Overview

Headquartered in Chicago, Illinois, Lettuce Entertain You Restaurants (LEYE) is a fast-growing, family-owned, independent restaurant group that owns, manages, and licenses more than 60 brands and 130 restaurants, and employs more than 7,000 people across 12 states. From fast casual to Michelin-starred fine dining, the restaurant group has experimented with different cuisines and locations to best serve its guests. For more than 50 years, Lettuce Entertain You has developed and honed its “culture of caring” ethos to create restaurants and workplaces that allow employees to bring their full selves to work and grow with the company.

Supernova Award Category

Future of Work: Employee Experience

The Problem

With more than 7,000 employees across state lines — many of whom are deskless, working at different concept dining experiences, and are on their feet — Lettuce Entertain You leaders recognize that communication and transparency are key to fostering a great workplace culture, but it was difficult to execute when employees are focused on delivering exceptional dining experiences for guests. Leaders wanted to create a culture where employees feel like they are part of something bigger than themselves and they needed a trusted partner to enhance communication while building a sense of belonging. The company also recognized that in addition to choosing the right software partner that guides customers with best practices, the chosen solution would need to allow employees to receive important information in real time while also making it easy for them to engage with managers and one another to foster a collaborative culture.

The Solution

At the onset, Lettuce Entertain You leaders had specific criteria for a successful project: the much-needed solution needed to be mobile-first for its frontline workforce; had to integrate with the current HCM suite to simplify communications around big moments such as open enrollment; and above all, the solution provider had to be a partner that could empower the hospitality group to deliver great workplace experiences. Leaders already relied on UKG for best workplace experience practices, so turning to UKG Talk was the right decision. UKG Talk is a mobile-first engagement platform designed specifically to encourage collaboration amongst frontline workers and serve as a communications hub for important announcements, such as open enrollment reminders or messages specific to their location or role, helping build a sense of community and giving employees a voice.

The results

UKG Talk focuses on peer-to-peer communication, and also gives Lettuce Entertain You a business-critical communications platform, so corporate leaders can communicate directly with management teams to share important information, such as weather contingencies, daily specials, menu updates, and wine list changes. By putting information directly at frontline employees’ fingertips in an engaging way, they can create a better experience for guests.

The UKG Talk solution, coupled with the AI-powered UKG Pro suite, empowers Lettuce Entertain You employees to own their roles, so they can grow and thrive in their careers with the restaurant group. The solution also streamlines employees’ flow of work, since they’re not toggling back and forth between different systems to check their schedules, restaurant updates, or paychecks. “UKG Talk is a key driver of our culture and a vital component of our technology infrastructure to help us become a great place to work,” said Ethan Samson, executive vice president and deputy general counsel at Lettuce Entertain You.

Metrics

As a 52-year-old, family-owned company, LEYE envisioned a dramatic improvement to corporate communications and the company culture, and credit UKG Talk with bringing this vision to reality. Adam Rochman, partner & vice president at LEYE< said he was poised for a challenging implementation when adding UKG Talk to the UKG Pro suite, but saw a relatively light lift. With a fast implementation timeframe, LEYE employees quickly began sharing personal contact information and connecting with one another to build on the comfortable and safe workplace culture.

By implementing UKG Talk,7,000 employees across 12 states are now connected more than ever, both to managers and one another. As a result, they're hearing directly from leaders about restaurant changes, benefit and health information, and getting nudges in real time. More importantly, employees are making connections with one another, fostering a collaborative culture that empowers everyone to work in concert to deliver a fantastic dining experience.

As the employee experience continues to be top-of-mind for Lettuce Entertain You leaders, UKG Talk is the cornerstone piece driving the communication strategy forward.

The Technology

UKG Talk is a mobile-first solution that seamlessly fits into the flow of work to help organizations reach employees, boost productivity, and create a more inclusive community by giving employees a voice. The solution provides:

• A single source of truth for frontline employees;
• An environment where people feel valued and inspired to do their best work; and
• An understanding of communication trends, so leaders can act if their collateral doesn’t resonate with teams.

Disruptive Factor

In an industry that often faces unpredictability, high turnover, or burnout, it’s crucial that hospitality and food service providers empower employees to perform at their full potential to delight guests and grow the business. To meet these goals, Lettuce Entertain You knew that UKG was the right partner to work with due to UKG’s deep hospitality expertise, and how UKG Talk gives employees the autonomy they crave while helping managers and leaders future-proof the business. By doing so, Lettuce Entertain You sets itself apart from other hospitality companies — across state lines — to help oncoming employees grow in their careers and inspire them to do great work. Disrupting the status quo of unpredictability and burnout gives Lettuce Entertain You the competitive advantage that hospitality companies are after.

Shining Moment

As a leading hospitality group, Lettuce Entertain You knows that technology plays an important role in creating a great workplace culture and was one of the very first customers to adopt UKG Talk to better engage and empower its employees. With UKG Talk, the company has the infrastructure in place that will allow them to create internal communication plans that keep employees excited and allow them to deliver the unmatched service customers know and expect.