Leadership

Employees’ favorite restaurant CEO: In-N-Out’s Lynsi Snyder

Pixabay

Being America’s youngest billionaire hasn’t alienated In-N-Out CEO Lynsi Snyder from her employees, whose assessments landed the 36-year-old in the No. 4 spot on Glassdoor.com’s just-released list of the nation’s top 100 big-company chiefs

Only three other restaurant CEOs made the big-company list: the heads of Chick-fil-A, Raising Cane’s and Whataburger. None were included on a separate ranking of small and medium-sized concerns. 

The rankings are based on employee reviews of employers. Glassdoor.com, a website that enables job hunters to learn about a company before accepting a position there, weighs a number of factors in ascribing an employee approval rating to a CEO, including the number of positive and negative reviews and how consistent the comments are.

The input of In-N-Out employees earned Snyder, the granddaughter of the concept’s founder, a 99% approval rating. Verbatim comments from employees showed a great appreciation of policies followed by Snyder, such as allowing employees to eat burgers for free. They also praised In-N-Out’s training programs and systems for extending promotions and raises.

Synder, a notoriously publicity-shy and eccentric leader, moved up to the No. 4 slot after finishing 36th in 2017. 

The next-closest restaurant CEO on the ranking was Dan Cathy of Chick-fil-A, who earned the No. 50 slot with a 93% approval rating. Todd Graves of Raising Cane’s ranked No. 67, also with a 93% rating, and Preston Atkinson of Whataburger, No. 99, with a 91% approval score.

Members help make our journalism possible. Become a Restaurant Business member today and unlock exclusive benefits, including unlimited access to all of our content. Sign up here.

Multimedia

Exclusive Content

Financing

Why are so many restaurant chains filing for bankruptcy?

The Bottom Line: A combination of rising costs and weakening sales, and more expensive debt, has caused real problems for restaurant chains. But the industry is also really difficult.

Financing

Despite their complaints, customers keep flocking to Chipotle

The Bottom Line: The chain continued to be a juggernaut last quarter, with strong sales and traffic growth, despite frequent social media complaints about shrinkflation or other challenges.

Operations

Hitting resistance elsewhere, ghost kitchens and virtual concepts find a happy home in family dining

Reality Check: Old-guard chains are finding the alternative operations to be persistently effective side hustles.

Trending

More from our partners