Sweetgreen restaurant managers are about to see some more sweet green.
The salad bowl chain said Tuesday it is rolling out a new compensation and incentive plan for the new year that would raise annual pay for managers of high-performing locations to more than $200,000.
“This sets Sweetgreen up to be in the top tier of restaurants for total compensation for general managers,” chief operating officer Jason Cochran told Business Insider. “Our ability to be able to attract, retain, and also inspire many of our internal team members to want to be head coaches — I think it’s going to be meaningful for many years to come.”
Managers need to have at least three years on the job to be eligible for the highest pay bands, and a new revenue-share bonus will directly reward leaders when their location beats it sales goals, the company said. Managers may also receive shares of Sweetgreen stock based on their performance.
Cochran said the typical tenure of restaurant managers ranges from three months to 10 years, and that store teams consist of about 25 to 50 employees.
“One of the shift leads was telling me they heard the news and how excited they were for their career at Sweetgreen,” he said. “She’s been with us six years.”
The company also said the changes at the top are part of a larger push to improve talent retention and training within the chain.
“Great leaders build great teams, and great teams build a great business. As we approach 300 restaurants, we’re betting big on our Head Coaches,” co-founder and CEO Jonathan Nemen said in a statement. “The restaurant industry has always been one of the great engines of opportunity, and we want to make that real for thousands of people.”
