Red Lobster 2004 Annual Report Download - page 10

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10
Inspiration
These days, few people are fortunate enough to find a company where
they can envision spending their entire career. Becki Giese says she’s
one of the lucky ones. In 1988, she started with the Olive Garden as
a server, quickly advancing to certified trainer, a position that helped
her pay her way through college. Upon graduation, Becki accepted a
position with Olive Garden as a restaurant manager, and over the past
16 years she has steadily risen through the ranks. Today, Becki is a
Houston-based director of operations, responsible for eight restau-
rants, and readily says, “I hope to retire with Olive Garden – I can’t
imagine finding a better place to work.”
Longevity is a hallmark of Olive Garden. For two decades it has been
America’s favorite family of Italian casual dining restaurants, and for
39 consecutive quarters it has posted same-restaurant sales growth
on a year-over-year basis, a remarkable feat in the competitive casual
dining segment. In fact, Olive Garden’s annual sales increased by
11.1 percent in fiscal 2004, with record total sales topping $2.2 bil-
lion, and record annual operating profit.
Becki฀Giese
Director฀of฀Operations
Olive฀Garden
“Hiring฀the฀right฀people฀in฀the฀
restaurant฀business฀can฀be฀tricky,฀
because฀it’s฀perceived฀as฀an฀easy฀
industry฀to฀get฀into.฀The฀fact฀is,฀
however,฀that฀you฀have฀to฀enjoy฀
working฀with฀the฀public฀and฀that’s฀
not฀for฀everyone.฀As฀someone฀
who฀makes฀hiring฀decisions,฀I฀
have฀had฀to฀sharpen฀my฀intuition฀
skills.฀One฀of฀the฀most฀helpful฀
tools฀has฀been฀Darden’s฀Diversity฀
Learning฀Experience.฀The฀course฀
goes฀beyond฀gender฀and฀ethnic฀
diversity฀to฀really฀teach฀you฀to฀
appreciate฀many฀different฀types฀of฀
personalities฀and฀to฀broaden฀your฀
thinking฀about฀the฀role฀they฀can฀
play฀in฀your฀restaurant฀operation.”
Leader ship฀Defined