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Kara Bergloff has been the director of people support at fast-casual restaurant chain Café Zupas for the past eight years. Her department, which is based in Utah, supports a staff of 2,500 employees at 60+ locations throughout the Midwest.
This interview has been lightly edited and condensed for clarity.
How would you describe your specific job to someone who doesn’t work in HR? I run the people support team for a fast-casual restaurant chain [that operates in] in eight states. My goal is to help make every one of our team members better individuals by providing a great work experience with great leaders, world-class training with career advancement, and a career pathway that will lead them to amazing opportunities if they choose to build their career with us.
What’s the best change you’ve made at a place you’ve worked? Gained support for HR so that we are seen as a support partner versus a necessary evil. Coming to Café Zupas, they had never had an HR team or HR department. There wasn’t a lot of trust for that; we were just in the back corner making sure we’re compliant…We’ve really broken out of that “admin compliance” role to be that support partner. So we’re as focused on driving revenue as any other department.
What advice would you offer someone in a similar position when it comes to building trust with a team? My advice would be developing relationships, number one. Not trying to come in and change anything or give your opinions. It’s really important to build those relationships and understand just the day-to-day workings of the business. One thing that I think it’s very important for an HR person is to have some of that “boots on the ground” mentality, if you will. You know, I still work shifts in the restaurant, so I can see what goes on day-to-day, if our programs are working, or what issues we're running into. And I think that goes a long way, right? You’re not just in a cubicle, siloed; you’re actually out there interacting with the teams.
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What’s the biggest misconception people might have about your job? I hire and fire people all day long.
What’s the most fulfilling aspect of your job? Seeing others grow in their careers and making a positive impact [on] their lives.
What trend in HR are you most optimistic about? Why? Moving away from being experts in administration and working to be true business partners who help drive results, creating data to work off of, versus shying away from data and hoping no one asks you to open an Excel document. Why? I hate administration and unnecessary forms, I love data, and I enjoy helping the business succeed.
What trend in HR are you least optimistic about? Why? Politics have very much divided the country. If you have conservative versus more liberal states, how do you make policies that are compliant [and] still in the best interests of the company? We have some areas where, you know, you’re having to monitor city, county, state, and federal [laws], and just hope you’re sitting on top of everything. With a lot of those laws, that’s a lot of added compliance policy training burdens.
How do you stay on top of all the changing laws? I subscribe to a lot of employment law blogs. Obviously, SHRM too. I have attorney partners in each region to help us out as well. I feel like every day there’s some new little thing we’ve got to pay attention to and monitor.
Tell us one new or old HR tech product or platform that’s made your life easier, and why: Google Suite [now Google Workplace] and Zoom—I don't know how I would work with remote teams without them.