Elevate Series: Brian Schwartz from The Elliot Group

Q: Thanks so much for being here Brian! It’s great to have you. Could you tell us a bit more about the The Elliot Group, the role you play in the organization, and your professional journey?

A: Dan, thanks for having me. It’s great to be an ambassador on the Elliot side and always great to continue the partnership and long term relationship with Harri. The Elliot Group is an exclusive executive search firm in the consumer and service sectors. I joined the firm in 2010 and work closely with private equity-backed and publicly traded clients on identifying key leaders to accelerate their brands. One of our key points of differentiation is our diverse experiences across our team. We’re made up of functional leaders from the consumer sector (operations, human resources, marketing, sales, etc.). We’ve been thoughtful and strategic about how and why we assemble our team. From a client standpoint, we have a deep understanding of the mechanisms of internal businesses and we are able to draw upon our experiences to support them.

Q: Fantastic. Due to COVID-19 and all of the events from 2020, the operations and financial landscape has completely changed. For hospitality businesses in particular, the response of collective leadership has never been more important.  From your unique perspective, what has that evolution looked like and where are leaders turning their attention to next?

A: I think particularly within a quick service landscape we see continued investment and interest in back of house technology. As I think about the role technology plays, if you’re able to really leverage it, you’ll see brands really be able to differentiate themselves. From a leadership standpoint, businesses are looking for leaders who can pivot and evolve and deal with ambiguity. From an operations standpoint, everyone is looking to solidify their foundation and balance the topline revenue generation and bottomline component without sacrificing what makes this industry so special, the face-to-face.

The critical difference between full service and quick service is that hospitality touch point. A full service experience is the sum of a thousand touch points. As winter begins to turn and outdoor dining may not be possible, businesses will really need to lean into their core. As people, we need that human interaction, and I don’t anticipate that going away.

Q: What does cross-functional/athletic leadership look like and why is that so important to brands?

A: I think that there are some really strong academy companies (Starbucks and Yum! Brands) that do a really good job taking leadership and importing them into our functional disciplines. To give them exposure into enterprise-wide leadership roles and then redeploying them into their functional expertise. This rotation helps to continue to elevate and build a well-rounded leader. On the Elliot side, what we typically see is people who have the ability to move back and forth between disciplines are set up for broader leadership positions.

Q: What does, in you and your team’s opinion, does success look like in 2020? And 2021?

A: I think from a business standpoint it’s about continued opportunity. The businesses that are in really strong positions now are looking at this as an evolution, not a revolution. I think businesses that need to recreate their platform will continue to see some of this rocky water we’re all in now. However, businesses who have a really good, strong foundation, and understand who their consumer is and how to deliver best in class experience, I think, will be able to lean into this and see evolution through 2021. For the rest of this year, I think it’s about continued stabilization and strategic framework. On a more positive note, these new health considerations are fantastic, and probably here to stay!

Q: What is top tier talent looking for at this time when considering a leadership role at a new organization?

A: I think it’s the ability to influence and help drive and craft the future strategy. Having the right resources and willingness to invest in the organization. Leaders as they move from one organization to the other are wildly focused on ensuring the business is primed for evolution, growth, and change. 

Q: Okay final question Brian, thank you so much for your insights. With the aftermath of Covid, what are you seeing as important hires in the restaurant and consumer space?

A: I think the key pillar here is the people function, and that drives everything. By that I mean, diversity and inclusion initiatives, broader human resources, organizational development, and training and development. That’s really paramount because people function drives everything else. From a marketing, technology, and operations standpoint, it’s the intertwining of those three pieces as businesses look to develop an omnichannel platform and how they react with a changing guest and how a guest wants to consume and utilize the business. But, all of it comes back to the people function, not only internally but externally.

For more information on the Elliot Group, click here.

For more information on the Harri COVID-19 solutions, click here.