New In-N-Out Burger Book Debunks Myths

by StockJockey

Tuesday, April 14, 2009 - 11:56 am

In-N-Out Burger is only in fours states, and not well known to East Coast folks, but many people in California and Arizona have had the pleasure of dining there.

A recently released book In-N-Out Burger: A Behind-the-Counter Look at the Fast-Food Chain That Breaks All the Rules by Stacy Perman details the company’s success, and should be snapped up faster than a double.

And for those of you looking for a job, well, you could do worse than work there:

From its start, In-N-Out paid employees more than the going rate. (Associates always made at least $2 to $3 above minimum wage.) As of February 2008, In-N-Out was paying new part-time associates $10 an hour—just 51 cents less than full-time workers at Wal-Mart (WMT), whose $375 billion in annual sales is about 1,000 times greater than In-N-Out’s. Store managers at In-N-Out make at least $100,000 a year and are eligible for monthly bonuses tied to store sales.

Rich also established an expansive set of benefits, including 401(k) plans, paid vacation for part-timers, and health, dental, and vision plans for full-time workers. Each year, he put on companywide picnics and a gala dinner. Managers who met their goals were sent on trips with their spouses, often to Europe in first-class seats. For a Christmas outing to a performance of The Nutcracker, Rich insisted that his managers wear tuxedos. He thought they stood shoulder to shoulder with any blue-chip manager and wanted them to feel that way, too.

The upshot of treating its employees with special care is that In-N-Out boasts one of the lowest turnover rates in the business. Industrywide, only about half of all fast-food workers stay beyond a year. And the numbers plummet to just 25% at two years and 12% at three. In In-N-Out’s case, managers’ typical tenure is 14 years, while part-time associates remain, on average, for two. Business Week

Perman gets to the bottom of the company’s born-again Christian roots, which took on the aura of an urban legend.

But putting that aside, it is a temple of Hamburger - and uniquely American.

Check out the video from the author, where she details the company’s mysterious culture.

In-N-Out Burger: Professionalizing Fast-Food
Business Week
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