This case study is about the career development and employee motivation initiatives at US-based fast-casual chain Chipotle Mexican Grill, Inc. (Chipotle). The fast food chain instilled a company-wide performance-based culture of employee development and promotion from within. The culture at Chipotle focused on attracting and building teams of top performers who were given on-the-job training to create an extraordinary dining experience for their customers. The case discusses the career path and career development opportunities at Chipotle and how it implemented a hire from within campaign in order to promote crew members to higher level jobs.

Even as fast food chains like Mc Donalds Corporation (Mc Donalds) and Burger King Corporation were feeling the heat in 2014 amid rising food prices, intense competition, and changing perceptions about food, US-based fast food chain Chipotle Mexican Grill, Inc. (Chipotle) bucked the trend, recording rising revenues and earnings. For the third quarter ended September 30, 2014, its revenue increased by 31.1% to US$1.08 billion while its net income was US$130.8 million, an increase of 56.9% over the corresponding period of the previous year. Though the company had raised the prices of the items on its menu, the customer footfalls continued to increase.

Attributing the chains success to its special food culture, innovative people culture, and strong business model, Steve Ells (Steve), founder, chairman and co-CEO of Chipotle, said, Our relentless focus on our vision to change the way people think about and eat fast food results in better quality food and a compelling dining experience for our customers, and superior business results for our shareholders. The way we source, prepare, and serve our food; the way we hire, develop, and empower our people; and the way we operate our business is very different than the traditional fast food model.

Chipotle was founded by Steve in 1993. After graduating from the Culinary Institute of America in New York City in 1990, Steve started working as a sous chef at the Stars restaurant in San Francisco, USA. There, Steve observed the popularity of food items like tacos and San Francisco burritos. Sensing a huge demand for Mexican food in the US, he opened a taqueriain in 1993 in Denver, Colorado.

The initial investment of US$ 85,000 for the first restaurant came in the form of a loan from his father. Steves aim was to reinvent Mexican food in the US by offering high quality food with more flavors and varieties to choose from. He wanted to be different and provide an exceptional customer experience.

When he opened his first restaurant, Steves friends discouraged him, telling that Mexican food was cheap and that he could not run a Mexican restaurant chain by charging as much as other popular restaurant chains in USA like McDonalds Corporation [McDonalds] and KFC did. But Steve stood firm and with determination went on to build a profitable Mexican restaurant chain. When the first store opened, Steve calculated that the store needed to sell at least 107 burritos to......

Analysts attributed Chipotles strong performance and growth partly to its performance-based culture, which allowed employees to develop by taking on new and different tasks. Chipotle instilled a company-wide culture of employee development and promotion from within, they said. The culture at Chipotle acknowledged the contribution of each of its employees and offered real opportunity for growth.

The work environment at its outlets was exciting and encouraging. Chipotle believed that creating a performance-based culture would create the best restaurant experience possible for its employees and customers. Keeping that in mind, the fast-casual chain developed a human resources strategy based on the idea of promoting employees from within by offering them multiple opportunities......

While hiring, the management at Chipotle did not primarily focus on their applicants qualification and experience, but on certain personality traits that each candidate must possess. The fast food chain came up with a list of 13 characteristics that every prospective Chipotle employee had to have. These were conscientious, respectful, hospitable, high energy, infectiously enthusiastic, happy, presentable, smart, polite, motivated, ambitious, curious, and honest.......

In order to reward and empower its best employees, Chipotle started a unique training program called the Restaurateur Program in 2005. The Restaurateur Program identified and promoted the best people from within and gave talented workers a clear path to advancement within the company. Talking about the aim of the program, Arnold said, Before the Restaurateur program started about three years ago, we were taking our very best managers, people who were sort of by nature ambitious and wanted more respect and all of that, and were promoting them to multi-unit positions.....

According to some employees, the work environment at Chipotle was fast paced and exciting. The chain provided a healthy work-life balance and a rewarding career to its employees. Employees were offered competitive salaries, compensation, bonuses and promotions, as well as benefits such as health insurance, a 401(k) plan, free meals, and uniforms. For the salaried positions, Chipotle offered pet insurance, adoption assistance, a two-month paid vacation, wellness programs, and a discounted employee stock purchase plan.......

However, not all the employees of Chipotle were happy with the companys policies. Some of them complained that the chain was not employee-friendly and that they were underpaid for the amount of work they were expected to do. Some employees charged that the work life balance was bad and that they had very long working hours. They criticized what they called the fast paced environment and the demanding 10-12-hour shifts without breaks to eat. Full-time effort for part-time pay, complained a crew member in Brunswick, Ohio.....

In the third quarter ended September 30, 2014, the chains revenue increased by 31.1% to US$1.08 billion when compared to the corresponding period of the previous year. Net income was US$130.8 million, an increase of 56.9%. The chain opened 43 new restaurants during the quarter. For the nine months ended September 30, 2014, revenue increased 28.2% to US$3.04 billion compared to the same period in the earlier year. Net income was US$324.1 million.

Questions:

1-Analyze the career advancement opportunities offered by Chipotle to its employees and how these contributed to its growth

2-Analyze the challenges faced by Chipotle in preserving its culture and helping it evolve as it continues to expand at a fast pace

3-Observe the people culture at Chipotle and examine its key elements. Explore ways in which Chipotle could balance growth and preserve its people culture.

Note : Answers should be in World Version Format Please