$1,000,000,000-a-year CEO reveals one thing that 'always' blows new employees away

It's the simple things in life that make your work life a little easier, and while we'd all love a pay rise or Christmas bonus, one CEO has explained how he gets new employees on his side with a simple gesture.

We've all seen those flashy companies that try to lure you in with ball pits and slides, but when it comes down to it, Chris Tomasso turns to an old-fashioned method to keep his workers happy.

CEOs of billion-dollar companies might have some unusual ways of handling their staff, and we've all heard the controversy surrounding Elon Musk and his Tesla employees, Steve Jobs' 'beer test' while interviewing, or Jeff Bezos' panic-worthy 'question mark' method.

Speaking to Fortune, Tomasso explained how a bit of positive reinforcement goes a long way. Tomasso is the CEO of First Watch, an American restaurant chain that boasts $1 billion in revenue a year, over 500 locations in 29 states, and 14,000 employees as of August 2024.

Tomasso takes his time to give cooks and dishwashers handwritten notes when they're celebrating major milestones with the company. Honoring 10, 20, or 30 years of service, he estimates he's written over 500 personal notes with his own hand.

Defending this use of his time, Tomasso continued: “I just love people that pick their lane, they love it, and they don’t want to do anything else. They want to be the best dishwasher they can, and so I want to thank and reward loyalty, longevity, [and] the contributions that they make to the company."

He traces this unique approach back to getting his own handwritten note from his Hard Rock Cafe CEO at the age of 26. Keeping the note to this day, Tomasso decided to continue the tradition when he became a CEO in 2018.

Explaining how he doesn't like the moniker of CEO, he added: "I tried to minimize the [CEO] title as best I can when I’m interacting with people. I eat lunch in the break room with everybody, which always, for whatever reason, blows new employees away—that I just sit down next to them and bring my lunch and have lunch with them. I think it’s a shame that there’s that feeling."

Reiterating that creating a 'connection' with your employees is part of a broader leadership lesson, Tomasso said on LinkedIn: "Our job is to create an environment where our employees are happy and feel appreciated and they take care of the rest. And they do it better than anyone.”

Even if most Gen Zers apparently can't read cursive, many CEOs are keeping this sometimes lost art alive.

As the CEO of Neiman Marcus, Geoffroy van Raemdonck was known to send three to five handwritten thank-you notes every day. While plenty have moved to hybrid working, van Raemdonck had pivoted to texts, emails, and phone calls while keeping the idea going: "I was taught by great mentors of the power of sending a thank-you note. It’s really important for me—the moment of ‘thank you’—because I know what it is to receive a thank-you, to be acknowledged.”

Chevron CEO Mike Wirth also prefers to send “old-school, on paper” messages of appreciation to his team, remembering how he would've loved a letter from his CEO as he climbed the corporate ladder.