In this short interview, First Watch’s inaugural Chief People Officer explains how the company builds and sustains employee engagement. She credits the founders’ kindness and instinct for hiring people who share that trait, the “You First” philosophy that prioritizes both customers and staff, and the need to formalize mission, vision, and values as the business expanded beyond its original locations. The CPO describes how the company provides teams with a clear framework while granting them freedom within it, and how they track employee experience using tools like the Most Loved Index. The narrative emphasizes that culture is rooted in genuine kindness, clear communication, and continuous measurement, rather than relying on fancy HR tools alone.
Chapters
if they're not feeling like that, if it does feel like they're just coming in and punching a clock and not contributing or connecting, have we failed them? When I came to First Watch, I was the first chief people officer. And there were so many times where I tried to figure out how is it so that we have these engaged, committed employees. They're all working towards the same thing. But in the absence of all of the fancy tools that you just talked about, because it was a small, fast growth growing company. And for me, when I evaluated it, it really came down to the fact that he was, he was very smart. He had great instincts on the business. And above all else, he was just really, really kind. And so I think he looked for people who were like him. I think when you're like that and you're really kind and you want to work well with others and connect with others and create great things, You're just naturally able to spot that in others. Somebody who's a, a social loafer would've really stood out in that type of model. And so I think that he just created this wonderful concept that was built on delivering a wonderful experience and consistently great food to our customers. But even more than that, it was about creating this amazing work experience an environment for our employees. And they had, you know, when I first came to the business, I was coming from a much bigger organization. So I asked about the mission and the vision and the values and, you know, the core principles and the beliefs. And I wanted to learn all of these things so that I could really understand the culture. And every time I asked a question on, you know, what is this, what is that, I'd get the same answer of just you first. And then finally I said, well, what does this, this You First mean? And both Ken, our founder, and Chris said, well, we don't really have a definition for it, but you'll know it when you see it. And they were right. As the organization grew, as we started entering into more states that were further away from the core, we really, we realized that we needed to actually articulate it better. Because we were bringing all these new people into the system. And so we couldn't just rely on them seeing it and feeling it. So we developed then our new mission, our new vision, our new values. And so it was about clearly communicating these to our teams, giving them that framework, giving them freedom in the framework, which I think demonstrates that respect to them. And then measuring it using great tools like you have with the Most Loved Index to make sure that we're delivering on that experience for our employees.
