Case study: RG Restaurants Above Store Leadership program

I’m always impressed when a successful business generously shares its secret sauce (scratch that – herbs and spices!) with others.

RG Restaurants is a fast-growing KFC franchise with over 60 restaurants in Victoria, Australia and a strong people-first culture.

I’ve partnered with them for three years to design and facilitate their Above Store Leadership program for their Above Store field team, Area Coaches, Chief Operating Officer, Chief People & Culture Officer, and People Excellence Coaches.

With more Area Coaches joining the team due to growth, we’ve started another round of the program. This time, RG Restaurants has opened it up to other KFC franchisees interested in the program’s potential benefits.

While I won’t pretend to know exactly what’s in RG Restaurants’ unique blend of success, below are four benefits that I’ve seen from their ongoing commitment to leadership development:

1. A sustained focus on good to great

This multi-year program comprises seven workshops:

• Lead Change

• Support Wellbeing,

• Lead High Performing Teams

• Have Conversations that Count

• Leverage Strengths

• Get 1% Better Every Day

• Build Positive Habits.

This ongoing commitment to supporting individual and collective growth signals to participants that their contribution is valued and worth investing in. Coincidentally, the Above Store field team’s turnover rate over the past three years is 0%.

 2. A regular drumbeat for connection

The quarterly workshops allow for spaced learning and reinforcement, making it easier to apply new leadership concepts. They also provide a regular opportunity for Above Store leaders to nurture their relationships as they support one another with their development and day-to-day challenges, with the workshops often combining lunch, team-building activities, or collaboration on business issues.

 3. A way to reinforce culture

RG Restaurants has adopted a personal development tool to help people shift their behaviour, make more effective decisions, enjoy healthier relationships, and lead authentically.

This framework provides a common lens through which RG Restaurants can view their culture. The Above Store Leadership program has been carefully curated to reinforce rather than contradict how leadership is already discussed in the business, which has helped strengthen a shared leadership language.

 4. A way to scale leadership development

It’s often said that the best way to learn is to teach.

Above Store leaders have taken the leadership concepts they have learned throughout the program and shared them informally and formally with others.

For example, Area Coaches use what they’ve learned when supporting Restaurant Managers on the job, and to deliver internal development sessions for high-potential Restaurant Managers (HIPOs) and those leading multiple restaurants (LMRs). This has made the Above Store Leadership program a practical way for the business to scale leadership development.

*****

I look forward to cheering on RG Restaurant’s continued success:

“Thank you, Justine - your partnership has proven to be invaluable to both me and our wider group! Your tailored workshops, with insights into leadership behaviour, coupled with valuable and tangible tools to help implement sustainable change, continue to help us evolve and further grow our culture, contributing to our continued success.”

COO, RG Restaurants