ISLAND GRILL, the Jamaica-based fast food chain, targets 100 new employees, including for positions to be created in a new store to be opened in Spanish Town, St Catherine, later this year.

Thalia Lyn, the CEO, founder and managing director of Island Grill, asserts that the company’s internal promotion policy attracts staff, a factor to be considered in an ongoing discussion of competition faced by the fast food sector from business process outsourcing entities for entry-level workers.

Island Grill has 16 stores in Jamaica and one at Grantley Adams International Airport in Barbados. The 100 vacancies presently in Jamaica are mainly for team members and shift supervisors, Lyn informed the Jamaica Observer.

She adds that of this figure, the company “needs approximately 40 new team members” for its Spanish Town store which is to open in December.

Island Grill is also planning two other store locations for the first quarter of 2023. These locations were not disclosed. Island Grill’s newest store is on King Street, Kingston. It was was opened during the midst of the novel coronavirus pandemic “because it was so far advanced we couldn’t stop; equipment was en route”, Lyn told the Business Observer. The King Street location was opened in April 2020.

Lyn said, “because we had closed UTech and Sangster International Airport, we didn’t hire many new people.”

Lyn told the Business Observer that Island Grill is a place where employees are upskilled and motivated with promotions offered.

She outlined, “At Island Grill we strive to be the employer of choice. We want to be ‘that place’ where our team members feel a part of something bigger. It’s ‘their place’, different from home, and different from school. A place where there’s always positive vibes, a place where you can be mentored, a place where an employee can find their purpose, and a place where you have your second family and can build lifelong friendships. An inclusive culture. A place where our employees can learn valuable skills while earning a salary.”

She pointed out that “most of our key positions are filled by employees who are promoted from within. New employees are made aware of the growth path during onboarding, and what steps are necessary to move up in the company”.

One business process outsourcing worker who has also worked in the fast food industry elaborated on why some Jamaicans in search of entry-level work might choose the BPO sector.

She told the Business Observer, “For starters, our audience is over the phone so that face-to-face connection is removed, which leaves no room for potential physical disputes or disrespect as we see happening in the fast food industry.

“The BPO workload is normally based on the need of the client so you might just be doing chat or taking calls which you get specific training for, whilst for the fast food you normally start at low level (which includes mopping floors and cleaning bathrooms), which is not something most young people want to do or to be seen doing. For jobs such as that, BPOs hire janitorial services. Fast food job you are on your feet all day — there are no stools or chairs — so if your shift is eight hours, you are on your feet for that eight hours.”

Disrespect

She also asserted, “While the industries are very different, the BPO offers you a better salary for a less heart-wrenching day’s work. Fast food customers can be really disrespectful — and you cannot walk away from your post or refuse to service them because of it. In the BPO, if a customer is being rude/disrespectful there are scripts that we will read and disconnect the call or end the chat, and keep it moving.”

The worker, however, has complained of imported managers in the BPO sector who frequently are the industry’s biggest pain point, monitoring even bathroom breaks and doling out frequent threats for numerous “infractions”.

Thalia Lyn states that for fast food, “as with any industry with a high level of entry-level positions, businesses will always be faced with competition —and Island Grill is no different”.

She commented, “The truth is, for many of our new hires this is their first-time job, a job that we know they are going to want to grow from, a job that we know they hope to learn from, so what we aim to do is create a learning environment. We do so by building a culture where our leaders understand that they grow when they help others grow.”

Lyn outlined, “Our restaurant and support managers have gone through a number of leadership development workshops prior to the pandemic. These workshops allow them to better communicate and problem-solve more collaboratively. Our restaurant leaders work alongside their team to ensure the goals are met; they are mandated to teach at least one new skill to an employee on each shift. Pre-shift pep talks give the team an opportunity to create positive vibes and celebrate successes when goals are achieved.

Other benefits

The CEO stated that other benefits that make Island Grill competitive include “our counselling services offered to our employees through the Family Life Ministries. This was a very timely venture as our employees who were affected psychologically by the pandemic were able to utilise the services free of cost. In addition to the usual lunch benefit, our employees are entitled to an additional snack upon clocking in for their shifts.”

Further, she added, “Our cooks and cashiers have the opportunity to be formally trained and certified by HEART. Our managers are partially reimbursed and provided [with] financial aid for supervisory courses. There is also a retirement plan, health insurance and life insurance that are available to our employees.

”We have found success in our strategies. There will always be competition but our returning employees tell us it’s because of our positive vibes and supportive, learning environment. They feel a part of the Island Grill family.”

The CEO cited two examples of staff who have come up through the ranks to hold senior management positions. One is Debbie Richards, who joined the Island Grill family in 2003, 21 years ago, and is now a restaurant manager.

Richards was shortly promoted to district manager then operations manager. Lyn commented, “She continued on her outstanding career path, going on to be the purchasing and cost control manager and on to project portfolio manager, in charge of opening new stores. She currently is straddling as commissary manager as we work to fill that post, especially since we have an aggressive growth plan in train.”

Another outstanding performer is Robin Thomas who joined Island Grill in 2012 as an administrative assistant, which was not a good fit for her, Lyn said. Thomas was transferred to accounts and tried different areas, finding her niche in cash management. She soon became the supervisor and was then promoted to cost control. In 2018 she successfully attained the position of assistant purchasing and cost control manager. She excelled during COVID-19 and became the manager in 2022, Lyn said.

Island Grill has 489 employees, of whom only 100 are males. Seventy nine per cent are females, occupying positions including managers of all 16 restaurants, 39 shift managers, and 38 kitchen supervisors.