When Erin Wade left her career as an attorney to open the Oakland-based mac ’n’ cheese restaurant Homeroom, she wanted to create a full-service environment with the hospitality of a fine-dining restaurant but at the price point of something more casual.
By all accounts she accomplished those goals, and Homeroom has been successful enough to expand to three locations.
But there was one issue that Wade and her crew had not anticipated in the restaurant, an issue that, when confronted, led Wade to developing a system that ultimately built a more collaborative, meaningful, and safe work environment for her team.
The issue? Harassment from customers toward employees. Wade said the issue is pervasive in restaurants but largely unreported, as employees assume nothing will be done about it. But Wade created a color-coded system that gave her employees a mechanism by which they could report harassment and take action against unruly customers. The system not only diffused inappropriate situations in the restaurant, but it also created a culture of trust among her team that has improved restaurant performance and lowered turnover.
Wade joined the latest episode of Take-Away with Sam Oches to talk about her new book, “The Mac & Cheese Millionaire: Building a Better Business by Thinking Outside the Box,” and the color-coded system that has helped protect her employees from harassment and build trust among her team in the process.
In this conversation, you’ll learn more about why:
- Great experiences don’t cost more to create, they just require caring more
- A better working environment leads to better restaurant performance
- Harassment from your customers may be a bigger problem than you think
- You owe it to your employees to protect them from harassment and abuse
- If you want to build a strong culture, start with trust
Contact Sam Oches at [email protected]
