This week launches our Millennials in the Workforce Series where we highlight the generation who is coming into the workforce and changing how we run our businesses. This series was inspired by the huge response to Simon Sinek’s recent interview on Inside Quest where he answers the “Millennial question.” Simon Sinek gives a great overview of challenges Millennials face, but not everyone is happy about the way Sinek characterized Millennials. So, we’ve decided to keep the conversation going.
THIS WEEK’S SHOW:
We are happy to have Nick Sarillo join us to talk about how he has succeeded when so many have failed to manage a Millennial workforce. Nick is the founder and CEO of Nick’s Pizza and Pub, a Chicago-area favorite and a long-time conscious business. In this week’s show, Nick shares his philosophy on business and why his approach has created jobs that his Millennial workforce commits to for the long-term, even in an industry that traditionally has a 150% turnover rate (meaning for every 10 who stay, 15 quit). How does he do it? How does he manage a Millennial workforce so that they stay, dedicate, grow into professionals, and then often come back after they graduate college? Nick describes his restaurants as “purpose and values driven” establishments. He also touches upon the importance of creating a workplace that empowers Millennials to thrive. You’ll enjoy learning what it takes to appeal to a Millennial workforce and how they like to be managed. Join me in welcoming Nick Sarillo to the show!
Time Codes
- 00:24 Preface to our Millennials in the Workplace Series
- 01:10 Introducing Nick Sarillo
- 3:48 The results of caring for people who work for you
- 5:16 The new model of business and conscious capitalism
- 6:15 Nick shares how he got his first education as an entrepreneur and his intuition about business operations
- 9:18 Nick’s Pizza & Pub, why the purpose and values statement is posted in the lobby and other key areas throughout his restaurants
- 10:35 Nick’s business philosophy is a personal philosophy about people
- 11:55 The gamechanger for Nick. A business model that rests upon purpose, values, and meaning (intrinsic motivation); step one to creating a meaningful workplace that Millennials (and everybody) loves
- 13:05 The mark of a conscious leader, the transformational effort that moves the organizational ceiling upward.
- 14:39 A look at the numbers. Nick’s Pizza & Pub’s margins and turnover rate are incredibly impressive – how does he get those numbers with a Millennial workforce?
- 17:04 The secret sauce to a happy Millennial workforce
- 17:47 Why has Nick’s experience with a Millennial workforce been so great? Building on the positive attributes Simon Sinek talked about and what that means for businesses
- 20:20 The responsibility of business owners – connecting mission, vision, purpose and values to create meaning for their teams in every moment in even the smallest ways
- 21:10 The Millennial workforce demands it, or they are out – why the Millennial workforce’s impatience and intolerance of command-and-control, inauthentic leadership is a really good thing.
- 25:55 How to connect the time at work with meaning, value, and impact to get that dopamine hit (in response to Simon Sinek’s comments about the Millennial’s addiction to social media)
- 25:05 How systems empower the Millennial workforce to be in charge of their own development
- 27:20 Managers need to get out of the way and let go of the command-and-control management style to support a self-managed Millennial workforce
- 28:40 Creating a space that empowers the Millennial workforce – autonomy, compensation, and high-performance to support the Flow experience.
- 31:53 How Nick uses 100% transparent compensation and self-directed, side-by-side cross-training for continued professional growth, and knowing how to give feedback to each other
- 35:55 Creating a culture that supports positive growth and the key to applying this to any business – Nick’s University
- 37:36 The Millennial generation is 76 million strong, and most companies have four or five generations in the workplace at the same time
- 41:23 Appreciating Simon Sinek’s work in bringing humanity back to capitalism and the workplace, and the invitation to business owners and leaders
- 43:05 A little about Nick Sarillo’s book, A Slice of the Pie: How to Build a Big Little Business and Nick’s University
- 44:30 The real core of Simon Sinek’s message is fulfillment and Nick’s approach fits it
- 45:40 Speed Round!
Today’s Guest : Nick Sarillo
@NickSarillo
LinkedIn: Nick Sarillo
Nick Sarillo is the founder and CEO of Nick’s Pizza & Pub and Nick’s University. Founded in 1995, Nick’s Pizza & Pub is one of the top ten busiest independent pizza companies in per-store sales in the United States. Prior to founding Nick’s Pizza and Pub, Nick worked in the construction business. He worked as a union carpenter and then a general contractor. For 11 years, he owned a custom home building company.
Nick credits his company’s success to his purpose-driven culture, which is the focus of his book, A Slice of the Pie: How to Build a Big Little Business (Portfolio; 2012). In addition, other authors have heard and traveled to Nick’s restaurants to learn and write about his approach to culture, leadership and management. You can find him referenced in a number of leading edge, top selling books.
Nick Sarillo is a two-time TedX speaker and regularly speaks at meetings and conventions on the topics of business culture, entrepreneurship, leadership and customer loyalty. Nick’s profile and insights have been featured in The New York Times, The Economist, Inc Magazine, Fast Company, Newsweek, Investor’s Business Daily, American Express Open Forum and more. He also appeared on NBC Nightly News when they featured Nick’s very own “It’s a Wonderful Life” story.
Nick is rooted within the communities he serves through philanthropic initiatives, including the donation of five percent of all sales to charitable causes. Also, he has coined the phrase Integral Sustainability – Nick practices both natural and human sustainability. For example, all of his restaurants are built with recycled barn wood. Plus, his operations have processes such as “safe spaces” and “Trust and Track Leadership” that address the mental, emotional and spiritual health of his workplaces and team members.
Nick’s restaurants have won the National Restaurant Association/American Express “Good Neighbor Award” four times and have been featured in Chicago Best as “Great Pizza and Company.”
Links Mentioned:
- Simon Sinek’s Interview on Inside Quest: The video that went viral (over 4M views) and sparked this series on Millennials in the workplace..
- Nick’s Pizza & Pub – The dedicated team of players are dedicated to providing the Chicago-area community an unforgettable place; to connect with your family and friends, to have fun and to feel at home!
- Nick Sarillo – Learn more about Nick Sarillo, sign up for his blog, book him as a speaker, buy his book, and more.
- Nick’s University – “Our organization teaches leadership skills that open the door to self‑ awareness and create a culture of positivity. For any stage of business/employment, whether a startup company or just trying to progress your existing culture, our courses and workshops will leave you with tangible tools you can use, not just theory. Each is filled with practicums to create opportunity to learn by demonstrating the work right away, with feedback.”
Books mentioned in this episode:
A Slice of the Pie: How to Build a Big Little Business
Resonant Leadership: Renewing Yourself and Connecting with Others Through Mindfulness, Hope, and Compassion
Managing the Unexpected: Sustained Performance in a Complex World
Flow: The Psychology of Optimal Experience
