Multi-Unit Franchisee Magazine Issue III, 2011 | Page 32

Tankel attributes all of his success
to the people who make up his extended family
of restaurant employees—from the best GM
to the last person hired to wash dishes.
leader,” Tankel says as he steers his car
to one of his restaurants in Queens,
where employees are in store for some
personal praise from the boss after winning a decorating contest for Cinco de
Mayo. “I pat people on the back.”
It’s that kind of hands-on management
that has helped Tankel survive and thrive
in some of the toughest neighborhoods in
the U.S. Places like Bedford-Stuyvesant,
the South Bronx, and Harlem. He took
a restaurant franchise designed for the
suburbs and medium-sized towns and
built the franchisors’ first two-story location on Times Square, where it quickly
turned into a stellar success and a model
for similar locations to follow.

2011 MVP AWARD WINNER

You were recognized for demonstrating outstanding performance and innovation in growing your organization and brands.
Tell us what you did. Over the last two years we’ve been recognized as
Franchise of the Year for the entire system worldwide. They’ve never done that
back-to-back for the same franchisee. Applebee’s is the best concept in terms of
what is going on in the world, and we’re the best of the best. We help with a
tremendous amount of local neighbor events: cancer walks, sponsor concerts, and
so on. We go into urban neighborhoods. We have one location in Bedford-Stuyvesant, one in the South Bronx, and we’re the only one opened in Harlem. These
are under-served communities. We have a duty to do that. Applebee’s tagline is
“America’s Favorite Neighbor.” We can’t be that if we don’t go into every neighborhood. I don’t want to say we’re bleeding hearts, but I don’t believe there’s a
conflict between making money and doing good.
As a multi-unit franchisee, how have you raised the bar within
your organization? We spent a lot of time and effort and money on training
and educating our people. That’s what it’s all about. I always say it’s all about
respect. When we start our training, we start by saying “All we ask from everybody in this room is respect. Respect us as long as we respect you. You’re going
to learn a lot of things that are going to be good for your life; people skills, how
to say thank you and you’re welcome. And none of those words are curse words.
We’re going to teach you some people skills.”
What innovations have you created and used to build your
company? Every kitchen manager and general manager in our restaurant gets

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Multi-Unit Franchisee Is s ue III, 2011

But he attributes all of his success to
the people who make up his extended
family of restaurant employees—from
the best GM to the last person hired
to wash dishes. And the 68-year-old
won’t rest until everyone in the group
feels the same commitment and enthusiasm he brings to the game every day
of the week.
“It’s all social,” says the CEO. “It’s
about being a family. Being a team. And
we’re a team of about 3,000. Bed-Stuy
has a 50 percent unemployment rate. We
hired a couple of hundred people there.
In the last three locations we opened
in urban neighborhoods, we had over
continued on page 34

a car after staying with us just 18 months. We started from scratch 15 years ago.
I recognized early on that the key to multi-unit franchising is keeping your teams
together. Turnover is such a huge factor. With every new management team or
general manager you start all over again. Every new boss has a different set of
priorities. It doesn’t just change the general manager, it changes the whole complexion of a restaurant. The same thing with a new kitchen manager: everybody
has to figure him out, so the turnover is humongous. If we could have people stay
with us just 18 months, it means they like us as much as we like them.
I used to be in graphic arts, printing. You got a car, that’s the way it went.
And I thought that would be a good way to keep managers. They also get a cell
phone. It’s their cell phone and they get a couple thousand minutes a month for
free. And it’s not so I can call them at midnight. The minutes and phones are free.
Every 18 months we also take all the general managers and kitchen managers,
along with their wives, husbands, and significant others, on a cruise. We’ve been
doing this for 10 years. The ship leaves New York and goes to Bermuda. We eat
together, breakfast together. It’s a real bonding experience.
So what about the rest of the folks? If the general manager is a really good
guy, everybody else is happy. The trickle-down theory happens. When you have
a happy GM, that’s viral. As far as other managers, we have a minimum of five
managers: bar manager, assistant kitchen manager, service manager. And bigger
restaurants have more. The other managers don’t resent these guys going on a
cruise or getting a car. They want those jobs. So we also have a pretty good bench.
They’re not going to look to go somewhere else. They want to get promoted.
What core values do you feel led you to win this award? It’s
all about retaining your people and making them feel like they’re really, really
part of it. You might have good retention, but it doesn’t mean that they’re
happy campers.