3 takeaways from In-N-Out Burger's work culture - SmartBrief

All Articles Leadership Management 3 takeaways from In-N-Out Burger's work culture

3 takeaways from In-N-Out Burger’s work culture

Besides making a tasty burger, In-N-Out Burger’s work culture can serve up some satisfying lessons for leaders, says S. Chris Edmonds.

2 min read

By S. Chris Edmonds 03/26/24

LeadershipManagement

In-N-Out Burger’s

Tada Images/Adobe Stock

Video transcript:

In-N-Out Burger’s employees are some of the happiest on the planet. Employees rated In-N-Out’s work culture as an A+ on Comparably.com.

This privately-held fast food chain has over 10,000 employees with over 400 restaurants in eight Western states. Employees are overwhelmingly positive about their work experience. Respondents gave A or A+ ratings to In-N-Out’s:

  • CEO
  • Gender Treatment
  • Happiness
  • Future Outlook
  • Perks and Benefits
  • Compensation
  • Executive Team
  • Manager
  • Retention

The remaining two categories in Comparably’s culture survey — Diversity and Professional Development — were rated B+, which is excellent.

  • What’s it like to work at In-N-Out Burger?
  • 88% of employees look forward to interacting with their team every day
  • Employees most often take 15-20 paid vacation and sick days a year
  • 40% of employees are happy with their work-life balance
  • Employees typically get valuable feedback on how to improve at work once a quarter
  • 81% of employees call their work environment positive

These employee ratings are the reason Comparably awarded In-N-Out Burger the Best Company Culture in 2023.

Your company may not have stellar employee ratings like In-N-Out does. Here are three takeaways from In-N-Out’s culture that you might use to improve the quality of your company’s work culture in the coming months.

Values. The company’s values — including integrity, honesty and respect — are emphasized through hiring, training and management every day. Experiencing respect from managers and peers builds employee confidence, competence and engagement.

Managers. In-N-Out managers do a terrific job of driving quality and production, validating teams and team members and celebrating contributions from every employee. And they do all these things while modeling the company’s core values in daily interactions. Great managers are In-N-Out’s “secret sauce.”

Validation. Cooperation and collaboration are hallmarks of In-N-Out’s fast-paced working environment. Compensation, perks and benefits are certainly important to employees, but the daily validation communicated by managers and peers drives teamwork and happiness.

Don’t miss the chance to enjoy the In-N-Out culture in real life! Have a meal and watch how the team works together. I highly recommend a double-double burger, animal style.

What have I missed? What questions do you have? Add your comments or post your questions on my YouTube channel.

 

Opinions expressed by SmartBrief contributors are their own.

____________________________________

Take advantage of SmartBrief’s FREE email newsletters on leadership and business transformation, among the company’s more than 250 industry-focused newsletters.