Local business sets example with employee retention post-pandemic

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    NASHVILLE, Tennessee (WSMV) — While so many restaurants are struggling to get people back into the workplace, there’s at one local business that’s keeping most all their employees and hiring new ones.

Workers at Tailgate Brewery said they love working there and it’s largely thanks to their employee retention practices.

This Wednesday, people were lining up for half price pizza at the Charlotte location. It was a welcome sight after bouncing back from 2020, which was survivable thanks to to-go orders and canned beer.

Now that things are getting back to normal, all three of the Tailgate locations are back to full staff. This comes after a year of uncertainty and layoffs last March. However, almost all their employees wanted to come back to work thanks to their great benefits.

“We have a saying here: ‘We need to treat out employees better than we treat our guest’,” said Liz Tarry, Marketing Manager for Tailgate Brewery. “And we try to treat our guests really well!”

Tailgate offers starting wages at $15-$20/hour, depending on experience. They also offer all employees health benefits, a 401K and flexible, consistent scheduling. It’s an incentive to keep their existing employees around and attract new ones.

Brandon Harvey is a Warehouse Lead at Tailgate Brewery. He said when he was looking for a job in the brewing industry, this one stood out because of the great pay.

“Also seeing the health benefits and the 401K, it was way better than the other positions I was looking at,” Harvey said.

Tarry said it’s a number one priority at their company to keep employees happy.

“One thing we really look at, is we want people to stay here. We don’t want them to be paid better somewhere else,” she explained. “We’re not doing our job if someone can get the same job for a better rate.”

Tarry said she hopes their practices are an example for others in the restaurant and bar industry across Nashville.

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