For the past two years, Panda Restaurant Group has achieved an annual goal to open 80 new restaurants, requiring not only two restaurant managers per location, but also more training leaders and area coaches of operations (ACOs) to support them. That means Panda must recruit, hire, and prepare more future leaders quickly.
This inspired a new partnership with Operations leaders to create the new Fast-Track Leadership Development Initiative.
Program Details
This high-touch program has three key components:
- Collaboration to identify high potential talent early. Learning team members now join annual “People Planning” sessions to help Operations leaders evaluate high-potential (HIPO) managers for a fast-tracked promotion, using personalized “report cards” detailing: Level 2 scores from completed Great Operations (GO) courses; leadership competency ratings (per Panda’s Operations Competency Model); and feedback from “Ops Champions,” senior restaurant leaders who attend all Great Operations (GO) classes to observe, mentor, and help teach emerging leaders.
- Collaboration on personalized leader assessment, preparation, and coaching. Operations supervisors use the report cards and annual performance reviews to identify gaps and collaborate with the Learning team to help HIPOs close those gaps. Ops and Learning team members also co-facilitate new 90-minute virtual “prep sessions” to help candidates prepare for their next GO curriculum course (e.g., 6 Critical Practices for Leading a Team, Financial Business Acumen). Post-prep session, candidates can get one-on-one coaching, in-person or virtually, from supervisors or subject matter experts (SMEs). For example, a candidate wanting more guidance on managing labor costs for multiple restaurants might meet with a Finance Department SME.
- Automatic registration for accelerated curriculum completion. Some aspiring leaders tended to let time elapse between classes, delaying their potential promotion for as long as 9 to 12 months. In response, the Learning team proactively schedules HIPO candidates for their next class upon completion of the previous level.
New Training leaders and ACOs receive supervisor coaching and mentoring as needed to review course topics and ensure success. E-modules are available on-demand to support continued growth. And new leaders actively network with their GO course cohorts for ongoing support.
Long-term, supervisors continue to observe and coach new leaders to sharpen their performance. Coaching is based in part on regularkey performance indicators (KPI) reporting reflecting the individual’s skills in People (e.g., full staffing at key positions), Guest (e.g., mystery shopper scores), and Financial (e.g., same-store sales), reinforcing learning on those topics.
Individuals meet regularly with peers informally or through management meetings to share experiences, best practices and problem solving, often reflecting on GO curriculum topics. Continued learning is available via eLearning modules and advanced GO courses.
Results
In a 60-day post-promotion survey (on a scale of 1-5, where 5 is strongly agree), 295 direct reports of new training leaders and ACOs agreed that their supervisor:
- Has been asking questions that focus on the right issues (4.44)
- Listens and values my input (4.39)
- Makes an effort to unlock my energy and enthusiasm to achieve stronger results (4.28)
- Encourages me to speak up, debate, and learn from my mistakes (4.43)
- Offers me stretch opportunities to help me grow and break through to new levels of results (4.32)
In addition, 72 candidates were promoted to training leader, and 30 candidates were promoted to area coach of operations. Candidates have been promoted an average of nine months faster than the previous year. The Fast-Track Leadership Development Initiative was so successful that it inspired a similar program for store managers.
