Red Lobster 2004 Annual Report Download - page 12

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1212
Leader ship฀Defined
Understanding. Patient. Knowledgeable. Upbeat. These are the words
Amie Agee uses to describe a leader. And when describing Amie
herself, we would add –  Since joining Smokey Bones three years
ago, she has advanced quickly from a restaurant greeter to a five-star
trainer who has helped open 19 restaurants. In her training role, Amie
is responsible for teaching new teammates everything from the details
of the Smokey Bones menu to how Smokey Bones approaches treat-
ing every guest the right way every time. It’s a huge assignment and
one that is vital to Smokey Bones’ growth.
Since debuting in 1999, Darden’s barbeque and sports-based concept
has enjoyed rapid expansion, opening 69 restaurants in 18 states as of
the end of fiscal 2004, and racking up sales of $174 million. Over the
next 12 months, the Company anticipates opening another 30 to 40
Smokey Bones restaurants. That translates into a constant need to
attract, train, and retain great new teammates.
Amie says that one of the best tools in her arsenal is the Smokey Bones
Fan Survey, the restaurant‘s mystery guest assessment program. She
urges her trainees to approach every situation with a goal of attaining
100 percent on the survey. Along with a host of incentive programs,
it’s not only a great motivational tool, but also what Amie describes
as an “open-book test.”
Given its growth to date – Smokey Bones has nearly doubled its number
of restaurants every year – we believe Smokey Bones has the potential
to one day become as large as Darden’s pioneering Red Lobster and
Olive Garden concepts, serving as one of the Company’s major growth
vehicles for years to come.
Motivation
Amie฀Agee
Server฀and฀Five-Star฀Trainer
Smokey฀Bones฀Barbeque฀&฀Grill
Amie฀Agee฀has฀spent฀practically฀
her฀entire฀life฀in฀the฀restaurant฀
business.฀Her฀mother฀manages฀฀
a฀quick-service฀restaurant฀and฀
Amie฀herself฀began฀working฀in฀
the฀industry฀at฀age฀15.฀She฀feels฀
fortunate฀to฀be฀with฀Darden.฀“The฀
best฀thing฀about฀working฀at฀
Smokey฀Bones฀is฀they฀give฀you฀฀
a฀chance.฀Management฀is฀very฀
open฀with฀everybody฀and฀goes฀
out฀of฀their฀way฀to฀let฀the฀entire฀
team฀know฀what’s฀happening฀in฀
the฀company฀and฀in฀your฀own฀
restaurant฀all฀the฀time.฀They฀treat฀
you฀as฀an฀equal฀and฀that฀is฀very฀
comforting,฀very฀rewarding.”