A legacy of excellence

MANILA, Philippines - An assembly of employees, managers, supporters and guests congregated at the Sofitel Philippine Plaza for the 21st Shakey’s Cup of Excellence, with the theme “Excellence Shining Like Stars.”

Excitement for the Cup of Excellence has doubled this year for a multitude of reasons. First, Shakey’s celebrated its 35th Anniversary with a big salvo by opening the biggest Shakey’s restaurant in the world! Second, the announcement that the most coveted award comes with a cash incentive. Third, special partners in the industry have shown interest and were giving special awards, too.

Participants, whose accomplishments were being honored, strolled in beaming with pride. Because of the exclusivity of the event, employees consider having being nominated to be an honor and a privilege.

Roland Bonifacio, QSCH Manager, shares that: “Excellence in what we do, exceeding expectations on product quality, service & hospitality from our highly trained restaurant team, clean and fun filled stores, simply wowing the guests every chance we get and they do it in just about every possible way to WOW!” 

The biggest inspiration for the attendees was the presence of the board of directors in full force. Leo Prieto Jr., chairman of the board of directors, led the group with an inspirational speech.

Prieto started his speech by saying “it’s not by chance that excellence is one of our guiding principles. Excellence is the foundation of what our company is built on. It’s in our DNA…” He further revved up the crowd by saying “it’s our 6th year of high double digit growth in profit and it has been a year of milestones.”

He closed by sharing four basic behaviors for creating excellence. First is to care more than others deem necessary through high QSCH standards and doing things from a guest’s perspective. Second is to risk more than what others see as safe as Shakey’s has done with new products and services. Third is to dream more than what others deem impractical, like how the brand sets its annual growth targets. The fourth and final behavior is to expect more than others think is possible. He emphasized this final behavior by appealing to everyone to never waiver in the pursuit of growth, to push limits and set high goals, to expect the best from each and everyone, and to deem all efforts as one’s masterpiece.