Contact Lou Kaucic by email (lakaucic@applebees.com), or learn more about Applebee's on the Web (www.applebees.com).
When you're a top executive at a fast-growing company like Applebee's, it's easy to lose touch with what really matters: your product, your staff, and your customers. And that's why the company has developed several techniques to keep its feet on the ground.
One such technique is the Appleseed Initiative. The company has designated two restaurants in the Kansas City area policy-testing laboratories. "Conventional ways of doing things don't necessarily work anymore," says Lou Kaucic, senior VP of human resources, who oversees the initiative. "Appleseed helps me understand what works and what doesn't." Employees from the two Appleseed restaurants periodically meet with Kaucic to give him feedback and to brainstorm ideas.
Meanwhile, about once a year, all 300 people in the corporate office work a shift at an Applebee's in the Kansas City area. Last year, CEO Lloyd Hill worked as a busboy. What did he learn? "The water is hot; your hands get dry; and if you don't hold onto the sink's spray hose when you're washing dishes, it will flop all over the place when you turn on the water."
Hill came away with another insight: "I learned that every person on our team is very important. If we don't have great dishwashers, then we can't serve you your meal -- and then having the best food, the lowest prices, and the friendliest staff means nothing."
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