| Bruegger’s Bagels A Case Study from the Max Impact Family |
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Putting a Hole in Turnover at Bruegger’s Bagels
Matt Riley, Director of Human Resources, believes in setting the example in using assessments. He reviews his own
use of Step One Survey II™ and Profile XT™.
Q. Why did Bruegger’s Bagels begin using Profiles assessments?
A. We wanted to be different from our competition and reverse turnover. Many in our industry believe high turnover
in the Quick Casual restaurant market is a part of doing business. But the financial burden of turning over our general
and assistant managers inhibited both our financial and team-building goals. Area managers and market directors found
they were spending a large amount of time recruiting for vacant positions as well as supporting each of the bakery
locations they managed by filling in for missing managers. Turnover also affected teams in every bakery and gave us
fewer opportunities to build consistency and teamwork. The turnover at management levels contributed to higher rates
of turnover in hourly positions. Higher turnover means less confidence in teamwork and consistency. This
inconsistency affects every aspect of our operation, from sandwich makers to regional trainers to our vice president
of operations.
Q. How did the company try to solve the problem before turning to Profiles?
A. We tried to hire candidates that were better suited to our concept. We also developed materials that we still utilize
today to assist hiring managers in the basic steps of recruiting and hiring. These materials work adequately for sharing
hiring skills and work very well when managers have the context of a specific candidate’s behaviors and match to a
position. We decided to look for assistance from external tools that could give us information about the candidates and
what our business and its culture demanded in the face of growth and organizational improvement. Bruegger’s had
worked briefly with Profiles in 2002. At the time, we did not have the capacity to integrate it into our business well, so
we set it aside until we could implement it with success.
Q. What assessments do you use?
A. We use the Step One Survey II and the ProfileXT. We use both of them for assistant and general managers. We use the PXT for candidates in our corporate offices.
We use the SOS II after we receive a candidate’s resume and have a brief phone conversation to establish his or her interest in the company and the positions for which we
are hiring. When we receive reports from the SOS II, we evaluate the candidate’s scores and if he meets our criteria for management positions, we conduct a follow-up
interview using the report’s interview questions. Based on the candidate's desires and answers, we send them the PXT.
Q. How smoothly has the process worked for you?
A. We had a good initial experience with Profiles, so it was our first choice. We looked at other concepts that focused primarily on data collection, but they were not as
reliable or valid as the SOS II or the PXT. We operate more than 150 bakeries in 14 markets, so we needed a solution that all of our markets would accept and that we
could point to as a standard of excellence to all of our managers.
Q. What were the attributes you found most attractive?
A. Support from the Partner and Client Service Executive, education about the product, training on the product and its applications, reliability, validity, consistency in the
quality of the interaction with all points of contact – all of which have been excellent with Profiles.
Q. What special training did you give managers?
A. Bruegger’s wrote a hiring process that we distributed to all hiring managers that established how we wanted to use the assessments and what our benchmarks are for job
matches. Each hiring manager called our internal Profiles trainer to review each candidate’s reports to become familiar with how to read the reports. This was essential to
having Bruegger’s culture embrace assessments as a positive tool for hiring and creating great teams as opposed to an elimination or exclusion tool. We call it “using the
information for good and not for evil.” We emphasized that there are no wrong answers or people, just people who are better suited to Bruegger’s. Hiring managers who
wanted to take the PXT were walked through their reports with our internal Profiles trainer.
Q. What results have you seen?
A. We have reduced management turnover in one year by nearly 10 percent. This is an estimated savings of $269,000. It's in our culture now to think about candidates in
every department with different criteria. We have seen better understanding and interaction between workers. Hiring managers have improved at interviewing because they
have more tools to use. Although they may have hired people for years, they may not have felt very confident in how they were interviewing and hiring.
Q. What are your plans for the future?
A. We want to continue to use these assessments and expand them to all of our corporate positions. We also want to re-evaluate our patterns and see how we can
encourage the growth of the company by making changes in our job patterns. The next step is to continue giving the PXT to current managers and corporate employees and
spend time with each of them on their individual results. This ties into Bruegger’s ability to create development plans for employees and help them succeed in their jobs.
Q. What advice would you give someone unfamiliar with assessments?
A. Establish why you want to use assessments. Learn about how they can work in a good trial that is well evaluated. When you decide to launch a program, be consistent
about the explanation of why you are using assessments. There can be a lot of uncertainty and fear about “tests.” Commit to seeing it through. This doesn’t work nearly as
well if it is not applied consistently. Create internal advocates for the use of assessments. Review your own use and continue learning about and improving your own
awareness of your patterns.
Contact us to learn how to duplicate this success story in your organization.
Matt Riley, Director of Human Resources, believes in setting the example in using assessments. He reviews his own
use of Step One Survey II™ and Profile XT™.
Q. Why did Bruegger’s Bagels begin using Profiles assessments?
A. We wanted to be different from our competition and reverse turnover. Many in our industry believe high turnover
in the Quick Casual restaurant market is a part of doing business. But the financial burden of turning over our general
and assistant managers inhibited both our financial and team-building goals. Area managers and market directors found
they were spending a large amount of time recruiting for vacant positions as well as supporting each of the bakery
locations they managed by filling in for missing managers. Turnover also affected teams in every bakery and gave us
fewer opportunities to build consistency and teamwork. The turnover at management levels contributed to higher rates
of turnover in hourly positions. Higher turnover means less confidence in teamwork and consistency. This
inconsistency affects every aspect of our operation, from sandwich makers to regional trainers to our vice president
of operations.
Q. How did the company try to solve the problem before turning to Profiles?
A. We tried to hire candidates that were better suited to our concept. We also developed materials that we still utilize
today to assist hiring managers in the basic steps of recruiting and hiring. These materials work adequately for sharing
hiring skills and work very well when managers have the context of a specific candidate’s behaviors and match to a
position. We decided to look for assistance from external tools that could give us information about the candidates and
what our business and its culture demanded in the face of growth and organizational improvement. Bruegger’s had
worked briefly with Profiles in 2002. At the time, we did not have the capacity to integrate it into our business well, so
we set it aside until we could implement it with success.
Q. What assessments do you use?
A. We use the Step One Survey II and the ProfileXT. We use both of them for assistant and general managers. We use the PXT for candidates in our corporate offices.
We use the SOS II after we receive a candidate’s resume and have a brief phone conversation to establish his or her interest in the company and the positions for which we
are hiring. When we receive reports from the SOS II, we evaluate the candidate’s scores and if he meets our criteria for management positions, we conduct a follow-up
interview using the report’s interview questions. Based on the candidate's desires and answers, we send them the PXT.
Q. How smoothly has the process worked for you?
A. We had a good initial experience with Profiles, so it was our first choice. We looked at other concepts that focused primarily on data collection, but they were not as
reliable or valid as the SOS II or the PXT. We operate more than 150 bakeries in 14 markets, so we needed a solution that all of our markets would accept and that we
could point to as a standard of excellence to all of our managers.
Q. What were the attributes you found most attractive?
A. Support from the Partner and Client Service Executive, education about the product, training on the product and its applications, reliability, validity, consistency in the
quality of the interaction with all points of contact – all of which have been excellent with Profiles.
Q. What special training did you give managers?
A. Bruegger’s wrote a hiring process that we distributed to all hiring managers that established how we wanted to use the assessments and what our benchmarks are for job
matches. Each hiring manager called our internal Profiles trainer to review each candidate’s reports to become familiar with how to read the reports. This was essential to
having Bruegger’s culture embrace assessments as a positive tool for hiring and creating great teams as opposed to an elimination or exclusion tool. We call it “using the
information for good and not for evil.” We emphasized that there are no wrong answers or people, just people who are better suited to Bruegger’s. Hiring managers who
wanted to take the PXT were walked through their reports with our internal Profiles trainer.
Q. What results have you seen?
A. We have reduced management turnover in one year by nearly 10 percent. This is an estimated savings of $269,000. It's in our culture now to think about candidates in
every department with different criteria. We have seen better understanding and interaction between workers. Hiring managers have improved at interviewing because they
have more tools to use. Although they may have hired people for years, they may not have felt very confident in how they were interviewing and hiring.
Q. What are your plans for the future?
A. We want to continue to use these assessments and expand them to all of our corporate positions. We also want to re-evaluate our patterns and see how we can
encourage the growth of the company by making changes in our job patterns. The next step is to continue giving the PXT to current managers and corporate employees and
spend time with each of them on their individual results. This ties into Bruegger’s ability to create development plans for employees and help them succeed in their jobs.
Q. What advice would you give someone unfamiliar with assessments?
A. Establish why you want to use assessments. Learn about how they can work in a good trial that is well evaluated. When you decide to launch a program, be consistent
about the explanation of why you are using assessments. There can be a lot of uncertainty and fear about “tests.” Commit to seeing it through. This doesn’t work nearly as
well if it is not applied consistently. Create internal advocates for the use of assessments. Review your own use and continue learning about and improving your own
awareness of your patterns.
Contact us to learn how to duplicate this success story in your organization.
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