Your Secret PR Weapon…

… can be your employees. A company that treats employees well is on the short path to good PR and not to mention karma. For example, I recently splurged at Restaurant Zoe in Belltown. Our waitress eagerly explained she has been with the company eight years—a member of the original staff to be exact. Our other server had been with Zoe for three years. This type of employee retention in the restaurant industry is unreal. Our waitress had nothing but amazing things to say about Zoe’s owners, chef, sous chef and staff. She bragged about the food and helped me decide which foie gras fit my taste. (I chose the seared hudson valley foie gras with roasted organic nectarine, lovage puree and pan vinaigrette).

She not only did her job well, she acted as the best spokesperson a company could ask for in this situation. Just watch, her next table may be the New York Times food critic in town for a Northwest vacation. If so, Zoe need not worry. The employees have your back.