by Nicky Budd-Thanos, on April 22, 2019
In case you missed it, last week we hosted a webinar on how to create a goal-oriented team with Mark Sulzle, Area Coach at Staab Enterprises, a 62-location Pizza Hut franchisee. The recording is available to watch at any time and we encourage you to share with your team!
In the meantime, Mark drew on his 26 years of experience as an Area Coach to share some great insights with us and we wanted to share our five favorite takeaways from the webinar:
1. Effective communication is fundamental
One quote from Mark on the webinar that immediately resonated with us was that he has ‘always believed that communication is the #1 characteristic that any successful organization or manager can enable’.
Whether that’s communicating about limited time offers or emergency announcements, communicating effectively can make or break the success of a single shift, a day or the performance of a whole location’s team.
2. Recognition creates a snowball effect
One key component of communication is recognizing the efforts and results that your team is putting out. Sharing the success of your team members not only sets a standard for everyone to aspire to but also builds positive energy and a more cohesive community.
Mark cited Crew’s Gold Stars as a great way to recognize hard work and specifically detail what the team member had done to earn the Gold Star.
3. Build results-sharing into every day
Mark shared his belief that the #1 way to motivate people is to create a goal-oriented culture and empower them to reach those results - which is why he has his managers share labor results at set times, four times a day.
This not only makes sure that everyone is on the same page in terms of where you stand on your goals - for better or worse - but creates accountability among team members and reminds everyone of the goals you’re driving towards.
4. Drive adoption of new new technology by making it relevant to your team
One question raised during the Q&A at the end of the webinar is one we often hear: how do you get people to adopt new technology, especially if some team members aren’t the most tech-savvy?
Mark has clearly learned a thing or two in his 26 years as an Area Coach - he has 100% adoption of Crew in one location and is at 85-90% adoption across his seven other locations. His tricks?
First things first, build this new technology into an all-hands training and as part of the orientation process for new hires. During these trainings, remind your team members that this is an opportunity for them, not only to find shift coverage when they need it but to pick up extra shifts, demonstrate their potential for leadership roles and be a part of building the team’s culture.
5. Find a work-life balance by setting yourself up for success
Mark talked about enjoying a four-day vacation last week and during that time, he disabled Crew notifications and felt confident that he’d put himself and his team in a position to succeed while he was gone.
One recurring theme we hear from managers and above-store leadership is that they’re unable to truly disconnect and have down-time due to the need to keep close tabs on their phone, jump on a call and triage issues. When you’ve equipped your team with the tools they need to be more self-sufficient and efficient, you’ve set everyone up for success.
If you missed last week’s webinar, don’t worry - we’ve got plans for more insightful events and content coming soon and you can access the recording to Creating a goal-oriented team at Pizza Hut at any time.
Let us know what you think about driving a goals-oriented culture on Twitter!
