Case Study -BOH Interview

After I interviewed Mr. Rod Fortuna, the General Manager of The Cheesecake Factory in Fashion Valley San Diego, I was able to get answers to my question, how do they make me (customer) satisfied and let me walk out the restaurant with happiness each time.

During the interview he described the employees as great people or great team repeatedly. He even said that people the organization had was the greatest asset for them. To make a great team, they provide each employee a comprehensive 10 weeks training program, and each employee will have a mentor (manager) throughout the training period. Usually, employee develops positive relationship with the mentor and will continue to maintain the relationship after they are done with the training. This training can be intense, but give anyone an opportunity to be prepared to success. Mr. Fortuna also tries to engage with employees as much as he can. He does not want to be a manager who just sit in his office and tell people what to do. He interacts with employees daily basis, and provide the environment where his employees can feel they belong to the team and they are one team, more like family. He had open-door policy, and welcome anyone no matter he or she is a manager or an entry level employee to his office. If someone has a thought or issue the employee knows that he or she can bring it up to him or any manager around. His contact information is given to the team, but he prefers to communicate in person, so that he can truly understand what is going on and address the issue quickly. To motivate the employees, they recognize their success and hard work openly. The organization has many reward programs, and promotions are happening all the time. He has a manager who got promoted to a management position within 6 months in him team.

Management team think each employee is talented and has unique ways to serve their costumers, so the employees are allowed to make decisions on spots to lead the situation to the best. Mr. Fortuna said that the front line staff was the one who would interact with the customer most, and he believed in their competence. To do so, they make sure to hire the right people. The things he seeks in new hire are self-motivate and desire to learn to grow continuously. While the employees are empowered to make decisions, they also have strict policies that they have to follow. All servers, for example, have to wear stainless white shirts, pants, apron, and shoes. They know that if they show up at work in dirty uniforms, they will be sent home right away. Keeping policy is important to maintain consistency and culture they have. When I asked him about their mission which is “To create an environment where absolute guest satisfaction is our highest priority”, he immediately answered what it was, and told me that it was one of the things each employees would be taught and tested on during their training. He added that sharing what they believed was crucial.

The Cheesecake factory has more than 200 items on the menu today. Their famous cheesecake itself, there are about 70 options are available for the customers. To stay on top of trends and customers' needs, they change their menu twice a year so that the customer can always try something new. Mr. Fortuna said that they paid close attention to what moves other restaurants take. This industry is extremely competitive; thus, it is important to be aware of which directions the competitors are going and use them as a tool to differentiate from them. When I asked him what made The Cheesecake Factory outstanding among the thousands of restaurants, he mentioned the huge varieties of food choices, service, location, and quality of product. Also, they try to keep up with latest technology to make the operation as easy as they can for their staff. One of the most innovated things at The Cheesecake Factory is the kitchen management system. It tells stuff not only orders of each table but also how long they have been waited for. They do not use paper tickets at all, and it helps to eliminate common errors such as missing tickets or missing placing the order which the tickets come out.

By interviewing him, I could tell he was so proud of being a general manager and working for the amazing company, and great "cheesecake people" in the team. The cheesecake Factory keeps their customers' satisfaction high by creating happy employees, constantly challenging themselves to innovate, and never being satisfied with where they are now.