Darryl Lesure is the Senior Principal Lead at Chick-Fil-A Corporate, a family-owned and privately held restaurant chain with over 2,500 restaurants across 47 states and Canada. Chick-Fil-A is known for its customer service, being named in Newsweek’s 2019 America’s Best Customer Service report. Darryl’s responsibilities as Senior Principal include providing supply chain leadership in innovation, apparel, and supplier diversity. Darryl has been with Chick-Fil-A for over 22 years.

Darryl joins us today to discuss Chick-Fil-A’s supplier diversity program and its criteria when looking for potential partners. He shares how their operations ran before the pandemic and the company's groundwork for its various DE&I programs. He describes how they remain consistent regarding quality customer service. Darryl also explains what leaders should do to improve supplier diversity and employee engagement.

"If you can't find a real opportunity, then just wait." - Darryl Lesure

This week on Breaking Barriers:

●     Chick-Fil-A at its core: its history and values

●     Why private corporations aren't required to have a supplier diversity program

●     Why Chick-Fil-A took it upon itself to focus on supplier diversity

●     What were their operations like before the Covid-19 pandemic

●     What "spill kit," is and what do they use it for

●     How the company laid the groundwork for supplier diversity

●     How the events of the last two years solidified their need for a DE&I program

●     How they continue to deliver top-notch customer experience while working on supplier diversity

●     Their criteria for choosing minority suppliers

●     Darryl's advice to those who want to start a supplier diversity program

●     What Darryl says leaders should do to get people behind their programs

Resources Mentioned:

●     Assertive Industries

●     Communique´ USA

Connect with Darryl Lesure:

●     Chick-Fil-A

●     Chick-Fil-A on LinkedIn

●     Darryl Lesure on LinkedIn

This podcast is brought to you by Hire Ground

Hire Ground is a technology company whose mission is to bridge the wealth gap through access to procurement opportunities. Hire Ground is making the enterprise ecosystem more viable, profitable, and competitive by clearing the path for minority-led, women-led, LGBT-led, and veteran-led small businesses to contribute to the global economy as suppliers to enterprise organizations.

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