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Denny Hall has worked in the training and development field for more than 13 years. His primary expertise is in the area of industrial training system design and development. He has worked with the Training Within Industry job instruction (JI) training model for seven years and has used it at two different organizations. Hall’s team at Marvin Windows and Doors of Tennessee received a 2008 ASTD BEST Award for successfully incorporating JI training into Marvin's new-hire orientation program.

Denny Hall

November 2013 - TD Magazine

The Training Within Industry Approach Resurges in the U.S. Workforce

For 70 years, Denny’s has been an icon in the casual dining industry, building on its proud position as “America’s Diner.” To live up to its reputation of being a place where everyone is welcome, the company had to make diversity, equity, inclusion, and well-being a top priority.Beyond creating a safe and welcoming workplace, Denny’s leadership recognized that investing in DEI would improve employee engagement, reduce absenteeism, and improve overall financial performance. Additionally, prioritizing employee well-being can lower healthcare costs, increase productivity, and improve financial outcomes.Ultimately, the goal of these efforts is to establish a community where everyone feels valued, appreciated, and accepted as they are—and not just for guests but for team members as well. The challenge, as is often the case with large organizations, was finding a way to enact meaningful and sustainable change for all employees.The numbers don’t lie. Research shows that when employees feel a genuine sense of inclusion and belonging, their work performance increases by 56 percent, while sick days decrease by 75 percent, and the risk of turnover drops by half. Yet, just a single incident of micro-exclusion can lead to an immediate 25 percent decline in an individual’s performance.So, where to begin?Learning From the PastThe Denny’s brand has had its share of missteps over the years, culminating in a multi-million-dollar settlement payout in a 1994 racial bias lawsuit. Rather than bury or shy away from its past, however, the company has used this as an opportunity to learn and improve. The result: 58 percent of Denny’s restaurants are minority-owned. Likewise, among our board members, 56 percent come from underrepresented groups, and 44 percent are women. Yet, even with numbers trending in the right direction, Denny’s leadership recognized the need for ongoing and substantive DEI and well-being efforts.The fact is that most organizations approach DEI and well-being by providing a traditional one-day workshop. Unfortunately, this tactic fails to create awareness or generate an authentic change in the mindset or behaviors of many participants. Hence, the Denny’s Together initiative was born.Create a Place for AllThe Denny’s Together culture journey comprises several elements that support each other. The first is learning and embodying Denny’s “Rules to Live By,” which offers a set of foundational expectations that inform how team members treat Denny’s guests and one another. The L&D (leadership and development) team delivers interactive webinars and e-lessons to share these “rules” with restaurant team members.To boost awareness about DEI and well-being among Denny’s corporate team members, we offer the Go Beyond program. This collaborative program challenges participants to go on a journey of self-discovery as they take a deep dive into the advantages, barriers, and science of diversity, equity, and inclusion. Over 30 days, the program uses daily challenges to encourage team members to observe and explore their individual experiences and beliefs with compassion and curiosity.For example, Go Beyond kicks off with “reflection” activities, which include conversations led by other people leaders within the organization. In addition, there are community events where participants gather to share food and dialogue aided by conversation cards with specific reflection questions like, "What did you learn about bias and how it impacts your decision making?"What’s more, themed daily challenges and reflections, such as: “What Is Appearance Discrimination” and “How to Minimize the Bias Impact,” work to open participants’ minds about their own biases, attitudes, and relationships, while also coming together as one big Denny’s family. Example topics covered in these daily challenges include representation, appearance discrimination, implicit bias, inclusive language, empathy, bias blind spots, micro-affirmations, and allyship. Here’s an example of a daily challenge:Example of Daily ChallengeThe DEI Council and Business Resource Groups champion the theme. Team leaders discuss and reflect on challenge topics in meetings, and a weekly email supports exploring the challenges.To sweeten the pot and generate as much engagement as possible, raffles and giveaways for various challenges gamify the overall experience. For instance, all participants who complete challenges are entered to win a grand prize of two roundtrip airfare tickets to anywhere in the continental United States.Lasting ChangeThere were many lessons learned from the first two years of the Denny’s Together and Go Beyond programs. The four most powerful ones are:1. Get full buy-in from all key executives.2. Understand the culture you are starting with.3. Establish a sense of trust and safety for employees to freely participate.4. Set a high standard and invite employees to participate without a requirementIn addition to understanding that DEI efforts must be immersive to be effective, Denny’s leadership recognizes that achieving an entire cultural transformation that will affect the company from the top down and the bottom up requires an ongoing effort.But to measure the fruits of these efforts so far and guide future iterations, Denny’s leadership embarked on a comprehensive initiative to survey participants on how they felt about the Go Beyond program and the brand in general from a DEI perspective.Nearly all participants (94 percent) of team members felt that the Go Beyond program was an engaging experience, with 73 percent saying that it helped them grow as individuals. In fact, it was such a positive experience that 60 percent said they would be eager to participate again.More importantly, 82 percent of participants said they would recommend Denny’s as an employer, largely because of initiatives like this.Building on the success of Denny’s Together and the initial Go Beyond challenge, the company recently completed the second Go Beyond challenge, this time with the theme of Empowered Well-Being. Likewise, also in the works is the Championing Humanity challenge, a four-week reflection that will help participants discover what active allyship looks like, what shared power means, and most importantly, how to create a safe place for all.Moving forward, the L&D team is also working on rolling out a new leadership development program called Elevating the Power of We. This two-day, cohort-based program will have participants explore how to communicate in a supportive way, cultivate empathy and compassion, and genuinely listen to other people’s stories and perspectives.At Denny’s today, individuals are viewed as holistic beings. As such, their physical, emotional, and mental well-being must be prioritized. This is why Denny’s leadership is on a mission to create a brand that actively promotes mental fitness and overall empowered well-being. By creating a safe place to have candid conversations about real things that matter to real people, Denny’s is well on its way to creating a culture that embraces differences, welcomes personal stories, and celebrates all voices.

Denny’s Together

Fasika Melaku is the SVP, Chief Human Resources and Chief Learning Officer Denny’s Corporation. She is responsible for growing and nurturing the Denny’s culture and operationalizing its ethos—that clarify what is needed from employees to transform the company, ensuring our ability to provide a realiable guest experience and truly deliver for learners.Fasika has a cross-industry track record of successfully unlocking the potential of teams by tapping into the skills and passions of people and the leaders who guide them. Prior to joining Denny’s, Melaku held the position as Vice President of Restaurant Training and Recruiting for Taco Bueno Restaurants, a 161-unit company with annual revenues of $200 million based in Dallas, Texas. In that role Fasika Melaku focused on building a culture of people and operational excellence throughout the organization and building department credibility by establishing collaborative relationships with her peers and operations management.Before that, Fasika Melaku held a variety of roles in operations and HR leadership with Brinker International and Darden Restaurant Group. Within those roles, she worked on delivering learning solutions and driving long-range organizational initiatives including the implantation of broad-range of talent processes, including recruitment and on-boarding, performance management and succession planning, executive assessments, employee surveys, and leadership development programs. She is actively involved in the community and sits on the board of the Urban League of the Upstate.

Fasika Melaku

Jenny Hill, CPLP, has more than five years of experience creating engaging, accessible, and effective learning experiences. She works with a wide variety of clients to ensure learners can reach their potential and do their most meaningful work. She has spoken on a number of learning and accessibility topics, and has presented at the Brightspace Global Conference and The Accessibility Conference at the University of Guelph. She has written for Learning Solutions Magazine, as well as other publications and blogs. Contact her on LinkedIn at www.linkedin.com/in/JenniferReneeHill.

Jenny Hill

Panel on Maximizing the Effect of Sales Training—Part 2

ASTD 2014 Panel on Maximizing the Effect of Sales Training—Part 1

Jenny Harshman, MSN, RN, NPD-BC, CPN, CCRN-K is a nursing professional development leader at Children’s Health in Dallas, Texas. She serves as the Manager of Clinical Education in the Learning Institute and has a special interest in how modern learning design impacts outcomes. Jenny is an active member in the Association of Nursing Professional Development and has presented on social learning and redesigning learning methods at their national conferences. She was named Educator of the Year in 2018 at Children’s Medical Center of Dallas. Jenny is a recipient of D Magazine’s Nurse Excellence Award in Education and Research and has been named one of DFW’s Great 100 Nurses of 2020.

Jenny Harshman

Nursing Shortage Is the Next Challenge for Healthcare Organizations After COVID-19

Spring 2014 - The Public Manager

Invest in the Workforce and Prioritize Programs to Meet Challenges

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