To understand how Texas Roadhouse achieves consistent sales and traffic growth — regardless of the macroeconomic environment — is to understand its culture. The chain strives to convey an “energetic, rowdy, enthusiasm” inside of each of its 770-ish restaurants, enabled by a laid-back atmosphere (peanut shells scattered on the floor, for example), music at an inoffensively audible level, abundant food (two sides and rolls), and a sharp focus on the “legendary service” part of its motto.
The service objective has been in place since the chain’s beginnings in 1993 — a priority of late founder Kent Taylor, who believed in servant leadership and upside-down pyramids. The company cultivates such service by investing in training, culture-building activities like meat-cutting competitions, bartender competitions, Roadies Impacting Stores Everyday (RISE) events, conferences, outings, and a whole bunch of recognition opportunities — employee of the month, Roadie of the Year, Managing Partner of the Year, and so forth.
Gina Tobin just happened to receive the very first Managing Partner of the Year Award not long after she opened the chain’s eighth location. Getting to the point of managing partner took a mix of equal parts serendipity and intrigue. The serendipity piece came when a friend called to tell her he knew a guy looking for a strong operator to help get his then-new concept off the ground in Louisville, Ky. Tobin was running 10 restaurants in Michigan as district manager of Chi Chi’s at the time and very much qualified as a “strong operator.”
The intrigue piece came from the fledgling concept’s managing partner program, which remains in place at Texas Roadhouse today and has since been copied by several brands.
“Being a managing partner was a unique situation where I had to pay $25,000 to get my job, which most people would not do. But that earned me 10% of the bottom line and because I love the food so much, I knew it could work,” Tobin said. “Having that was exciting to me and something that was unusual in our industry at the time. I took the risk because of that.”
She had never even been to Kentucky before, but she thought she’d stick it out for a few years and then tap into her experience to do something else. The “something else” plan never came to fruition, however. After serving as managing partner, Tobin moved on to market partner in Florida. That’s when Taylor called her with another opportunity — running the training department and stewarding the important “service” piece of his company’s puzzle. Tobin moved back to Louisville to serve in the support center as vice president of training and learning and was then promoted to chief learning and culture officer. Last year, Tobin was named president of Texas Roadhouse.
Her background, and skillset, is in operations, but as it turned out, her passion is people development.
“To be able to put ‘culture’ in my title was an easy decision for me. Growing up in this company and learning culture directly from Kent was something very special,” she said.
What she learned most from Taylor and has continued in his memory is his people-first mentality, a focus that she said won’t ever change regardless of evolving consumer and employee demands, or investor obligations.
“One thing remains the same — when you show care and concern, that’s what people are looking for. If you care about a person and make a connection, they’re more apt to stay longer. Tenure matters and connections make a difference,” Tobin said.
She adds that this is especially true when times are tough, as they have been in the restaurant industry for the past several years.
“Some companies take away programs, we go the opposite direction. We go all in and invest in (people),” Tobin said, adding that such investments are why the chain has outpaced most of its peers as of late. “Yes, it’s about food and service, but when you make a connection and form a bond, they’ll continue to want to work for you.”
Cultivating such connections is part of Texas Roadhouse’s training program, which Tobin called the backbone of the company. She reiterates the importance of such connections during the company’s annual fall tour, in which managing partners discuss topics like how to improve the customer and employee experience.
“We hear ‘hospitality’ a lot in our business, but we believe it’s how you make somebody feel — welcome, important, heard. When you put those systems and processes in place, it’s easier for people to know what to do,” Tobin said. “That’s what I talk to operators about because if I make you feel welcome, you’re going to want to come back.”
It’s clear now after so many years that Texas Roadhouse has made her feel welcome, and Tobin has turned it into a personal mission to extend that feeling to the rest of the company and its customers.
“I just love it here. I love the people, I love the relationships I’ve built over time,” she said. “I want other people to feel like this.”
She believes Texas Roadhouse will continue to fire on all cylinders if it continues to prioritize culture and training, and as long as it continues to execute Taylor’s “people-first” vision he had for the brand when it was simply an idea written down on a napkin.
“My responsibility is to talk about and live (Kent’s legacy) every day and to stay focused on the people. He taught me so much about people and it’s my job to protect that,” Tobin said. “We’re in a growth mindset with Bubba’s (33) and Jaggers. Texas Roadhouse isn’t done yet. There’s international. That creates a lot of opportunities for people. The potential here is endless. We’re just getting started.”
Contact Alicia Kelso at [email protected]
