Guide

Matt Klug on Culver's Hiring, From Crew Member to Partial Owner

By Wilson K Lee, updated October 2026 · How I get these numbers

Culver’s looked at ordering kiosks and decided against them. Ask Matt Klug why, and his answer is about who a guest meets when they walk in.

Matt is SVP of Human Resources at Culver’s Franchising System, and he has been there 12 years. The chain has just about 1,070 restaurants in 26 states, all grown from a single store in Sauk City, Wisconsin that opened in 1984, and by his count more than 66,000 team members. He came in with almost no restaurant background, just a single summer working for a competitor back when he was very young.

A host from the Workstream team ran this interview at On the Clock 2026 in Atlanta. I hosted other interviews at the same event, including Amy Hom’s and Joe Guith’s, but this one was not mine. My part on this page is the notes at the end, written for owners with one to five locations.

Why Culver’s is worth studying at two stores

A lot of growth stories are about taking people out of the work. Culver’s kept them at the counter and built a long ladder behind them: 16 weeks of training for new owners, first jobs from age 14, and a path from manager to part owner.

Every rung on that ladder has a small-shop version. The thinking works at any size: decide where people matter most, then back them there.

How Matt described the Culver’s way

Why the counter stays human. The host asked why Culver’s doubles down on people when automation is way cheaper, and Matt opened with “It may be cheaper,” then turned to guests feeling “welcomed into your home.” Culver’s looked at kiosks and passed, though guests who want to can order ahead on a phone or from their table. What he wants is a warm greeting at the door and a person carrying the food to a table or out to a car.

Sixteen weeks and a week on every station. New franchisees train for 16 weeks, three months away from their families, at the support center and in restaurants, and before approval they spend a week in a restaurant working every position, about 60 hours. The crew’s feedback on that week is one of the leading considerations, so a candidate with “all the money in the world” can still be turned down for not being hands on. His two red flags: a candidate who wants to be “an office dweller,” and one who is in it just for the return.

Touching tables. Culver’s has a name for working the dining room, “touching tables,” where leaders, crew and franchisees check on guests and look for anything that could improve the visit. Matt’s reason is that human contact matters and “smiles are contagious.”

Be humble. His advice for anyone thinking about owning several locations was “be humble.” In his own early training, teenagers of 14 and 15 showed him up, kids “who could run circles around me,” and he puts humility, openness and a commitment to serving people at the center of Culver’s success.

A first job at 14. Culver’s takes on team members “as young as age 14,” and Matt wants that first job to help a teenager “be a better human,” whether they stay or not. When his own son was about to turn 15 and wanted to work at Culver’s, the house rule was school first, and “go get that job on your own.” He got it, and stayed three years before leaving for college.

Guest, crew member, part owner. Most Culver’s team members were guests first, which is why Matt says you are bringing on “their family and their friend network” along with the person. The path runs from crew member to trainer to running a restaurant, and through the mentoring program a strong manager can be sponsored by an existing franchisee and “become a partial owner themselves.” By Culver’s own figure, more than 200 owner operators came through that route.

What a small owner can borrow from 1,070 Culver’s

These notes are mine. He looks after people for a franchise system. You run a couple of shops. The ideas still travel.

1. Name the one moment that always stays human. Culver’s call on kiosks came from what it sells: being greeted and looked after. Every shop has a moment like that, the hello at the door, the handover of the order, the check at the table. Name yours, put it on your opening checklist, and make sure someone owns it during your busiest hour.

2. Let the crew weigh in before you promote anyone. Culver’s counts team member feedback when it decides on a franchisee. Before you make someone a shift lead or bring in an outside manager, have them work two full shifts beside your crew, then ask two or three people you trust how it went. If the crew would not follow them, a strong resume will not fix that.

3. Treat every new hire as a message to their friends. If most of your crew were customers first, each new person carries your reputation home to their family and friends. Ask your best three people who they would bring in, and watch how the first month goes for anyone they send you, because the rest of their friends are watching too.

4. Make room for the 3 to 5 hour student. Culver’s will take a high schooler who is only free 3 to 5 hours a week and honour that. A small shop can do the same with two short after-school shifts a week. Some of those students will stretch their hours later, and the ones who do already know how your shop runs.

5. Show the ladder and make the top rung real. At two stores you cannot sell anyone a franchise, but you can name the next step and how long it takes: trainer after a set number of months, shift lead after that, a manager role or a profit share when store two opens. Write it down and walk every new hire through it in their first week.

6. Fix engagement before you add perks. Matt put it plainly: “I consider engagement not to be satisfaction.” To him it means people feel connected to the business and believe they help it succeed. The small thing he would have a manager do is bring some fun in, music on while the crew sets up, everyone singing along, and it only happens if the manager opens that door.

For another chain that wins on people, read my breakdown of why Chick-fil-A out-earns the average restaurant.

Where the Culver’s story continues

Workstream published two articles from this interview, and I wrote both from the transcript.

• Why Culver’s Said No to Kiosks in 1,070 Restaurants: the guest side. Turning down kiosks, ordering by phone or at the table, touching tables, owners who work in their own restaurants, and his advice to stay humble.
• 5 Moves Matt Klug Uses to Build a People Pipeline at Culver’s: the people side. How franchise candidates are vetted, finding crew through family and friends, first jobs as the start of a career, sponsoring managers into ownership, and engagement before fun.

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