A View From The Top

How Pollo Campero's focus on 'REIR' translates to lower turnover

Pollo Campero Chief Operating Officer and Managing Director LJ Rodas explains why its employee turnover rate is 40% lower than the industry standard.

Photo: Pollo Campero

June 5, 2024

As a global franchise with 100 restaurants in the U.S. alone, Pollo Campero has always differentiated itself with its amazing, flavorful and fresh fried and grilled chicken meals. But for our guests, the Pollo Campero experience is about more than just the food. Those who visit our restaurants enjoy friendly service and a welcoming atmosphere created by team members who feel proud of the work they're doing with us and fully supported as they work to embrace the Pollo Campero mission.

Everything we do in the Pollo Campero system revolves around REIR. In Spanish, reír means "to laugh" or "to smile," but for us, it also represents the Respect, Excellence, Integrity and Responsibility that team members on all levels bring to work with them each day.

We insist on these values, and that's because, when they're followed, they ensure that there is an unmatched level of connection and support throughout the Pollo Campero network. Everyone in the Pollo Campero system stays closely connected, and this allows us to provide a welcoming, family-style experience to our guests. Each person who enters a Pollo Campero restaurant is taken care of by team members with a laugh or a smile.

Most prominently, REIR penetrates our training and support systems, and it's manifested in our Pollo Campero Service Days.

From their first day with the system, our franchisees are thoroughly trained and consistently supported. We're a very person-first company, and we work diligently to consistently exceed the standards of a typical franchisee-franchisor relationship.

Everyone is on the same ship, and at the end of the day, it is our shared mission to create a guest experience that's great, regardless of whether they're visiting a corporate or a franchised location. Achieving this requires strong communication and connection on the personnel side.

Our recently launched Service Days support this effort, allowing team members from all levels to converge for a day of work in a given restaurant, connecting with and better understanding the experiences of those who work in the restaurants every day. Service Days are mandatory for all corporate employees and require more collaboration than completing a shift of daily tasks and going home. At the end of their Service Days, corporate team members meet with unit-level employees to discuss how things went and share additional feedback.

Presence at the restaurant level enhances the feeling of a shared identity throughout the organization, builds more rapport between teams and provides a better understanding of the business through firsthand experience. Still, there are also clear impacts on both our guests and employees.

Throughout all of these efforts, our goal is to allow everyone throughout the system to be seen and appreciated. By working side by side and connecting on a deeper level, team members can understand how their roles and responsibilities impact other people in the system and build a greater appreciation for the meaningful contributions of other teams.

Team members throughout the system play a crucial role in this positive response, and Pollo Campero has succeeded in recruiting, supporting and retaining staff members who are passionate about our shared mission. With an employee turnover rate that is about 40% lower than the QSR industry standard, we are able to develop our people and build more brand equity internally, which translates to a more impactful experience for our guests.

Following the launch of Service Days and our larger Passion for Service culture, multiple performance metrics saw improvements. For example, our customer experience score increased by six percentage points, our mystery shopper score increased by two percentage points and our overall satisfaction score increased by three percentage points.

When we're secure in the fact that the entire system is embracing REIR, we know that everyone is treating one another like family, working together toward the shared goal and protecting the brand image, local teams and guest experience.