Managing Human Resources

What Do I Need to Know?

Introduction

After reading this chapter, you should be able to:

Imagine trying to run a business where you have to replace every employee two or three times a year. If that sounds chaotic, you can sympathize with the challenge facing Rob Cecere when he took the job of regional manager for a group of eight Domino’s
Pizza stores in New Jersey. In Cecere’s region, store managers were quitting after a few months on the job. The lack of consistent leadership at the store level contributed to employee turnover rates of up to 300 percent a year (one position being filled three times in a year). In other words, new managers constantly had to find, hire, and train new workers—and rely on inexperienced people to keep customers happy. Not surprisingly, the stores in Cecere’s new territory were failing to meet sales goals.
Cecere made it his top goal to build a stable team of store managers who in turn could retain employees at their stores. He held a meeting with the managers and talked about improving sales, explaining, “It’s got to start with people”: hiring good people and keeping them on board. He continues to coach his managers, helping them build sales and motivate their workers through training and patience. In doing so, he has the backing of
Domino’s headquarters. When the company’s current chief executive, David Brandon, took charge, he was shocked by the high employee turnover
(then 158 percent nationwide), and he made that problem his priority. Brandon doubts the pay rates are what keeps employees with any fast-food company; instead, he emphasizes careful hiring, extensive coaching, and opportunities to earn promotions. In the years since Brandon became
CEO, employee turnover at Domino’s has fallen.
And in New Jersey, Cecere is beginning to see results from his store managers