It is likely that you have not heard of a restaurant giant such as Alsea, but it is even more unlikely that you have not eaten or had breakfast at least once in one of its successful franchises in our country: Starbucks, Domino’s Pizza, Burger King, VIPS, GINO’s, Fridays and Ole Mole.
And it is that Alsea’s gastronomic offer is so complete, and at the same time it is so culinary diversified, that it would be possible to have breakfast, lunch, snacks and dinner in its establishments without repeating the brand or menu, seven days a week.
This is one of the many reflections put on the table by Jose Luis Portelas (CEO Alsea Europa), Mar Romero (Head of people Alsea Europa) and Ignacio Castillo (Talent Director Alsea Europa), during the masterclass given at CIS University for the students and faculty.
In a company like this, installed in 12 countries and with approximately 75,000 workers and direct collaborators, being clear about its mission and value proposition is vital to continue operating and growing. In this way, Alsea managers do not conceive their company as a restaurant manager, but as a “creator of satisfying moments”. In other words:
“Our job it’s not about food, it’s about creating happy moments for our customers”
To do this, they align and use various material, technical, financial and gastronomic factors; but there is one, –the scarcest and most valuable component on earth,– that makes the difference: human talent.
Attracting and retaining talent, the “secret” formula for growth
For Jose Luis Portelas “growth is as vital as oxygen”, for this reason, we need to establish a series of values in all our human resources, which allow us to generate and participate in a vision shared by the organization, and which curiously coincides with the acronym from the company:
- A for Attitude to face the job.
- L for Leadership.
- S for Customer Service.
- E for Entrepreneurship and innovative spirit.
- A for Attention to detail.
From this point on, the challenge, as indicated by Mar Romero, consists of “Attracting and retaining the best talent in the market.” And how is this achieved? Accepting from the outset that human talent is a very scarce asset and that it must be rewarded through retention programs and value generation, such as flexibility in hours, compatibility with private life, goal setting and internal promotion protocols, and the pride of belonging to one of the most successful catering brands in the world.
Finally, we can say that, like its menus, Alsea’s masterclass was stimulating, intellectually nutritious, full of nuances, and left us all with a good aftertaste.
