S

tephen G. Donovan Jr.

General Manager and Training Leadership Manager

Accomplished general manager with 20 years of experience in successfully developing, leading and managing company goals and initiatives. Consistently strong in successfully driving revenue growth, delivering innovative solutions by identifying business needs, building strong relationships, providing effective and efficient communication while being a loyal and determined team player.

Areas of Expertise

Inventory Planning

Human Resource Relations

Team Leadership

Communications

Product Training

Vender / Client Relations

Food Control Management

Product Management

Business Development

Labor Forecasting

Manager Training

Employee Relations

Career Highlights

Leadership Skills: Excellent team building and interpersonal skills; work well with individuals on all levels. Recognized as a resource person, problem solver, and creative leader.

Communication Skills: Delivered dynamic, highly effective management direction that was clear and concise, conveying facts and information in an engaging manner, while influencing decisions. Provided effective training on new procedures and/or products.

Organization and Time Management Skills: Performed multiple daily management tasks, adhering to strict deadlines, synthesizing, interpreting, and integrating business from multiple sources.

Problem Solving: Utilized critical thinking and creative problem-solving abilities while determining cause and effect to help the business strive and succeed with 100% customer satisfaction.

Professional Experience

Panera Bread, St. Louis, Missouri

ASSISTANT GENERAL MANAGER July 2018-Current

Assisting the General Manager with all operations and business aspects within the store location to maintain customer expectations and strive to meet business and company goals.

Manage daily food costs, store inventory, schedules daily to ensure the location has appropriate inventory and staffing to run operations successfully and efficiently. This includes reviewing and maintaining the monthly P&L every period.

Manage daily food costs, store inventory, schedules daily to ensure the location has appropriate inventory and staffing to run operations successfully and efficiently. This includes reviewing and maintaining the monthly P&L every period.

Train new and current employees on daily job duties and ensure they are aligned on new store improvements, food specials and updated menu items. Also, training all managers on specific dedicated responsibilities, ensuring all the necessary training and certifications are up-to-date and completed.

Ownership of hiring, terminating, and providing reviews of employees and managers. Ensuring the right opportunities to drive a successful working environment and to encourage career growth across the team.

Coordinate biweekly meetings with the General Manager to review store progress, future needs, and opportunities, staffing and scheduling concerns and process and operational enhancements. Also, meeting with the Area Operating Partner on a monthly basis to discuss high-level on the above.

Establish and grow relationships within the store location and across other locations to ensure personal growth, communication, future knowledge and training opportunities.

Stephen G. Donovan Page 2

First Watch, Clayton, Missouri

ASSISTANT MANAGER September 2016-2018

Assisted with training employees on new menu rollouts and leading each food, prep and guest service station to succeed with customer service and excellence.

Managed daily labor control and maintaining food costs for the business location.

Continued to lead the team by example and maintain customer service satisfaction as that is the company’s top attribute that helps defines their success.

Established strong rapport with employees and management team while enhancing leadership and communication skills.

Walnut Grill, O’Fallon, Missouri

ASSISTANT GENERAL MANAGER June 2016-September 2016

Opened the second location based in O’Fallon, Missouri. This included staffing and training all front of house employees (servers, bussers, bartenders and hosts); restaurant setup; managed timeline with lead project manager on store completion; and assisted with local advertising for store opening.

Managed the “soft” opening rollout which included family & friends and VIP nights. The rollout was needed to help further train employees, test the menu options and fix any issues before the restaurant opened to the full community.

Worked side-by-side with the head chef to guarantee all food items were prepared correctly and focused 100% on complete customer satisfaction.

Responsible for all training schedules, front of house schedules and manager schedules to staff the restaurant successfully each and every day.

Utilized communication and leadership skills to help establish innovative ideas and direction to accomplish the restaurant demands and business goals.

Steak N’ Shake, St. Louis, Missouri

GENERAL MANAGER – TRAINING STORE January 2010–June 2016

Managed two store locations, which included a larger team of managers to support. As well as, running the business daily which included controlling all food and labor costs and ensuring complete customer satisfaction.

Responsible for managing a staff of 75+ employees and 8 assistant managers while supporting, growing and developing them for business and career growth.

Performed training leadership and management by training all new managers (assistant, general manager and district manager) hired by the company. Worked directly with the managers during a 6-10 week program to help establish the knowledge of the company’s polices and procedures that helped them maintain their daily roles and responsibilities. Conducted weekly orientations for all new hires at a centralized location. Continued to strive as a top training store for almost 3 years.

Maintained and managed all food costs and inventory daily to ensure company standards and overall contribution to the company’s bottom line. Managed labor hours for all staff to ensure the number of hours meet the labor expectations forecasted for the period.

Evaluated all staff overall but focused on manager reviews to help improve their performance to better their overall career development. Conducted weekly meetings to inform staff of any new procedures, products and store improvements to help the location grow and succeed.

Received acknowledgement and certification of having the cleanest store within the St. Louis market as well as meeting and exceeding company standards on sales, food and labor while maintaining all other management responsibilities. Continued to enhance leadership skills for career growth and goals for the path of a district manager.

Stephen G. Donovan Page 3

Buffalo Wild Wings, St. Louis, Missouri

GENERAL MANAGER January 2006–2009

Managed overall restaurant operations to ensure complete satisfaction and success including daily budgets for food, liquor and labor costs.

Performed daily manager tasks by providing strong customer service, ensuring food quality, displaying proper food presentation and delegating overall responsibility for restaurant demands. Maintained employee morale with staff by creating a fun and positive atmosphere.

Coordinated monthly manager reviews to discuss performance to ensure a satisfactory management team. Offered additional support and knowledge to all employees and managers by providing an extensive orientation and the correct training tools to deliver success.

Promoted service and specials to local businesses as well as sponsoring local sport teams within the area. Established strong relationships with employees, managers, clientele and the community.

Education

Associate Degree: Business Management

University of Phoenix

A “Serve Safe” Certified Restaurant Management Professional with over 20 years of experience in restaurant general management & training.

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