Oct. 10, 2024
Throughout my 100-day onboarding journey, I have met incredible General Managers and their teams. I’m reminded that if our GMs and our restaurant team members feel taken care of, then we can also be confident they will take care of our customers. That is the reason we have renamed our Corporate Hubs “Restaurant Support Centers,” to remind us every day that we all are working in service to our restaurant teams.
Last week I completed my first full shift at one of our restaurants. I can’t think of a better way to see what our restaurant team members need than to experience a day in their lives and hear firsthand about their experiences. I had the pleasure of working with Taylor Deck, General Manager of a restaurant in the Atlanta area, and his team in an opening shift where I was trained in unloading ingredient inventory, inventory check-in, ordering, scheduling, taking orders, working through the daily operating plan, prepping sauce cups and other items, and even slapping around a bit of dough.
What was most impactful for me, though, was experiencing the passion and energy shared among our restaurant team members. Making pizzas is truly a craft, and our team members take great care in the process, from the way they hand slap the dough into the perfect crust, check cheese and topping distribution, and ensure that each baked pizza is styled and cut to our high standards. There is a sense of pride as team members work together to deliver for our customers. We need to ensure we preserve that magic in our restaurant culture and that this same energy flows throughout our business, and ultimately, is felt by customers.
In the day we spent together, it was clear that Taylor is an incredible manager with big energy and even bigger aspirations. I could tell right away how much passion he has for the brand and what a great leader he is for his team – a true representation of the dedication and excitement Papa Johns needs in all of our team members to be successful. Now that I have an opening shift under my belt, I can’t wait to return and train for a closing shift and share that with you in another Todd’s Take. In the meantime, I’ll be practicing my dough slapping!
