A job at Taco Bell is often a first chance for people to get their real-world feet wet, and learn basic skills like teamwork, customer service and problem solving. Since Taco Bell can only be as awesome as our people, we’ve made it a point to invest in our team members. When our employees told us that assistance achieving education goals was one of their top three wishes, we began rolling out new education offerings. And because we understand that some skills require practice outside the classroom, we have also introduced some pretty interesting leadership development programs that help our team members succeed and grow – whether they stay at Taco Bell for 3 months or 3 decades.

Our three programs – theSpark, theMark and theQuest – encourage risk-taking, build confidence and help employees become their best selves inside and out of our restaurants. Instead of focusing on technical skills, our Shift Leads, General Managers and Area Coaches learn life-long management skills and shape their leadership vision. These programs have led to happier, more fulfilled leaders, improved restaurant culture and performance, and decreased turnover.

Based on the success of these programs, we are piloting a fourth, theLab, for Area Coaches and above. theLab is designed to redefine leadership by disrupting old patterns and making way for new thinking, doing and leading. This six-month program will include in-person workshops, webinars and a business analysis project to look at areas for improvement in restaurants.

These programs are career and life game-changers. Don’t believe us? Hear from some of our rockstar participants below:

theMark (for General Managers, four days, Taco Bell HQ)

"The most useful part about theMark for me was understanding my vision and how to get there through bringing my team along. My commitment will be to be more consistent at providing feedback and recognition along the way.” "The purpose statement ‘Feeding People’s Lives with Más!’ was just a slogan, but after reviewing the HUNGRY principles and realizing that we do more than just sell tacos and burritos, I am inspired to bring this to life with my team. More importantly, I feel like I know how now.”

theQuest (for Area Coaches who lead multiple restaurants, three days, Taco Bell HQ)

Quotes from our Area Coaches:
“theQuest gave me the opportunity to hit the ‘pause’ button and reflect on my values and priorities as a leader. I was able to add detail and structure to my plan on how I was going to continue making a positive impact on my team.”

“theQuest was an eye-opening experience. It challenged me to take a good look at my team to understand where they are and what they need. I feel equipped to plan how I will help them move to where we want to be.”