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Progress typically exams an organization’s soul. We’ve seen it occur many occasions, values that after outlined an organization slowly fade beneath the load of growth. However CAVA, a fast-casual Mediterranean model with greater than 400 eating places and 12,000 group members, is proving it doesn’t should be that means.
After I sat down with Kelly Constanza, CAVA’s Chief Folks Officer, she shared how they’ve constructed a people-first tradition that’s as operationally tight as it’s deeply human. The key isn’t in slogans—it’s in techniques. CAVA’s “MVC Framework”—Mission, Values, and Competencies—acts as an working system for tradition, linking on a regular basis actions to an even bigger function.
Right here’s what each CHRO can study from how CAVA turns beliefs into measurable motion.
Take heed to the episode right here on Apple Podcast & depart a evaluation!
Join Mission and Tradition—Then Revisit It as You Develop
Kelly joined CAVA at a turning level: in the course of the pandemic and proper after the corporate acquired Zoe’s Kitchen. As an alternative of treating tradition as static, her group used that transition to rebuild it. Over six months, they partnered with executives to outline which behaviors would transfer the enterprise ahead for the subsequent 5 to seven years.
“You’ll be able to’t carry coronary heart, well being, and humanity to meals except you carry it to your folks first.” – Kelly Constanza
CAVA’s mission isn’t only a advertising and marketing assertion—it’s the north star for the way the corporate treats its group members. Their worker expertise is constructed on coronary heart, well being, and humanity, aligning completely with their buyer promise. It’s a reminder for each chief: when your worker worth proposition mirrors your model mission, tradition turns into self-reinforcing. Your folks reside the aim they serve.
Construct Tradition Folks Can See, Contact, and Observe
Most organizations speak about values. CAVA operationalized them.
Their MVC Framework breaks tradition into three layers:
- Mission – The “why” behind the corporate.
- Values – 4 clear ideas: Generosity First, Ardour for Positivity, Appearing with Agility, and Fixed Curiosity.
- Competencies – Seven concrete behaviors that outline what these values appear to be in motion.
CAVA’s success lies in its skill to show its values into what Kelly calls “muscle reminiscence.” The corporate doesn’t depend on one-off coaching or posters; it embeds tradition into the worker lifecycle from day one.
Methods to Flip Values Into On a regular basis Actions
CAVA didn’t cease at PowerPoints. They embedded tradition into the workflow. From Worth Playing cards used to acknowledge friends to MVC Awards and Competency Champion Coach (CCT) certifications, the tradition exhibits up in actual, tactile methods. Throughout our dialog, Kelly shared how CAVA has reimagined a number of conventional HR practices to make tradition tangible:
- Hiring for Match, Not Simply Talent: Each candidate is evaluated utilizing behavioral interview guides and a character evaluation referred to as OED, which identifies how somebody naturally exhibits up in a job. It’s about alignment with values, not simply {qualifications}.
- Onboarding With Goal: Each new rent, from hourly group members to executives, goes by means of The CAVA Method—a structured onboarding that immerses them within the MVC framework.
- Changing Critiques With Actual Conversations: Neglect once-a-year evaluations. CAVA changed efficiency evaluations with Impression Plans, ongoing dialogues that join private targets to behaviors and enterprise outcomes.
- Educating Leaders to Train Tradition: By means of the CCT Program (Competency Champion Coach), standout leaders are licensed to coach others in tips on how to mannequin and reinforce cultural behaviors—a peer-driven method to consistency.
- Recognizing What You Need Repeated: The corporate makes use of MVC Awards and Worth Playing cards to rejoice staff who reside out the mission every day, reinforcing that tradition isn’t summary—it’s what will get rewarded.
Every of those techniques capabilities as a suggestions loop, turning beliefs into habits and habits into outcomes.
When values are seen, repeatable, and celebrated, they turn out to be muscle reminiscence throughout the group. This sends a transparent message for CHROs: Tradition sticks when folks can see it, really feel it, and rejoice it every day.
Take heed to the episode right here on Apple Podcast & depart a evaluation!
Maintain Human Connection on the Core of Know-how and Inclusion
Whereas many organizations lean closely on course of to keep up consistency, CAVA leans equally on empathy. Kelly believes the human aspect of tradition is simply as structured because the operational aspect—it’s designed deliberately.
Applications like Allies in Movement (AIM) create area for storytelling and shared understanding, permitting group members to speak brazenly about identification, hardship, and development. The Love Button offers each worker the facility to offer away meals to company—easy acts of generosity that flip hospitality right into a every day ritual. And after social crises or tough moments, CAVA hosts company-wide listening classes with licensed therapists, reinforcing that empathy isn’t a response—it’s a part of the enterprise mannequin.
These initiatives aren’t aspect tasks; they’re the connective tissue that retains a fast-growing model feeling private and human.
Steadiness Empathy with Accountability and Future-Prepared Adaptability
CAVA’s tradition is caring, however it’s additionally disciplined. Accountability is one in all their core competencies—leaders coach within the second, use clear scorecards, and keep enterprise rigor even whereas nurturing well-being. Kelly acknowledged the necessity to keep away from burnout and survey fatigue, scaling again engagement pulses to concentrate on motion quite than countless suggestions.
Trying forward, she’s exploring how AI can elevate—not erode—worker and visitor expertise. CAVA is piloting instruments in three areas: employee productiveness, visitor expertise, and innovation. In the meantime, the brand new Taste Your Future program is increasing profession pathways for hourly staff and including inventory grants for Common Managers, honoring the founders’ authentic mission to offer others a greater life.
For CHROs, it’s a blueprint for sustainable tradition: steadiness coronary heart with efficiency, and innovation with humanity.
Tradition Is a System, Not a Slogan
Tradition can’t simply reside in phrases, it has to reside in workflows. And scaling doesn’t should imply shedding your soul. CAVA’s story reminds us that tradition is about techniques that make human habits measurable, teachable, and celebrated, and Kelly Costanza’s work exhibits tips on how to design these techniques so that they scale with out shedding heat.
While you deal with tradition like an working system, not a poster, it stays related regardless of how briskly you develop.
Should you’re main a group, constructing a tradition, or just making an attempt to make work really feel extra human, this episode provides a blueprint value finding out. Take heed to the complete dialog with Kelly Costanza, Chief Folks Officer at CAVA, on Future Prepared Management to discover ways to make your tradition come alive—one system, one story, and one act of generosity at a time.
