Team Member Spotlight: Kenisha

Meet Kenisha, a Lead Assistant Restaurant Manager (LARM) at the KFC/Taco Bell in Salisbury, MD. She has been happily employed with Summerwood for three and a half years, joining the company from another popular QSR franchise.

“I needed… something different,” she says. “I enjoy… just meeting different people.”

She says currently, she hops around a little more than usual, assisting at other locations besides her “home base.”  “I’m wherever they need me for right now.”

As an LARM, Kenisha oversees the team and assures things run smoothly, properly, at all times.

Part of her job is monitoring how staff are doing performance wise and also personally. You could say this is an extension of Summerwood’s family-oriented atmosphere where leadership actually show care for their employees.

“You never know what everybody’s going through,” she says. She continues, explaining that she gets to know her employees enough to know when an attitude is out of character. She’ll pull someone aside and inquire, “Hey, what’s going on? Are you okay today? Everything’s fine? Anything happen before work? Or anything that I can do to make it better for you so we can get through our day?”

It’s this compassion that makes a people-first culture work. Kenisha says she often lends support to employees during difficult times. And according to her, this is company-inspired. “They look out for their employees.”

How does Summerwood take care of its employees? With great benefits like 401k plans, vacation time and sick pay, Kenisha says. 

She also says one thing that makes Summerwood a cut above the rest is its friendliness and stellar recognition efforts.

“You can definitely tell it’s Summerwood if you get the recognition,” she asserts.

Internal promotion is another thing Summerwood does extremely well. In fact, Kenisha witnessed this at a store recently when a crew member was promoted to Shift Manager. She says the company aims to promote employees who have worked hard, improving themselves. And naturally, this is positive for the work environment.

“They strive… to actually move up instead of staying comfortable in that one position,” she says of how this impacts employee morale.

So what kind of people would fit in at Summerwood?

“We look for people who are bubbly, outgoing, friendly and pretty much family-oriented,” Kenisha says.

Kenisha herself is a likable person and her experience with Summerwood thus far is heartwarming. She says she’s felt nothing short of welcome and wanted since joining the company.