INC: An Applebee’s Exec Just Sent an Email That the Company Was Quick to Disavow
By Minda Zetlin March 27, 2022
Wayne Pankratz, a top executive at an Applebee’s franchise chain, sent a blast email to his colleagues this month crowing that rising gas prices were an “advantage” for the chain. He reasoned that cash-strapped people would have no choice but to take food-service jobs, even if the chain lowered its wages, which he encouraged his colleagues to do… There’s an us-versus-them view of employees that permeates Pankratz’s email. And he’s not alone. Leadership Circle’s Bill Adams noted in a recent Inc.com interview that too many managers think of employees as a necessary means to an end, rather than as the fabric of the organization they’re leading.