TaKorean CEO shares why employees stick around

By Mike Lenard, founder and CEO of TaKorean

Restaurant work, generally speaking, is not fun. It's hot, it's dirty and it's strenuous. When you think about the employee experience, many people could work retail for similar pay, so why are they choosing to work at TaKorean?

A lot of the goals we have for the business would be challenging to achieve without a strong labor pool. And that's important, sure, but at the heart of our company culture — and ability to maintain staff — is this idea that labor is not a resource that will always be there. People choose to work at TaKorean because we choose to invest in them.

Despite the strenuous work and the fact that people will likely go home from a shift tired, they won't dread coming to work the next day. We've built our interpersonal relationships and expectations as well as our operations in a way that encourages this positive employee experience.

Nothing Is easy in the restaurant industry, but our processes are certainly more simplified

For people who have worked in limited-service restaurants in the past, the TaKorean experience can be a lot more fulfilling. One of the most important differentiators is how our processes set company leadership up to engage with the employees. That includes the food itself, the way we prepare it and the tech stack that we have in place to handle tasks like scheduling and inventory. The administrative process is simplified so leaders can be on the floor, working shoulder-to-shoulder with the team during all peak and preparation periods. It makes the labor more efficient, and it nurtures this sense of camaraderie and community.

The system is driven by simplicity and limited complications. We require limited technical skills, we don't deep fry anything, and we streamline the prep and cooking processes as much as possible. So, while the work may still be challenging, employees can focus on the aspects of the work that they find most enjoyable.

Instead of spending time cleaning a deep fryer, they're able to interact with customers and dedicate attention to making sure the details of the operation look good. That gives everyone involved a much higher level of satisfaction. We very rarely feel short-staffed, and, unlike some of our competitors, we're not asking our employees to make a heroic effort just to make it through the day.

It's more than a mural on the wall

You have to have standards for the company culture you're looking to build, but you also need to be realistic about what will actually work and what won't. Having a muralist paint an inspirational quote on the restaurant's wall is not going to guarantee a strong, healthy company culture will seep in with employees — it doesn't work like that. For us, culture grows from the people in the workplace. We have certain standards; employees must make eye contact when a guest enters the restaurant, but we aren't outlining specific scripts and rules for every single part of their day. From general guidelines, our employees can come to work and be themselves while embodying the brand's priorities in a genuine way. Freedom and empowerment within a framework.

Another key part of building a culture that people will buy into is the idea of trust. Employees need to know that their leaders have their backs, can give straightforward directions, and aren't going to constantly move the finish line. When people trust you, you can trust them.

As we look at company culture through periods of growth, much of the maintenance starts with hiring the right people. To be a good leader, you must be a good person. We want to have people in charge who will work as hard as or harder than the rest of the employees. Someone who will be honest and treat their employees with respect; some businesses try to squeeze every last penny of labor out of an employee, and we don't see the value in that.

With good, caring people at the helm and a set of attainable, clear-cut goals, there's more than enough space for a culture that aligns with the company's moral values and business goals and the needs of the employees and unit-level staff.

I'm not the key to company culture. Other members of the core leadership team don't make or break the culture; the team itself makes the culture; leaders are there to guide it.

People want to be paid

TaKorean Pays 40% more than the national average for wages and still hots or exceeds financial results amid the labor crisis. Our average employee has been at the company for over three and a half years — 100% of our in-store leadership teams started as team members.

At the end of the day, people want to get paid for their hard work and talents. In our industry, we've historically done a poor job of compensating restaurant workers. Culture comes from respect, workers need to respect the business and the business needs to respect the workers. There's no better way to show respect than fair and equitable compensation.

Wages that the business saves by having highly capable people as well as low turnover create a model for ongoing financial success, not to mention a much better quality of life for both the team members and leadership.