On the Clock

We clock in with Terese Fogleman, owner and operator of Chick-fil-A in Boone, North Carolina. Our conversation is an excerpt from a recent webinar with Terese, in which she shares three tactics for increasing retention among Gen Z employees. Her perspective is battle tested, yet rooted in empathy. If you'd like to listen to the other half of that discussion, you can watch the complete webinar for...

We clock in with Michael Hartley, Director of Operations at Golden Ticket Cinemas. Golden Ticket operates 19 locations across 12 states. Michael explains how things have changed among the movie theater workforce over the past few years, why it's so important to create a positive employee experience, the power of listening to your team and more. Oh, and we also chat briefly about his favorite movie...

We clock in with Bryce Porter, Chief Strategy Officer at Covenant Care. Covenant Care operates 29 skilled nursing and home health care locations, with more than 5,000 total employees. We discuss the unique hiring and retention challenges faced by the healthcare industry, why operational efficiency is essential when hiring, high impact retention strategies, and more. https://www.linkedin.com/in/por...

We clock in with Susie Gordon, Director of Human Resources at one of the largest Massage Envy franchise groups in the country. Susie recently made the jump to HR after starting her career as a registered nurse, and she shares some interesting ways that those positions overlap. We discuss why company culture is so important, little tweaks to her hiring strategy that have made a big difference, how...

We clock in with Sara Wasserteil, Managing Director at Cara Collective. Our conversation is an excerpt from a recent webinar, and it's all about sourcing employees through community based organizations. Sara shares why CBOs are such a great way to find hourly employees, how to identify the right organizations to partner with, how to assess the effectiveness of your partnership, and more. Sara's Li...

We clock in with Delesa Brokamp, HR and Talent Manager at Prime Hospitality Group. PHG employs close to a thousand hourly employees across 15 locations in four states. Delesa discusses why it's important to never lower your standards when interviewing, and why hiring fairs are worth a shot. We also chat about the components that make up employee engagement, and more. https://www.linkedin.com/in/de...

We clock in with JP Lachance, CEO of Equator Coffees. Equator has 9 cafe locations in and around Marin County, CA, as well as a bustling direct to consumer business. We chat about Equator's groundbreaking history, and how their commitment to a positive culture helps with their hiring and retention efforts. JP also discusses sustainability (in hiring and ingredient sourcing), and more. https://www....

We clock in with Alejandra Mier, part of the management team at Coupa Café. Coupa Café is a quick-service restaurant chain with eight locations in the Palo Alto, California area, and was also Workstream's first customer! We discuss the most important factors for hiring and retaining employees, why Alejandra recommends researching the pay and benefits of competing businesses, and how Coupa Café use...

Jim Mizes' impressive career includes contributing to Taco Bell's expansion in the late '80s and early '90s, serving as VP of Operations at Jamba Juice, and spending 6+ years at the helm of Blaze Pizza. Jim discusses what he's learned in his 30+ year career, specifically in regards to the hourly workforce. We also talk about the importance of building efficient systems for hiring and training empl...

We clock in with Michael Rodriguez. Michael is the owner and franchisee of 11 Subway locations in central North Carolina, 8 of which were added in the last 13 months! Michael discusses the challenges he's faced with rapid growth, how culture complements compensation, and his appointment to the Subway FAF National Advisory Board. https://www.linkedin.com/in/michael-rodriguez-59365312/

We clock in with three talented HR leaders to discuss the topic of onboarding. The audio comes a recent webinar we co-hosted our friends at Checkr, and includes Gia DeMichele from Culture Amp, Jamie Dyra from Workstream, and Jacob McKay from Pointe Meadows Health & Rehab.

 The group weighs in on getting leadership buy-in, being data-driven in your onboarding strategy, making sure that the onboard...

We clock in with Jet Brown, Assistant Operations Manager at Wilkinson Companies. Wilkinson owns several hotel properties and convenience store locations in and around North Platte, Nebraska. Jet talks about a program they use to understand the communication styles of their hourly team members, and how it has made a positive impact on retention and advancement opportunities. We also talk about seas...

We clock in with Jonathan Lawrence, Recruitment Manager at Chick-fil-A Bush River Road in Columbia, South Carolina. Jonathan has been with Chick-fil-A for 14 years, and is nicknamed "the relationship guy" because of his involvement within the community. We discuss the importance of prioritizing customer service above all else, building an effective employee referral program, the many benefits dive...

We clock in with Angie Figueredo, Director of Talent Acquisition at the Dhanani Group, which employs an incredible 20,000+ hourly workers across 13 quick service restaurant brands. During our conversation, Angie discusses the most successful things she's done to attract new employees, how she's shifted her strategy from hiring to retention, and how she's planning to rely upon automation to win at...

We clock in with Dave Repass, owner of Meineke Car Care Center in Lewes, Delaware. Dave discusses the unique hiring challenges faced by the auto repair industry, what makes personalized scheduling a key tactic for retention, and why always-on hiring is always a good idea. https://www.linkedin.com/in/dave-repass-9b335212/

We clock in with Ben Little, owner of 14 Zaxby's locations in the southeast US, including some of the top performing stores in the country. Ben discusses the importance of maintaining consistency while scaling, why you should always invest back into the business, how to identify potential leaders with your organization, and more. Connect with Ben on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/ben-little...

We speak with Ann Falzone, COO of Artemis Wax, which has 52 European Wax Center locations across 7 states. She discusses the unique hiring challenges faced by her industry, the most impactful changes Artemis Wax has made to their hiring process, why culture is so important in attracting hourly employees, and more. https://www.linkedin.com/in/ann-marie-falzone-1399a316/ http://workstream.us/podcast...

We speak with Jeff Weinstein, whose impressive background includes running the company that was the largest Jamba franchisee. He discusses the most overlooked component of hiring hourly employees, what those in the hospitality industry can do to not just survive, but thrive, and a program he rolled out that made a huge difference in employee retention. https://www.linkedin.com/in/jeff-weinstein-97...

Sara Wasserteil of Cara Collective joins us to discuss the disconnect between what hourly employees want from their job, and what employers *think* that they want. She explains what the data says about making open roles more appealing, which overlooked segment of the potential workforce punches above their weight, and more. https://www.linkedin.com/in/sarawasserteil/ https://caracollective.org htt...

Today's episode brings you a triple feature! We speak with Donald Terry, Jimmy Washington, and Andy Brunetz. Together they oversee the hiring efforts of Malco Theatres, a chain with 1,500 employees across 40+ locations. The trio discusses the unique hiring challenges faced by the movie theater industry, the seasonality of their staffing efforts, and how to appeal to potential employees.

Seasoned entrepreneur Frank Klein shares his perspective on sustainability, and how it applies both to hiring AND ingredients. He also discusses how to find employees that are "bought in" on your company's mission, hospitality trends worth watching, and more. https://www.fkrestaurants.com https://www.linkedin.com/in/frankpklein/  

Today we clock-in with Luke Godwin, Owner and General Manager of Godwin Motors in Columbia, South Carolina. Luke discusses the hiring and retention challenges he's faced, and the important lessons that he's learned along the way. Anyone wanting to improve at hiring and retaining hourly employees—whether you're in the auto industry or not—will appreciate Luke's unique perspective. https://www.godwi...

We speak with Gary Occhiogrosso, Managing Partner at Franchise Growth Solutions, about the three things that quick-service restaurants can do to prepare for a possible recession. Gary talks about menu engineering, the importance of customer experience, how to get team buy-in, and more. https://www.franchisegrowthsolutions.com https://www.linkedin.com/in/gary-occhiogrosso/