Buffalo Wild Wings General Manager Boosts Morale & Cuts Turnover by More than 50%!

Buffalo Wild Wings general manager uses a proven management strategy to boost morale, get employees excited about their work, and help them earn more money… all while cutting employee turnover by more than 50% in the process.

When Ray Ingram, General Manager of Buffalo Wild Wing in Columbia, SC, took over the resturant a year ago, he inherited a problem… a whopping 240% employee turnover. In just a year, he was able to cut that percentage by more than half, a trend he’s sure to see continue.

To put that into perspective, we ran those numbers through our employee turnover calculator to estimate just how much money Ray is saving his restaurant this year.

Let’s say you have 100 employees. Each year, you have 240% turnover. When those employees leave for whatever reason, you have to train new employees to fill the open positions. If it takes 2 weeks to train each new employee, at 40 hours per week, on a $8 hourly salary for the new employee, and a $15 hourly salary for the trainer, you’re looking at nearly $170,000 per year! And that doesn’t even include recruiting!

Cut that in half, and you’re saving roughly $85,000/year. Think of what that could do for your restaurant’s bottom line, or any business for that matter. For a lot of general managers and business leaders, that can be the difference between hitting a bonus… and missing it.

“Obviously, if you have less turnover, you have team members who enjoy what they’re doing. They feel appreciative. Management is recognizing them. They’re making good money. And, like you said, it’s less training. So just having that lower turnover helps boost the morale.” ~ Ray Ingram, GM Buffalo Wild Wings, Columbia, SC

The key to Ray’s success? He says his efforts in employee appreciation and recognition are boosting employee morale, and that leads to lower turnover. He’s grateful to the team at MyEmployees for providing the support system and the awards to make all that happen.

When our Engagement Coach, Nick Capps, recently caught up with Ray on the phone, here’s what he had to say:

That’s an incredible story, Ray! We’re so happy to help you recognize your BOH & FOH Blazin’ Team Members of the Month!

Check out the full transcript from Ray’s call

“Since we started this program a year ago, it has been very beneficial. It’s really helped with my turnover, so I would love to do it again.

“When I started, I took over here around the time we started this program last year. And my turnover was 240%; I inherited THAT. Now, my turnover is at a 115%. So, just the recognition of that… letting the staff feel, ya know, making them feel like that we’re grateful, and letting them know we appreciate them… presenting them with an award they can take home… it has really boosted the morale here, man, it really has.

“Obviously, if you have less turnover, you have team members who enjoy what they’re doing. They feel appreciative. Management is recognizing them. They’re making good money. And, like you said, it’s less training. So just having that lower turnover helps boost the morale.

“The staff likes each other.. having standards and morals here; that’s another big one as well. But just from that, man, its more pleasant, more friendly. People are excited to come to work because they know they feel appreciated.

“It did great work for us, man, it benefited us tremendously. It changed the culture here. For that I just want to tell y’all “THANK YOU!” You know, for your commitment. Thank you for you guys always being prompt even when I’m slack and take forever to get back to you guys with the names, because I know I wasn’t the best on that. But you guys were still diligent, still were committed to follow through and for that I’m forever grateful.

“I really appreciate you guys.”

What’s your story?

We love hearing how employee recognition is coming to life in your business and seeing pics from client presentations. It gives us a chance to share in the celebration!