Food & Beverage
Burgerpreneur
How Lee Sanders builds Johnny Rockets one employee at a time
By Brooke Bates
Smart Business | June 2009
Page 1 of 5
Lee Sanders walks into a Johnny Rockets, past the neon signs and stainless steel fixtures, and slides into a red vinyl chair. He orders his typical tuna salad, half orders of onion rings and french fries, and a vanilla malt.
The CEO of The Johnny Rockets Group Inc. eats at his restaurant about twice a week. But this time, he’s in Istanbul. And next week, he could visit Taiwan, Kuwait or Germany, or even the flagship ’50s-style diner in Hollywood.
Sanders’ challenge is making sure the experience is consistent regardless of which of his 250-plus locations he visits. Since its inception in 1986, the chain has sprawled across 11 countries and picked up 3,000 employees.
The first step to a consistent experience is securing energetic employees that sync with the Rockets philosophy. Sanders reins in their passion with cultural guidelines to maintain consistency. He makes those expectations and policies clear and holds employees to them, only opening the avenue to fun if they’re getting their jobs done.
“As the boss, it’s your job to make sure you have the right people, that they understand what their assignments are, and that you pave the way or empower them to do their jobs correctly,” he says.
Sanders keeps employees on track by looking beyond the big-picture metrics and talking to individuals. And when they need correction, he customizes his management style for his managers.
“My job is to get work done, make it as enjoyable for them as is possible and get the shareholders return,” Sanders says. “And assuming all those things can come into juxtaposition, we can have a happy shareholder, happy workers and happy guests in the stores.”
