One way that this is done, according to CEO David Overton: "You have to devote resources to training, from the cooks to customer service. The average full-time employee will receive 120 hours of paid training before beginning work" (Eng, 2011). .
The restaurant has also put this into practice via several in-depth training programs for shift management. Instead of throwing trainees into the workforce to learn "on the job" as is often done in other restaurants, The Cheesecake Factory has developed a program to certify hourly supervisors. "They are critical to management success because they cover shifts and provide support, which helps our management" (Martin, 2011). This approach, from a business standpoint, makes a lot of sense. Culture is built from the roots of the organization. Confident and well-trained shift management encourages employees to present the best possible image and product to the public. The shift managers have the opportunity to take pride in their work knowing that they are doing the job that they have been asked to do correctly, which builds morale at the retail level of the organization. In addition, simply training shift managers means that the business as a whole will profit from competent staff serving customers to the highest level possible and receiving the highest possible revenue.
Marketline, an independent firm that conducts SWOT analysis of business indicated in its report that one of The Cheesecake Factory's strengths is "management and staff retention trends, along with quality and service analysis" (Marketline, 2012). Exit interviews conducted by the company confirm that employees who leave the company are 50% more likely to be leaving due to circumstances unrelated to the employment. Marketline (2012) explains this by "you have people who want to stay, who are happy and satisfied at work, when they have to leave, they are sorry to go.
