Change has been a constant for most industries in the last few years—an idea particularly resonant in the restaurant industry. Factor in rapid growth, a major acquisition and an IPO, and you have a recipe for transformation—one that is contingent upon talent success.

That’s been the reality facing the HR team at CAVA, a fast-casual restaurant chain with more than 300 locations and more than 9,200 employees across the U.S. After buying Zoë’s Kitchen in 2018, the 14-year-old company became the nation’s largest Mediterranean restaurant brand and last year embarked on its latest chapter when it went public.

Managing the HR aspects of those transformations since 2020 has been Kelly Costanza, chief people officer, who previously held HR leadership roles at organizations including Ollie’s Bargain Outlet, rue21 and American Eagle Outfitters. Costanza says CAVA’s HR strategy, through the shifts of the past few years, has been anchored in the company’s “human deal framework,” its employee value proposition, in which employee wellbeing plays a central role.

Costanza recently shared more with Human Resource Executive about how focusing on employee wellbeing has helped the organization’s workforce thrive through change.

HRE: You joined CAVA in May 2020, an interesting time for the restaurant industry. What was your immediate HR priority?

Costanza: I did join at the beginning of the pandemic. At the time, CAVA had recently acquired Zoë’s Kitchen, so we were embarking on transitioning those restaurants to CAVA restaurants. A lot of our focus was centered around assessing talent, making sure we had the right talent acquisition and internal promotion and talent programs in place to run CAVA restaurants. And we were embarking upon fast growth for all of our restaurants. In addition, we were managing a crisis like the rest of the world. We were really focused on daily crisis management at that time.

HRE: How did CAVA experience the pandemic-era recruiting and retention challenges that so many in the restaurant industry encountered?

Costanza: The thing that makes CAVA really special—and what has enabled us to attract and retain talent—is our very unique culture. That originated with our founders, who had this mission to bring heart, health and humanity to food. The only way we believe we can do that is by bringing heart, heath and humanity to our team members.

We’re really focused on something we call the human deal framework, which is centered around the full scope of human needs. We aim to address a variety of those human needs through our programs. And we really think that’s what allows us to attract and retain team members at CAVA.

HRE: What does the “human deal framework” entail?

Costanza: It’s what I would call a modern-day employee value proposition. Within the human deal framework, wellbeing is certainly part of it, but other items that we focus on include radical flexibility and ensuring there are personal growth opportunities for individuals. Do team members feel like there’s a shared purpose or something they can rally behind together and form deeper connections with one another?

HRE: How challenging has it been to dive into that employee value proposition while also managing the transformations related to rapid growth and expansion?

Costanza: It’s certainly a robust amount of initiatives that we have taken on focused both around the human deal framework but also growing the brand and opening new restaurants. However, I would tell you that it feels quite seamless—and not like a lot of work. That’s because [CEO and co-founder] Brett Schulman and [co-founder and Chief Concept Officer] Ted Xenohristos have what I would describe as a strong belief in this human deal framework.

For a chief people officer, it’s a dream to partner with individuals like these two executives because they believe in doing the right thing for our team members. I don’t have to spend a lot of time convincing them. When I bring forward programs in support of the human deal framework, they’re aligned.

HRE: How is CAVA approaching DEI today, particularly at a time when some companies are moving away from visible support for DEI?

Costanza: What’s important to us—in relation to our founders’ mission of bringing heart, health and humanity to food—is that we believe that everyone is welcome at our table. Everyone has a seat. So, our strategy is centered around human connection; the umbrella for us is human connection. Part of that is DEI.

One of the things we are focused on is our MVC—our mission, values and competencies. We do a lot through those, like recognition, performance management; you name it, we connect our values and our behaviors to everything. One of our competencies is diversity cultivation. We have very specific behaviors within diversity cultivation—from individual contributors all the way up to the C-level—but we all embrace diversity cultivation.

HRE: In terms of DEI, CAVA launched one umbrella ERG for “allies,” instead of a range of them. What’s the thinking there?

Costanza: We did have a network when I joined CAVA four years ago called the Network of Women, and that is a legacy ERG that we did not want to dismantle, so that still exists today. However, our team launched something called Allies in Motion, which we call our company’s enterprise employee resource group. It is really centered around telling the story of underrepresented groups through our own team members who are part of those underrepresented groups. It allows us to understand one another and listen to what’s happening through their personal stories.

It builds such an incredible amount of understanding. We bring in guest speakers, and we typically celebrate, in any given month, a certain underrepresented group—outside what is more traditional from employee resource groups. In June, we celebrated our differently abled community for Disability Pride Month. We heard from individuals who have family members with a disability—what it’s been like raising children or having a sibling who has a disability. It builds understanding between one another, instead of what I would describe as preaching or talking at people. Empathetic listening is a really important part of what we aim to achieve with Allies in Motion.

HRE: How is your HR team helping the workforce navigate ongoing global change and uncertainty?

Costanza: We’re really focused on wellbeing in a variety of ways. One of the things we do, for example, is host listening sessions on different topics, including those that might be happening in the world today. They’re typically facilitated by a licensed therapist, who generates conversation and opportunities for empathetic listening. We also offer one-on-one sessions with that therapist or counselor should anyone want to continue those conversations.

We have a wellbeing program that offers financial support to individuals should they be experiencing something where they need financial assistance that’s not covered in our medical benefit plans. We also have something called the Goodness Fund, where team members can contribute $1 per pay or something like that. And when team members find one another in need, they’ll encourage people to apply [to receive funds].

We also offer ways for team members to think about emotional resilience, including training sessions both face-to-face and on-demand to build emotional resilience. There are a lot of ways that we aim to promote wellbeing and learning and development so that individuals can manage the world we’re living in. We call it a “perma crisis.”

HRE: One of the biggest internal transformations was that CAVA went public last year. What was the HR focus leading up to that?

Costanza: We’ve really been building a lot of strategy for the last four years that I have been with CAVA; the preparation occurred long before the IPO. That was making sure that we set up a defined employee value proposition, talent strategies, total rewards strategies—systems that could help us really have what I would describe as a modern people and culture.

And of course, we worked together as an executive team when preparing for the events of the IPO. I was very involved in working with the team to tell our story, to make sure that we garnered the support that we needed to make CAVA an appealing investment.

HRE: Outside of CAVA, what has most shaped the type of HR leader you are?

Costanza: I’ve had a lot of great mentors in my life. There are certainly some individuals I have worked with in the past who taught me a lot.

I subscribe very much to this idea of servant leadership. I’m a big believer that we are here on this planet to serve one another. And so, a lot of what has shaped me over the years has been people who have worked on my team, direct reports of mine or team members out in a restaurant. I started working as a sales associate, making $4.10 an hour, many moons ago at Limited Brands. I was a server at Red Lobster and was a server for a few years during college as well. I remember what it was like to serve guests and work in a fast-paced environment. What I have learned most is from some of those experiences where I’ve been a team member myself.

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