Real Good, Real People

A lot has been said about how everyone at Jason’s Deli feels like they are part of one big, happy family. And it’s true. It’s so true, in fact, that we’ve made it part of our mission statement: “We are a caring family, doing whatever it takes to serve quality food in a warm, friendly environment.” But anybody can say that. It’s up to us to prove it.

Well, here’s more proof. The Leadership Institute at Jason’s Deli takes “training” to a whole new level. Beyond the typical “here’s what you do and how you do it,” the Leadership Institute is committed to helping Jason’s Deli employees be better people, not just better employees. In fact, we believe that there shouldn’t be a distinction. We want good people in our stores and offices. We want people who say “How are you doing today?” not as small talk, but as a genuine interest in the well-being of their guests and co-workers. But maybe Charlie Balsam, Director of the Leadership Institute, could explain a little better.

“Jason’s Deli gives its employees someplace to thrive as people… it turns a job into a vocation.” That pretty much sums up why the Leadership Institute exists. So how did it come into being?

The story itself is much longer than we have room for here. Let’s just sum up that the founders of Jason’s Deli believe firmly in the value of servant leadership, where the “pyramid” of corporate structure gets turned upside down. As opposed to the “command and control” model, where the lower-level employees ask the boss what they need to do to make the boss’ job easier, servant leadership implies that the “boss” is the one asking what they can do to make their employees’ lives easier. It really is as simple as that. So Jason’s Deli teamed up with Charlie Balsam, straight out of a career as a human resources developer with a large Catholic church. Charlie, of course, was a long-time customer of Jason’s Deli, and had known some of the founders since the early years. Well, through a series of breakfasts, Charlie and Regan Edgerly hashed out some ideas. “For some reason I got excited about it,” says Charlie. “So I ran some ideas by Regan and asked him ‘What do you think?’ He said ‘Go see Joe (Tortorice, founder of Jason’s Deli) as soon as possible.” The conversation lasted a year or two until Charlie was brought on board to run the Leadership Institute.

So, what have they come up with? The biggest piece of the Institute revolves around the core values of Jason’s Deli: We are a great place to work; We serve only the highest quality of food; We provide out of this world service; We are a healthy, growing company; and We uphold the highest personal standards. These are the things we strive for, and the Leadership Institute offers a two-day interactive workshop to help ALL Jason’s Deli employees better live the core values in their daily lives, both at work and at home. And we did say ALL. All Jason’s Deli employees are eligible to attend. “These core values are a phenomenon,” says Charlie. “They have dramatically affected the retention rate… because Jason’s Deli will do whatever it takes to meet the needs of its employees.”

Also at the Leadership Institute, there are workshops on how to lead when no one else is looking, managing ethically, leading with maturity, team building and more. All of these programs are designed to enhance the lives of managers and employees. “Ironically,” says Charlie, “there is no course on leadership at the Leadership Institute… though the principles are fused into other courses.”

As great as these workshops are, they are not what makes the Leadership Institute so special. Marriage weekends and wellness workshops make that distinction. The Marriage Matters weekend, as describe by the Leadership Institute press release “is designed to give you a break from the hectic world so you can stop and appreciate your spouse.” You see, we don’t just say we’re family…we truly are.

The wellness workshops are still in development, but Charlie says they will focus on nutrition, self-care, stress management and spirituality. We just want to make sure that, as Jason’s Deli grows, so do its people. We want to be with our people forever, so we want our people to take care of themselves.

Is that proof enough? Well, in truth, it doesn’t matter if everyone believes we’re a family…we prove it every day, in every interaction. We love our family, and as Charlie is fond of saying, we want to give them every chance to “thrive as people.” Have a wonderful day.