Not to mention, customers get better treatment. Most workers want to do well and feel good about their jobs. A growing number of chains are beginning to imitate their cousins in other parts of corporate America by offering better health and vacation benefits. They're also opening the lines of communications, filling employees in on everything from the health of the company to menu changes and the reasons behind them. Red Lobster encourages customers to call its 800 number to offer comments, good and bad, about its restaurants and staff.
Managers then share the remarks with employees.
Because most employees carry a sense of pride and ownership in the restaurant, they generally respond well to customer observations. People want to be involved, insists Red Lobster's Glenn. Wade Oney, Papa John's COO, agrees. Turnover at Papa John's lessens when the relationships are tighter. Founder John Schnatter, for example, mails to workers' homes regular communiques that talk about everything from competitive pressures to how Papa John's tomatoes go from the vine to the can in six hours.