Texas Roadhouse founder Kent Taylor opened first restaurant in 1993 with a people first philosophy. “His focus on employee happiness was a departure from the conventional management wisdom at a time when competitors were focused solely on taking care of the guest. Claiming the status of legendary is a bold move for any organization. But being bold has never been a problem for Texas Roadhouse. For this $1.2 billion, 325-unit restaurant chain the words “Legendary Food. Legendary Service.” are less mission statement and more sincere commitment to employees, customers, and culture.” (OCTanner, n.d.)
“If we take care of our employees, they will take care of our customers” is a common phrase. In your experience, is it actually practiced or is it just a cliché on the wall? Discuss the implications of your answer. “If we take care of our employees, they will take care of our customers” is not an overused expression or idea, but one that is spot-on, and will not go out of style. This may not be an original idea but it is significant in today’s business world. Employees are key stakeholders in an organization’s success and if the employees have an emotional commitment to an organization that means they are engaged and care about their work and organization. As support for this premise a recent Tempkin Employee Engagement Study showed, high employee engagement impacts the bottom line:
• Companies with strong financial results report employees to be engaged 75% of the time — compared to organizations with weak financial results, which report an employee engagement rate of 47 percent.
• Engaged employees are more than twice as likely to go the “extra mile” at work. These folks stay late, collaborate with colleagues and recommend organizational improvements.
• 96% of engaged employees responded that they “always or almost always” try their hardest on the job (while 79%