Pros
My Background At the age of 18, I stepped into my first role with R/A, envisioning it as a flexible part-time catering gig while I finished school. Little did I know then, this was the start of my career. For over a year, I juggled full-time school with shifts at a high-end restaurant as the garde manger and working events as a catering chef for R/A. Eventually, I reached a juncture where I had to make a choice. With little hesitation, I committed to R/A. As I put pen to paper (yes it was paper back then), the executive chef remarked, "you now bleed green” (R/A’s color). And being a Philadelphia Eagles fan, I responded, “yes, obviously” (...but I digress)! The chef had a point; once you join R/A, you rarely find a reason to leave (and if you do, you usually find your way back). Life is full of moments we might regret, but I often reflect on those pivotal decisions and cherish the times when I made the right choice. And now, here I stand, raising a toast to twenty years! My Review Commitment to Diversity. R/A started putting more effort into this a few years ago, but recently made the biggest change by promoting a VP of Diversity, Equity, Inclusion & Belonging. They also created a People Matter program with a focus on improving employee experience & a Retention Committee focused on attracting and retaining new talent. While there is still room for improvement here, the conversations are happening, and the efforts are being made to make impactful change in the coming years. Commitment to Support & Empowerment. From my experience, I think this is where we shine. R/A & Compass Group have put a lot of focus into its support systems as the company continues to rapidly grow with support from all directions … HR, Culinary, Finance, Safety, Marketing & Creative or even Peer to Peer. (You’re not allowed to name names on Glassdoor, but you know who you are.) If you need a tool, there is probably someone that can point you in the right direction and then empower you to take ownership of whatever the situation may be. The biggest challenge is not that the tool doesn’t exist, you just need to know where to look. There is no shortage of growth opportunities right now, so hard-working creative people who think a little outside the box, please apply!
Cons
R/A is a corporation. There are guidelines to follow and sometimes a little too much red tape to get things done, but overall if you’re going to work for a corporation in food service, it’s about as good as it gets in my opinion. There are still enough people in leadership that care about people & the human aspect of it all.
