Shake Shack CEO Rob Lynch often visits his restaurants without announcing himself or his position.
Instead, he’ll have a seat, grab a meal and observe what’s going on around him, Lynch told CNBC in an interview for an episode of “Leaders Playbook,” a series set to premiere on Wednesday. He wants to see both a generally welcoming environment, and a team of employees that are energized by their work, he said.
“If I’m really lucky, I get to sit there and see a [general manager] interviewing a prospective team member,” said Lynch. “They’re not asking them, ‘Have you ever made custard shakes before?’ or ‘Have you ever sliced tomatoes?’ They’re asking them about what motivates them. What do they love to do for fun? How do they interact with people?”
Lynch, who was the CEO of Papa John’s prior to joining the global burger and milkshake chain, and his general managers want to hire employees who “light up when they’re taking care of others,” he added.
Similarly, Shake Shack founder Danny Meyer looks for employees with six specific emotional skills, he told “Leaders Playbook”: integrity, optimism, intellectual curiosity, work ethic, empathy and self-awareness.
Of course, it’s difficult to be motivated and happy at work when you don’t feel supported — something that Meyer said was clear to him when he opened his first restaurant in 1985. He observed that companies that “put their investors first, theoretically didn’t put their own teammates first, and it didn’t always work out so well.”
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When Lynch took Shake Shack’s helm in May 2024, Meyer tasked him with advancing the company’s “enlightened hospitality” philosophy, which holds that prioritizing employees first can help drive business growth.
“When you have happier employees, you get happier guests, then you get more revenue,” Meyer said. “When you have more revenue, you can actually invest in your community. And the community is like a rising tide that lifts all boats.”
Some research supports Shake Shack’s employee-focused approach. Sixty-five percent of employees say they’d work harder if they felt valued and recognized by their managers, according to a 2022 survey of 2,000 U.S. workers by OnePoll, on behalf of Bonusly. And 46% said they’ve left a job because they didn’t feel appreciated.
Other business leaders, like real estate mogul Barbara Corcoran and ex-WD-40 CEO Garry Ridge, have also spoken about the benefits of putting their team members first. Corcoran’s “cardinal leadership rule” is that the best bosses actually work for their employees, she said in a TikTok video posted on March 7.
“That’s [been] my attitude my entire life. What can I do for you? How can I make your job easier? What do you like to do? What would you rather do?” said Corcoran.
Continuing to hire enthusiastic employees who have great people skills and love the work they do, and putting those employees first, is part of Shake Shack’s recently announced plan to expand to 1,500 locations, Lynch said. The expansion would almost triple Shake Shack’s current restaurant count: It has more than 655 locations globally, according to a Monday press release.
The company’s expansion plan is “a big, bold statement,” Lynch said. “[But] big isn’t bad. Big does not mean that we can’t be all the special things that we’ve been for the last 20 years … We can’t lose that, because if we do, we become just another burger place on the road.”
Note: This story has been updated to reflect a recent tally of Shake Shack’s global locations, according to the company.
Watch Shake Shack founder Danny Meyer and CEO Rob Lynch on CNBC’s “Leaders Playbook” premiering Wednesday, Jan. 7 at 10:30 p.m. ET/PT. All new episodes Wednesdays.
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