Business View Magazine | November 2019

84 BUSINESS VIEW MAGAZINE NOVEMBER 2019 become “an employer of choice.” Simpson explains the company’s comprehensive recruitment strategy: “At Taziki’s, people come for a job and we invite them to stay for a career. We have dozens of examples where people started from the bottom and today, they’re not only managers, but owners. So, in the Taziki’s model, there’s an opportunity to become an actual owner of a store.” The other part of Taziki’s recruitment strategy centers around people in the community that are sometimes on the fringes. The company hires special-needs youth in their restaurants where they grow the herbs Taziki’s uses in their dishes via the HOPE (Herbs Offering Personal Enrichment) Project that Richards started. That continues to be a major initiative of Taziki’s. Through HOPE, Taziki’s also provides jobs for these young people to work in Taziki’s restaurants. “Also, we stand with, and are proud to have, first generation Americans; Spanish speaking staff are a big part of our family culture. And we’re leaning into offering more jobs to refugees, immigrants, with our own franchisees. So, we’ve intentionally slowed down a little bit so we could focus internally and help our own family of local owners grow. We have recognized that, from the beginning, part of the magic of Taziki’s is that it is very much a community café, with a local operator/owner living in the community. That’s key for Taziki’s to thrive. So, I’ve met with all of our franchisee partners around the country – there are a little over 30 of them - and asked them what their dream was, what their obstacles are, and how can I help them achieve the number of units in their community they wanted to launch. “Then it was, ‘let’s look at our talent and build an executive team at the corporate level that could support this growth and vision to become best in class.’ So, we’ve added new members to our executive team.” The company hired a new VP of Operations, and a new VP of Marketing and Growth. Additionally, Taziki’s restaurant support team added a new Director of Training, a new Director of Field Marketing, a new Digital Coordinator, and a full-time Recruitment Specialist in order to 501 High Street, Loudon, TN 37774 865-485-2797 chairs • bar stools • tables • booths Jack Lefler, President JLefler@charter.net