Sweetgreen is raising its maximum compensation for head coaches — the brand’s equivalent to a restaurant general manager — to $200,000 annually in 2027, Chief Operating Officer Jason Cochran said.
This compensation ceiling is a combination of base pay, bonuses for meeting and for exceeding sales targets, and equity-based compensation, Cochran said. The maximum compensation will be available to top-performing managers at top-performing stores who have been with the company for more than three years.
Cochran estimated that about 10% to12% of Sweetgreen’s head coaches fit all three criteria. Coaches who max out the compensation plan could see up to a 50% increase in total compensation, the brand said in an emailed statement.
The change is part of a broader effort by the chain to invest in retention and training in hopes of improving operations as part of its multi-pronged turnaround plan.
Cochran said the investment in managerial compensation put Sweetgreen’s manager pay on par with other highly compensated brands, though he did not share a specific estimate for industry-average manager pay. The investment is part of an effort to build career paths for the chain’s employees.
“In the [restaurant] industry, oftentimes there’s not a clear path forward for people, whether they are entering at a team member level, or first time in management or running an actual restaurant,” Cochran said. “This gives a great career path forward.”
Cochran said that improving compensation will make it easier to attract and retain key talent.
Sweetgreen is also creating a ‘Restaurateur Program,’ through which top-performing head coaches who have been nominated by regional general managers can receive additional training and mentorship from senior company leadership, according to the press release. Restaurateurs earn a higher base salary and receive a $10,000 bonus for every worker they develop into a head coach.
“By tying their compensation directly to performance, we give them a real stake in the results they drive. We believe this creates a compelling reason for great leaders to join sweetgreen, stay with us and drive performance,” Cochran said in the press release. “It also gives our Team Members something meaningful to work toward as they develop into future Head Coaches.”
Additionally, Sweetgreen is creating a new role, regional training manager, which will coordinate and communicate training standards across the brand’s different regions. This person will also run shoulder-to-shoulder, in-person training seminars at restaurants, Cochran said. The brand is re-emphasizing training too, in an effort to boost store-level performance.
“The best predictor of future performance is time-in-position because the teams are able to get the reps in,” Cochran said. “We're enabling the team members to get the reps in, so that way they're delivering on better food, better service and hospitality.”
Other major chains, particularly ones pursuing major turnarounds or substantial growth, are likewise focused on managerial retention and career paths. Starbucks, for instance, created a new assistant store manager role last year and said it would hire thousands of people to fill the positions. Chipotle expanded its managerial apprentice program to cover all of its company-owned stores earlier this year.
Burger King recently re-worked its store manager role to have a greater focus on hospitality and customer experience. Cava, which competes with Sweetgreen for health-conscious consumers, has added a new AGM role and made its GMs eligible for incentive equity grants in a bid to improve retention.
