00:03Oh hi welcome in are you here for lunch or oh no no I have an interview actually
00:10with the manager I think it was set for this morning oh yes right she's actually
00:20ah you're at the 11 o'clock yeah that's right Ryan good to meet you this booth I've got about
00:2640 minutes before this place gets slammed and I do not have the bandwidth for this today
00:33off to a warm start yeah let's just keep working that's a good idea
00:40I appreciate you making the time I know the lunch lunch doesn't wait for anyone save it
00:47I've heard the opener a hundred times just let's get into it of course resume
00:55the same as everyone else big words modest experience high expectations I'd be happy to
01:03walk you through anyway that won't be necessary first question if your supply chain collapses at
01:09the tertiary vendor level and your primary distributor has already locked their quarterly
01:13allocation what is your mitigation framework you prioritize your most critical items and reach out
01:20directly to secondary suppliers that you've pre-qualified you communicate proactively with
01:25your team so they can adjust you don't hide any problems you manage them in the open a boat is
01:31sinking
01:31you have three employees you can only save two of them which leadership quality do you demonstrate
01:38you do not let the boat sink that's the job where do you see yourself in five years somewhere that
01:44I've contributed something real somewhere the people I work with are better off than what I found
01:49that's vague I mean I could be more specific but it wouldn't quite change the substance of it
01:54describe your ideal work environment one where people are treated honestly where expectations are clear
02:01and consistent where someone who does good work knows is recognized sorry sorry um I was just thinking
02:07if it's helpful maybe some questions about availability or his floor experience might mind your station Kyle
02:16this is a private conversation um Melissa do you need anything for the interview water do you need
02:21anything set up the condiment trays need refilling and you're hovering go
02:32they were trying to help excuse me your staff they were being helpful I'm just noting it if you want
02:40to continue this interview you'll keep your opinions about how I manage my team to yourself you're sitting
02:46on that side of the table for a reason fair enough proceed what does team culture mean to you it
02:53means
02:53people feel safe raising a problem without being punished for it it means the person at the top
02:58sets the standard and whatever they model the team inherits what would you say is your biggest
03:04professional weakness I have a very hard time walking past a problem that I can fix if I see something
03:12isn't right I'm going to say something about it some people might find that inconvenient that's not a
03:17weakness that's just rebranding an asset it depends entirely on whether the person you're seeing
03:23it who wants to hear it okay practical realities portion I'll be straight with you please the
03:31position has been posted mainly because corporate keeps insisting on it but in my honest assessment
03:37we don't actually need another person on the floor adding someone new means training time means wage
03:43pressure across the board means another schedule to build and honestly we're running fine lean the team
03:51picks up the slack how long has a team been running lean a while they manage they're experienced they
04:00know what's expected when you say the team picks up the slack how is that handled in terms of compensation
04:08we have a good team here they understand what it means to invest in a workplace some people have that
04:14mentality some people don't so they're covering extra shifts but not seeing extra pay what i'm saying
04:21is that the people who last in this business understand that some seasons require more from
04:27everyone that's not exploitation that's reality and how long is this season been going on look this is
04:35a competitive industry margins are tight the people who do well here are the people who understand that
04:40they're flexible they're committed and what happens when they stop being flexible then we find people who
04:46are what would it take like actually take to staff this place properly one more person on paper but like
04:56i said that creates its own issues because they might push back because they require onboarding they require
05:03consistency you can't just drop someone in a lean operation and expect them to run the same way or they
05:12possibly see how things are being run and raise questions about it i said what i said adding someone
05:18new right now would actually create instability another salary another personality another person who might
05:26start asking questions about how things are done i'd rather keep my team tight and manage it myself is
05:33that something you're proud of that your staff are too worn down to say anything it's not about that
05:41it's about professionalism about understanding your role and doing it and their role is to cover
05:48extra ships say nothing and just be grateful that they have a job their role is to do the work
05:54in
05:54front of them yes that's what i expect the team we have knows things work here they're not going to
06:01rock
06:01the boat that that's what makes this operation stable that's valuable and i make no apologies for it
06:08i'm sorry we heard that jody go back to work we heard all of it when we took these jobs
06:14we were
06:14told the extra hours were temporary we were told new hire was in the pipeline we were told that things
06:19were going to be reassessed that was months ago and the whole time it wasn't a temporary situation it was
06:26just how you decided to run things we've covered understaffed shifts without complaint and we did it
06:32because we thought it was going to change hearing that it was always the plan that it was that it
06:36was
06:36deliberate that's something different this conversation is not your concern go back to work
06:43both of you now are you threatening us for raising a legitimate concern i'm reminding you that i set the
06:50schedule i write the evaluations i decide who fits here and who doesn't so yes if you'd like to read
06:55that as a threat you're welcome to that's our answer then yeah maybe we don't fit here oh hold on
07:03i i need to stop you there all of you i owe you a correction melissa i'm not here to
07:08apply for a
07:09position i'm sorry i've been doing something else today i've been seeing whether the values of this
07:14company were built on are actually present and how its locations get run whether the people doing the
07:19work are being led well or being taken advantage of my name is ryan but i'm the ceo of this
07:26chain i
07:27i that's look you have to understand the pressure that corporate puts on the managers at this level
07:37we don't have the context that you have and i just being honest about the operational reality see i spent
07:43years working on floor just like this one before i built this company actually and i know what the
07:49operational reality looks like that's not what i saw today i run a tight ship my numbers i watched you
07:55demean someone who came in good faith for a job interview i watched you bully your own staff for
08:01trying to help i listened to you admit out loud that you've been deliberately keeping your team
08:06overworked and underpaid because you're afraid of someone asking questions and when two phenomenal
08:13employees raise a legitimate concern you threaten their jobs that's not a management style
08:20it's a failure of character ryan i think if we could just sit down talk through the context there's
08:27no version of today that ends differently for you your employment with this company is over effective
08:39immediately
08:40i just want to thank you guys not just for today or what it takes to keep showing up and
08:52doing good
08:52work when the person leading you has absolutely let you down it's not a small thing and i want you
08:58to
08:58see it we just i mean we didn't think it was right what she was saying we probably should have
09:05said
09:05something a long time ago you said it when it mattered that counts so what i would like to do
09:11effective today is promote both of you to co-managers of this location full authority proper compensation
09:18and my direct support when you build the team that this place should have had a long time ago
09:23i'm sorry i'm sorry did you just say i think you said co-managers both of us yeah no i
09:30heard what
09:31he said i'm just like you've already shown me everything i need you to see the way you greeted
09:35a stranger at the door without knowing anything about them the way you stood up when it would have been
09:39easier not to the honesty that you both brought to a moment that was uncomfortable for everyone
09:45that's leadership that's what this place needs running i don't even know what to say right now just
09:52say yes yes obviously yes thank you don't thank me yet you got some work to do you got hiring
10:00scheduling figuring out what this team actually needs it's not gonna be easy harder than what we've
10:05already been doing no probably not then i think we'll figure it out i know you will that's why i'm
10:11leaving it with you so should we um refill those condiment trays co-managers all right that's your call
10:19okay take care this is amazing condiment trays yeah