Cafe Management and Corprate Office Roles Reviewed - JV General Manager and Marketing Coordinator Panera Bread Employee Review

Cafe Management: unrealistic expectations, long hours, poor work/life balance. New initiatives, processes, products, and other changes developed by corporate associates that do not understand the impact on existing café processes, time management, associates or customers. Corporate departments work in their own silos and it creates disconnect and confusion for the cafes. A clear overall vision and cohesive goals throughout each department that can be done as whole as opposed to independently with conflicting goals and overlapping inconsistent rollouts. A clear and collaborative image amongst all departments would simplify new rollouts not only on the café associate level but also avoid confusion in regards to our purpose and vision to the customers The company should have at least 1 associate with an extensive background working in the cafes employed in every department of the corporate office in order to ensure all changes are presented, rolled out, and supported cohesively with existing processes, procedures, initiatives and customer base in mind. Even one small change that is executed to the cafes in the wrong way or with out a clear understanding of the overall impact to the cafes day to day processes can trickle down quickly and affect associate moral and customer service in so many ways.