Church’s Texas Chicken is making sure their employees are happy in their work to reach a goal of $2 billion in sales.
Employees of Church’s Texas Chicken are happy overall with their experience with the brand, according to an internal culture and engagement survey. CEO Joe Guith, who joined the company in August, wanted staff input when he took over to get a feel for the already-established brand culture.
“Contrary to what most people would do, I asked for feedback and engagement,” said Guith. “Which is a little unusual at the time with this level of change, and I fully expected this to be a pretty tough review.”
With the help of Karen Viera, global chief people officer, the team sent out a survey to get an idea of how employees felt across the company.
Church’s is proud of their Texan heritage, and it’s on display with their food.
“We had an 80 percent participation, which is kind of unheard of,” said Viera. “We’re leaning into simplicity and innovation, and I feel the best about the bright spots in our survey.”
Over the last few months, Church’s Texas Chicken has revamped its executive team to bring fresh ideas to the brand while maintaining the culture and environment.
In addition to Guith, new hires include Chief Operations Officer Roland Gonzales, Executive Vice President and Head of International Business Tim Waddell, Global Chief Marketing Officer Natalia Franco and Chief Financial Officer Danton Nolan.
“What’s exciting is that all these people have amazing experience and now we’re just pulling it together,” said Guith. “I think that’s creating some great momentum.”
Church’s is a fried chicken concept founded in 1952, now with 807 locations in the United States and more than 1,500 globally. Its way of standing out in the plethora of chicken franchises such as Chick-fil-A is to emphasize its Texas roots, offering large portions and embracing state favorites.
While the brand has thus far had a long life and a “deep and dedicated following,” said Guith, things needed to change. There was a sense of complacency, not an urgency to grow or set business goals to meet. This also included investing in remodels, technology upgrades and updating operations.
“I think it’s really about elevating our sights into what this brand can be,” said Guith.
Church’s will be changing things up to reach their goals while keeping the brand and people in mind.
Knowing the employees were confident in leadership and comfortable with the changes, the new executive team got to work. The team has been visiting restaurants to get a feel for the average day, what works and what needs to change while engaging with the employees.
“The early read on virtually anything is very positive,” said Guith. “That said, there will be very little if anything that will go untouched.”
The long-term goal for Church’s new executive team is to reach $2 billion in systmewide sales. Total sales in 2021 were $1.3 billion, according to the Franchise Times Top 500.
Since the restaurants are getting a refresh, the first steps are already underway. Menu innovation unique to Church’s is in the works, with digital and operational updates to follow. Renovations will take the longest, but plans are being set for current and future location prototypes.
“We’re focusing on unit-level profitability,” said Guith. “We’re improving the return on investment for our franchisees to reach our goal.”