Chipotle’s problems are far from over. The restaurant chain’s founder admitted this week that half of the Chipotle restaurants in the U.S. aren’t meeting service standards.
This is likely due, at least in part, to the E. coli and norovirus outbreaks at Chipotle restaurants earlier this year. The company has been so focused on improving its health standards that the focus on service has sort of faded.
In addition, all of those food safety updates have meant more changes for employees. According to the Wall Street Journal, Chipotle implemented 80 operational changes for employees in 2016. And in typical years, employees only have to deal with around eight.
Of course, food safety is a very important focus for restaurants like Chipotle. But when you have incidents like the one Chipotle experienced, it can have a ripple effect.
Workload Balance is Key to Success When Change is Frequent
Unless you’re willing to invest in a larger team or systems to help them do more, there’s only so much you can expect of your team. So when you decide to shift focus or implement changes that might overwhelm employees, you should be ready for service or another area to fall back a bit. Or you might just have to make an investment to help your team do more.
Chipotle Mexican Grill Photo Via Shutterstock
