To customers, Tupelo Honey is famous for its biscuits. The Asheville, N.C.-based chain specializes in elevated, traditional Southern cuisine, with its biscuits serving as an iconic staple of the menu.
But lately Tupelo Honey is becoming known for something else: its impressive employee benefits. The company, which has expanded to soon-to-be-23 units across the U.S., has doubled down on its culture and its team, developing multiple programs that have boosted its recruitment and retention efforts.
For example, there’s its Honeypot Program, which offers employees an array of benefits — including medical and dental insurance, paid time off, tuition reimbursements, and more — and its Biscuits for a Cause program, which puts profits from biscuit sales into an employee relief fund.
Now, 75% of Tupelo Honey’s managers have been with the company for more than six years, while more than 60% of its management positions have been filled from within the company.
Caroline Skinner, Tupelo Honey’s COO, joined the latest episode of Take-Away with Sam Oches to talk about the brand’s efforts to support employees and how it is delivering Southern hospitality to other corners of the country through its unique culture.
In this conversation, you’ll learn why:
- Better benefits equal better retention
- Your recruitment message should be simple
- If you want employees to stick around, provide them with balance in their lives
- You should promote your general managers from within, because they are the key to retention
- Your most loyal guests deserve something special and unexpected
- You can’t fake relationships or build them from the corporate office
- You need to keep your promises with your employees and not compromise
Contact Sam Oches at [email protected]
