Did you miss our latest webinar featuring insights from Wood Ranch? Don’t worry! Whether you prefer reading or watching, you can delve into the key questions and responses from the session or watch the recording below. 

In the webinar, we talked to Jenna Johnson, Director of Training & Development, and JP Mouren-Laurens, VP of Finance at Wood Ranch. Together, they explore tools and techniques that have boosted Wood Ranch’s operational efficiency and employee training. From scaling operations to leveraging technology across multiple locations, discover actionable strategies to enhance your team’s growth and streamline operations.

Whether you’re expanding your business or refining existing processes, this webinar offers invaluable insights to help you achieve your business goals.

Watch now!

Scaling Operations

Q: What are the key challenges Wood Ranch faced when scaling operations across 18 locations in Southern California?

Jenna Johnson: The main challenge that comes to mind is maintaining consistency across all our locations. JP can get more into the specifics around our guest experience, quality of service, and training. From a strategic level, I look at oversight, ongoing training, and monitoring of business systems and processes. We focus on what drives our sales, cost efficiencies, and risk management. We aim to protect our bottom line in a very competitive restaurant environment. The question is, what processes and protocols do we want our operators to implement to achieve our strategic goals? These processes must be monitored and followed consistently across all our locations. Each business restaurant may manage this differently, but for us, we focus on training, communication, performance feedback, audits, protocols, and operational metrics. Stores that underperform often do not follow the protocol. So, maintaining consistency across all locations is crucial after developing these processes.

Q: How does Wood Ranch maintain the consistency and quality of the guest experience?

Jenna Johnson: Wood Ranch is independently owned with two founders. Instead of rapid growth, we focus on selecting the right locations, markets, and areas that fit our brand. Each time we open a new location, we select trainers from our current locations, choosing the best of the best. We focus on culture classes—who we are, how to get to our end goal, and how we want our guests to be treated—rather than just techniques and skills. Word of mouth is our best representation and marketing. We focus on selecting the right areas, people, and delivering for our guests, which has enabled us to grow to what will be 18 locations.

Q: How do you maintain brand identity and consistency across new locations?

Jenna Johnson: Although we don’t market extensively beyond social media, we benefit tremendously from our brand recognition. Our guest experience becomes our marketing opportunity, evident through social media reviews and repeat customers. Ensuring a consistent and quality guest experience at each location, from Agoura Hills to Manhattan Beach, is vital. Our founders review all social media responses to gather feedback. The oversight process starts at the hiring level, continues with training, and includes ongoing audits in key areas such as food and beverage safety and HR compliance. We provide feedback to our operators on their performance in these audits, giving them opportunities to improve.

Maintaining consistency and quality across all locations is essential for Wood Ranch’s success. From strategic oversight to the operational level, every process and protocol is designed to ensure our guests have the best experience possible, reinforcing our brand and driving growth.

Q: How do you believe Wood Ranch has effectively scaled its teams? Could you share some insights and strategies?

Jenna Johnson: Within the last 18 months, we have transitioned from paper-based training to a Learning Management System (LMS). Previously, all training evaluations were done on paper, which was very old-school. Moving to an LMS has allowed us to develop engaging and effective training tools. For example, we use video and TikTok-style content to captivate our learners, making the material more engaging and easier to absorb. The LMS also includes features like recognition tools for managers to locally recognize team members, which has boosted engagement and motivation.

Growing Your Teams Effectively 

Q: How much time do new employees spend in training, and have there been any changes to the tipping structure?

Jenna Johnson and JP Mouren-Laurens: Our servers undergo about 38 hours of training before they work independently. This includes operational shifts and compliance training. We’ve also implemented TipHaus, a software that helps manage tip distribution. This transition has been smooth and allows servers to receive tips using a pay card system daily. Additionally, TipHaus has enabled us to include back-of-house staff in the tip pool, which has been well-received by our team members.

Q: What role does technology play in managing multi-unit operations at Wood Ranch?

JP Mouren-Laurens: Investing in the right technology is crucial for scaling operations. Our systems, including our POS and accounting systems, are integrated to ensure seamless data management. This integration helps eliminate manual processes and improve efficiency. For example, TipHaus has significantly reduced the time servers and managers spend on cash distribution and checkout, leading to cost savings and streamlined operations.

Q: How does Wood Ranch maintain quality and consistency across stores, and what advice do you have for other operators?

JP Mouren-Laurens: Providing accurate and reliable reporting is essential for identifying issues and opportunities for improvement. It’s important to combine this with training so operators know how to interpret data and make actionable changes. Additionally, maintaining a strong company culture is vital. Our ‘guest first’ philosophy extends beyond the restaurant to our corporate office, ensuring that everyone is aligned and working towards the same goals.

Streamlining workflows and improving operational efficiency

Q: Can you share examples of how Wood Ranch has streamlined restaurant processes to reduce labor costs?

JP Mouren-Laurens: TipHaus has been instrumental in streamlining our tipping process, reducing the time servers spend on checkout and minimizing cash handling by managers. This has led to significant labor cost savings and operational efficiencies. 

In our approach at Wood Ranch, we prioritize the Controllable Operating Profit (COP) Percentage as a critical metric. This involves thorough comparisons across different locations and demographics to gauge performance accurately. We meticulously track prime costs, which include food and labor expenses, using tools like R365 to analyze how closely actual usage aligns with theoretical projections. This data-driven method allows us to consistently provide valuable feedback to our operators, ensuring that our standards remain uniform and our operations efficient across the board. It’s through these strategic practices that we maintain a competitive edge in managing costs and driving profitability.

Conclusion

Wood Ranch’s approach to team management, technology integration, and maintaining a strong company culture provides valuable insights for other operators looking to enhance their restaurant operations. By investing in the right tools and fostering a cohesive team environment, Wood Ranch continues to deliver exceptional customer experiences and operational excellence.

Learn how TipHaus can save you hours of manual labor by checking out our case studies here.