then we’re willing to accept that for faster, better service.”

Beyond reimagining their menus, Lucky Eagle has taken steps to improve productivity and give employees more time to focus on tasks that add value to the customer, including simplifying their gaming close-out procedure, and removing hotel stay-over service and complicated concerts.

We sat down with Bumgarner and Scholl to hear more about their approach to introducing the Good Jobs Strategy and their early insights. You can read the full conversation in our latest article.

Q&A with Lucky Eagle Casino & Hotel

GENERATING FRONTLINE IDEAS FOR RESTAURANT IMPROVEMENTS

Photo at Moes Original BBQ, Portland ME

After investing in increased wages and health insurance benefits for employees, Dewey Hasbrouck reached out to GJI to support operational improvements at his two Maine-based restaurants in the Moe’s Original BBQ franchise. In December 2021, GJI spent a day facilitating a workshop with all 30+ employees.

Hasbrouck’s commitment to his employees is part of his overall strategy to deliver high-quality food and service to loyal customers. As he told his staff:

“The plan is for customers to win with better service, you will win because you’re making more money, and I win because I plan on making money in the long-run. We plan on growing the business and running it more efficiently.”

Being so close to the work, the team identified great opportunities to simplify work, improve flow and free up time to focus on the customer—from simplifying and integrating catering and online delivery, to standardizing training. We are excited to support the Moe’s team as they improve jobs in the restaurant industry.

INSTITUTE UPDATES

PODCAST EPISODES FEATURING GJI LEADERS

GJI President Zeynep Ton was interviewed on the HBR IdeaCast. She explained how investing in people and strong operations gives customers a compelling reason to choose your business over alternatives and allows you to adapt to changes faster than your competitors:

“In the service businesses, if you don’t have a productive, motivated, capable workforce, how can you offer good customer service? How can you differentiate yourself in the eyes of your customers if your workers are changing all the time and they can’t focus on the job and their job is not designed to create high value?”

GJI Executive Director Sarah Kalloch was interviewed for a podcast with the North American Hardware Paint Association and discussed the importance of managers to create a thriving retail environment – especially one where consultative selling is key:

“When [Costco co-founder Jim Sinegal] talks about managers, he wants them to be teaching 90% of the time. A lot of time in retail when companies are in a vicious cycle with high turnover, managers are elevated because they can do the tasks best. But they also end up just doing the tasks, because they have high turn, it’s hard to hire, they’re subbing in for their team. So, they never really get to that teaching point.”

The Good Jobs Community

what's your good jobs story?

Across the country and around the world, there are companies that use operational choices and investment in people to win with customers. Some are small retail businesses, others in large scale manufacturing. If a beloved business comes to your mind, please share it with us by filling out this short form.

Share your Good Jobs story

What we are reading

Michael Lastoria and Katie Bach in Fast Company: We are fast food executives: If our industry is to survive, workers need a greater voice
Nir Kaissar in Bloomberg: Path to a Living Wage Starts with Companies’ Full Disclosure
Katie Deighton in WSJ: Companies Call in Better Pay and Perks for Contact Center Workers
Rebecca Tan in Washington Post: Low-wage workers prop up the nursing home industry. They’re quitting in droves.
Shift Project: Still Unstable: The Persistence of Scheduling Uncertainty During the Pandemic

Helping companies thrive by creating good jobs

Want to work together or learn more about Good Jobs Institute? Email us at info@goodjobsinstitute.org