Amar Raj Singh, Chairman and Managing Director of Gamma Pizzakraft Lanka, the sole franchisee for Pizza Hut in Sri Lanka, and Kaushal Mendis, Human Resources Director, discuss why the company has been recognised for the second straight year as the Best Workplace for Millennials.
Your company has once again been recognized as a Great Place to Work for Millennials. The second year in a row. What makes Gamma attractive to millennials?
First and foremost, it is the unique culture of freedom and fun at Gamma that allows millennials to embrace their responsibilities with initiative and be results-driven. They are always treated as accomplished professionals and not greenhorns. We place a huge amount of trust in them, and they have access to information that few other businesses would even share with millennials. All of this adds up to a mature relationship they treasure. Second, we train them on building lasting relationships internally and externally. We channel their instinct to bond with people around them into productive relationships, and they enjoy it. Thirdly, believe it or not, there is an underlying respect for our traditions that we subtly further with no dogma attached. They do find comfort in it. They discover that Gamma is all about reaching self-actualisation, realising dreams, and so they thrive in it.
How does your company deal with each of these needs that millennials look for in an employer?
Work-life balance: We aim to provide maximum flexibility for all our employees to have a healthy work-life balance. Full-time employees are provided with the flexibility to pick their off days and decide on work rosters. We have flexible work arrangements to enable our employees to pursue studies and passions and attend to other personal priorities.
Opportunities to explore new avenues: We encourage innovation. Every employee in Gamma can voice their opinion, contribute to developing our next menu item, and generate ideas for productivity and process improvement. We have empowered employees to make decisions to do their job well and make a customer happy. They are free to explore and broaden their exposure without limiting them to a set framework. We are deeply interested in and supportive of the career growth of our employees. We understand the personal and professional goals of millennials. We allow, facilitate, and support our employees to expand their horizons of knowledge by completing globally recognised courses that Pizza Hut International conducts. We have what we call the ‘3X’ programme. Any employee who joins us will multiply her/his value three times with the knowledge and experiences gained from the organization and stand a better chance to get selected for a higher position with higher pay, even if they want to explore opportunities outside the organization.
Clear career paths, recognition, and transparent rewards: We have developed clearly defined career paths for everyone in the Gamma family. There are living examples from within the business of those who have joined Gamma at very junior positions but subsequently developed themselves to become General Managers. There is a structured and transparent process of selecting employees for promotions and developing them to do a better job. The rewards structure is transparent and designed to motivate employees to follow their career aspirations.
Education: We encourage our employees to pursue higher studies, improve their knowledge and skills and become more accomplished in their personal lives and careers. Internally, we have a structured curriculum that allows our employees to master the art of every aspect of the business and improve their management skills. There are dedicated trainers who continuously support our employees with these study programmes. We also support our employees to improve their English language skills, grooming and hygiene skills, critical for career advancement in this industry. We have crafted a National Competency Standard for the Pizza Industry, and our employees will receive a state-accredited vocational qualification certification. Also, there is an educational assistance scheme that supports employees by reimbursing their study expenses. Continuous learning has become part of our culture and a cornerstone of our success.
Help them feel that they are a part of something great: We are in the business of creating delightful experiences. Our employees are an integral part of this journey, and they are proud to be. They are committed to making superior products and offering unparalleled services to our valued customers. During the Covid-19 pandemic, our employees made considerable sacrifices to create happy customer moments while strictly adhering to safety guidelines. We also believe in giving back to the community and making an impact, so the management team has pledged 1% of their time to provide vocational education and training to disadvantaged youth in Sri Lanka.
Sustainability and giving back to the community: We believe that a brand is part of the community in which it exists. Its prosperity depends on how it helps to resolve the problems of the community or uplift it. Gamma has chosen to work with disadvantaged and differently-abled youth as our CSR programme. Among the notable initiatives under the programme is the launch of a Pizza Hut restaurant operated entirely by differently-abled people, apart from creating opportunities to work in any outlet across our network. We have pledged to give disadvantaged youth inclusive and equitable high-quality vocational training opportunities to create pathways to gainful employment in the international restaurant trade. Any employee joining us will be a part of this great programme. They will be proud of our efforts on sustainability and their contributions in giving back to society.
What has been the return on investment from creating a millennial-friendly workplace?
Happy employees make happy products makes happy customers make happy stakeholders. We strongly believe in this mantra, which is our success formula. We envision creating delightful customer experiences, where our team members are the champions who are driving the effort. Hence, our People are the most critical aspect of our business, and we always place them on the front page. Sustained growth and a dominant market share is the best ROI we have gained through these highly passionate individuals.
Last year was the most challenging year in the entire history of Pizza Hut in Sri Lanka. However, the dedication and the unconditional commitment of these young individuals made it the best year in our history. Despite numerous challenges caused by Covid-19, our People came forward and continued to delight our customers.
How do you align the goals of the organisation with employee expectations? And, how do you keep millennials motivated?
We have created an environment with open communication and trust to enable employees to be more engaged and understand how everything they do matters to the success of Gamma. We ensure employees understand the big picture and the part they play in the organization’s success.
RECOGNITION is a critical component of our culture, and we recognise and communicate achievements directly to the deserving individual and publicly so all can take part in the celebration. We believe that our open communications and friendly environment have led to greater job satisfaction, loyalty, and mutual respect throughout Gamma, creating a more productive work environment and a great place to work!