Pizza Roto in Highland Heights has been hiring workers through online job websites and teaching them through a four-day training program.

Tito Velez, the manager at Pizza Roto, finds it an easy task to find workers online but they aim to fill the morning shift first. Velez said, “With strong competition and opportunities aplenty, it is difficult to find employees over 18 that are available during our early hours.”

Many students from the high school, such as sophomore Kelsey Mize, work at Pizza Roto after school. She learned to make pizzas through the four-day training program. Mize said, “We learned how to make pizzas, use the oven, stretch out pizza dough, greet customers, and work the cash register.”

Another employee, Shelby Segall, saw that Pizza Roto was hiring and applied. Segall said, “I feel like sometimes we are understaffed but it depends on the shift/day.”

In order to make teaching the workers easier, the workers are divided into small groups. Velez said, “An employee will be exposed to every aspect of the Pizza Roto concept and all procedures there-in.”

In the groups, the staff members are instructed on what they need to do for the day. “We took this one step further by dividing the two groups into two smaller sections that would switch positions midway through that day’s training,” said Velez.

Mize learned how to make pizzas at Pizza Roto through practice. Mize said, “I learned how to make pizzas by the act of repetition. It becomes easy once you do it over and over again, but you have to work at it. Memorization and accuracy is key.”

Fairness doesn’t always work with scheduling according to Velez. “In a new restaurant it becomes difficult to schedule a large group to benefit both the employees needs as well as the needs of the company,” Velez said.

Velez thinks it’s hard for any new owner to open a new business. Velez said, “The most difficult in my perspective as a general manager is preparing the new staff for the coming volume of sales.”

Teaching a target group in a way that everyone can understand is a struggle for management. They had to teach in a way so that everyone could understand the information given. Velez said, “We found that some employees were not as engaged as others and some were shining stars from the onset.”

Mize feels like her job at Pizza Roto has benefited her. “It has given me a sense of independence and much better social skills with strangers. I am more confident outside of my house and school and now have a work-in-progress work ethic that can help me down the road,” said Mize.

Segall also felt like her job benefited her. Segall said, “Working at Pizza Roto has benefited me by giving great teamwork experience and better people skills.”

Being near the high school has helped with Pizza Roto’s sales according to Velez. “We have many teachers and staff as well as students stopping by daily to get pizza from us. Parents come in and mention their children on a consistent basis,” said Velez.

Customer interactions and Pizza Roto’s product are one of the more focused parts of the company. Velez said, “Others have tried to execute our concept and failed. We have great pizza made right!”

In addition to the spot in Highland Heights, Pizza Roto has a location in Madison. To learn more, visit https://www.pizzaroto.com or call the Highland Heights location at 216-356-6992.