Chili’s Earns an Additional $13.5M by Improving Server Selection

Strengthening the Server Staff

Chili’s has become a trendsetter in food service by adopting innovations like tabletop tablets to enhance the guest experience. When it comes to strengthening the server staff, Chili’s leverages technology to determine which candidates are most likely to:

• Provide a differentiating level of service
• Drive return visits
• Increase sales

Knowing that job fit strongly influences work behaviors and motivations, Chili’s chose Outmatch assessments because they identify best-fit candidates for different job types, including server roles, and can target key hospitality traits like guest focus and sales ability.

“We’re using Outmatch assessments to identify those folks who are going to be a really good fit for our organization. And we’re using them to identify promotion opportunities, too.”

-Director of Performance Coaching, Brinker International

Using Assessments to Identify Best Fit

Starting with a job success profile, Outmatch determined the work-related personality traits that best predict success for servers at Chili’s. Candidates for this role are assessed against the job success profile and given a job fit score, along with a personality report and an interview guide to help hiring managers address potential problem areas.

“We’re able to give our managers so much more insight into the candidates they’re talking to so they can really see what strengths a person would bring to a role, or what challenges a person might face. It’s helping them make better hiring decisions.”

-Director of Performance Coaching, Brinker International

Improving Sales for $13.5M in Revenue

Chili’s found that servers with high job fit scores sell $.80 more per hour and receive higher customer satisfaction ratings than their average server population. Since implementing assessments, Chili’s continues to improve guest experience and increase sales year after year.

Thanks to improved server selection and other initiatives, Chili’s has experienced great success and business growth in recent years, to the effect that Chili’s stock price has doubled and tripled, reaching over $60 a share in 2014.