Successful restaurant chain, Yo! Sushi, has ambitious plans to double their number of outlets over the next year. It’s great to hear about growth at a time when so many companies are struggling, and what’s really admirable about their approach is the recognition of the importance of employee engagement. 25% of their staff will be taking part in a three day consultation with the executive board on the company’s culture and how they can ‘wow’ customers. Yo! Sushi obviously identify with the ‘satisfaction mirror’ concept, and understand that this wow factor relies on a happy, healthy workforce.
Another thing I like about this story is that they are starting this from existing high levels of employee engagement. It’s not about an emergency response to a problem, but about maintaining these high levels and developing a firm cultural foundation from which to grow.
I’m not sure how many of the Sunday Times 100 fastest growing companies are taking this pro-active approach, but they’d do well to take note. It can be easy to just ‘muddle through’ when you’re dealing with rapid success and your priorities are (understandably) meeting commitments to existing clients while taking on new ones, ensuring cash flow, recruiting new staff and so on. But if you can take a step back you’re in a unique position to develop the culture you want right from the start. I’m sure there are many engagement and well-being specialists in large organisations who would love the chance to wipe the slate clean and start from scratch!
Click below to hear Jamie Mitchell, former MD of Innocent drinks, talking at the Business Well-Being Network Annual Conference about how they coped with their growth spurt.
