In the U.S. one of the greatest challenges faced by managers is retaining employees. How can store managers tackle the growing problem of high turnovers, often estimated as being high as 200%? Afterall, turnover is a chronic and costly headache for fast-food businesses, which rely on an army of low-paid workers.
Different CEOs have different perspectives. While Dave Pace, vice president of Starbucks, argues that paying employees wages higher than the minimum wage of $5.15 is an important factor affecting turnover rates, David A. Brandon has a different perspective. He, on the other hand, believes that a bad culture can’t be overcome by paying employees a few more bucks. He looks at potential long term factors that should be taken into consideration, such as, suitable code of worth ethics and keeping “their people” (which includes both their customers and employees) first. As a matter of fact, when Mr. Brandon became CEO he re-named his human-resources department “PeopleFirst.” Most of his policies focus on keeping employees satisfied, and hence, retaining them in the long run. For instance, Escobar, manager of a Domino’s outlet in affluent Ramsey, N.J., has boxes of tea, hot water and sugar at the back of his office for his employees.
Moreover, to discipline his employees without alienating them, Escobar makes his employees wear large, black dopey glasses. The joke is if you couldn’t see an obvious mistake you were making, you need glasses. The important point to note is that Escobar, while creating a friendly environment to retain his employees, also gets his point across.
Such business management tools are obviously not practiced everywhere. For instance, in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, store managers have different views on how to retain employees. For example, most of the employees working in pizza outlets and stores in the Saudi Arabia are full-time workers, usually in their late twenties. In short, they aren’t teenage workers. As a result, store managers practice different business techniques to retain their workers. For instance, I spoke to one of my close friends back in Saudi Arabia, whose father used to own Pizza Hut outlets in metropolitan Riyadh. I was informed that managers in these restaurants focused on improving their employees’ skills so that in the long-run, employees could be promoted to managerial level positions. Obviously, remuneration aspects are also taken into consideration and various perk and fringe benefits are given to employees, ranging from bonuses to company cars, depending on the employee’s position in the company – and the key factor: how long they have been working for the company.
In short, CEOs and managers have differing business perspectives and employ different business tools. However, the key thing to remember is that perhaps there is no right or wrong strategy or view. Strategies and views need to be put into effect depending on the nature of the employees, their age, market circumstances and country’s culture.
University of Bridgeport
Sunday, July 13, 2025