El Pollo Loco 2016 Annual Report Download - page 11

Weareselectiveinourhiringprocesses,aimingtostaffourrestaurantswithteammemberswhoarefriendly,customer-focused,anddriventoprovidehigh-quality
products.Ourteammembersarecross-trainedinseveraldisciplinestomaximizedepthofcompetencyandefficiencyincriticalrestaurantfunctions.Ourfocuson
hiringthebestpossibleemployeeshasenabledustodevelopaculturethatbreedsloyaltythroughoutouremployeebase.Manyteammembersandmanagershave
beenemployedbyusforlongerthan15years,anditisnotraretoidentifyteammemberswithmorethan20yearsofseniority.
Training
Webelievethatwehavecreatedacultureofconstantlearning.Onthefirstdayofemployment,teammembersareintroducedtoourbrandwithacomprehensive
trainingprogramdevelopedtoleadteammembersthroughthetrainingprocessineasytouse,function-based,educationalcardmodules.In2016,weplanto
introducevideotrainingande-learningwithanewLearningManagementSystem.
ThevastmajorityofourrestaurantmanagementstaffiscomprisedofformerteammemberswhohaveadvancedalongtheElPolloLocofive-tiercareerpath.
Skilledteammemberswhodisplayleadershipqualitiesareencouragedtoentertheteamleadertrainingprogram.Successivestepsalongthemanagementpathadd
increasinglevelsofdutyandresponsibility.Eachstageinthemanagementpathrequiresincreasedtrainingperiods,culminatinginthegeneralmanagertraining
process,whichiscomprisedofsevenweeksofintensiveclassroomandhands-ontraininginacertifiedtrainingrestaurant.
Grill Masters
Ourreputationisbuiltonoursignatureproduct—fired-grilledchickenmarinatedincitrusandgarlic—whichisgrilledandhand-cuttoorderbyourGrillMasters.
Accordingly,westaffeachofourrestaurantswiththreetofourhighly-trainedGrillMasterswhoshareourcommitmenttohigh-qualityfood.WeprovideeachGrill
Masterwithintensivegrillingtraining,andplacetheminouropenkitchens,whereourcustomerscanwatchthemcreateoursignatureproducts.
Franchise Program
Overview
Weuseafranchisingstrategytoincreasenewrestaurantgrowthincertainmarkets,leveragingtheownershipofentrepreneurswithspecificlocalmarketexpertise,
andrequiringarelativelyminimalcapitalcommitmentbyus.AsofDecember30,2015,therewereatotalof247franchisedrestaurants.Franchiseesrangeinsize
fromsingle-restaurantoperatorstothelargestfranchisee,whichowned63restaurantsasofDecember30,2015.Ourexistingfranchisebaseconsistsofmany
successful,longstanding,multi-unitrestaurantoperators.AsofDecember30,2015,approximately72%offranchisedrestaurantswereownedandoperatedby
franchiseesthathadbeenwithusforover20years..
Webelievethatthefranchiserevenuegeneratedfromourfranchisebasehashistoricallyservedasanimportantsourceofstableandrecurringcashflowstous,and
weaccordinglyplantoexpandourbaseoffranchisedrestaurants.Inexistingmarkets,weencouragegrowthfromcurrentfranchisees.Inourexpansionmarkets,we
seekhighly-qualifiedandexperiencednewfranchiseesformulti-unitdevelopmentopportunities.Weseekfranchiseesofsuccessful,non-competitivebrands
operatinginourexpansionmarkets.Throughstrategicnetworkingandparticipationinselectfranchiseconferences,weaimtoidentifyhighly-qualifiedprospects.
Additionally,wemarketourfranchiseopportunitieswithprintedbrochuresandawebsitefranchisingsection.
Franchise Owner Support
Webelievethatcreatingafoundationofinitialandon-goingsupportisimportantforfuturesuccess,bothforourfranchiseesandforourbrand.Therefore,wehave
structuredourcorporatestaff,programs,andcommunicationsystemstoensurethatwearedeliveringhigh-qualitysupporttoourfranchisees.
Wehaveamandatorytrainingprogramthatwasdesignedtoensurethatourfranchiseownersandtheirmanagersareequippedwiththeknowledgeandskills
necessaryforsuccess.Theprogramconsistsofhands-ontrainingintheoperationandmanagementofanElPolloLocorestaurant.Trainingisconductedbya
generaltrainingmanagerwhohasbeencertifiedbyusfortraining.Instructionalmaterialsfortheinitialtrainingprogramincludeouroperationsmanual,theSPECS
crew-trainingsystem,wallcharts,jobaids,recipebooks,productbuildcards,managementtrainingmaterials,aServSafefoodsafetybook,videos,andother
materialsthatwemaycreatefromtimetotime.Trainingmustbesuccessfullycompletedbeforeatraineecanbeassignedtoarestaurantasamanager.
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