September 2018 Digital Issue

President, Joey Restaurant Group
Al Jessa has been a key player in the successful
expansion of the organization, which now manages three
brands and a total of 37 restaurants. Jessa believes an
important aspect of leadership at Joey is creating a vision
that’s bigger than where the company is right now.
What are the most valuable qualities
you demonstrate as a leader?
One is giving lots of space for people to communicate.
At the same time, I give myself the freedom to say
what has to be said. I don’t hide the tough issues and
work on creating an environment where people don’t
need to feel threatened. I also don’t ask anyone to do
something that I wouldn’t do myself.
What is the biggest challenge
facing leaders today?
Getting the right talent. With so many great companies
and great jobs, there’s a lot of choice for people
out there. Today, they are picking us over them.
When we interview people, they have researched our
programs, the education we offer and our reputation —
they know more about us than we do about them.
What are you most proud of?
In 2005, we created a vision to reach the top of the
industry and reorganized ourselves to accomplish
every aspect of that by 2010. We did that. We have
now created another future plan to become iconic in
the hospitality industry. We’re not there yet, but are
working on that, redoing everything around our
service, food programs and recruitment.
How do you motivate your employees?
One thing we do every year is have everyone write
down what they want to accomplish in their future
career. As executives, we have to understand what it
would take for them to realize that goal and provide
the support they need.
DEREK FORD [AL JESSA]
What are you doing to ensure the future
success of your organization?
My goal is to transfer what has been done over the
last 25 years to the future leadership. When I leave,
I want to make sure I set up the building blocks for
even bigger success. My attention is on transferring
knowledge and growing the pipeline.
FOODSERVICEANDHOSPITALITY.COM
SEPTEMBER 2018 FOODSERVICE AND HOSPITALITY 33