theceomagazine.com | 61teaching them how to move into the adult
world and what the rules are.”
Sverre says an important part of
succeeding at Umoe Restaurants is the
ability to work alongside people of different
ages, cultures, religions and nationalities.
“If you go to our restaurants, it’s always
a mix of cultures. It’s a very multinational,
multicultural business. We have focused on
that and that’s both a big part of my job and
a part of creating success in the restaurant
business.” To bring its diverse staff together,
Umoe Restaurants has invested heavily in
its onboarding program, which is followed
by extensive training.
AN EVER-CHANGING
INDUSTRY
“Adapting to change can’t be something
you do every four years,” Sverre says.
“It has to be a part of daily life.” He says
the business has already invested in digitising
its internal production systems and social
media. Automation is another trend that
could revolutionise QSRs. “We will be
using a lot more robots in five years than
we do today,” he predicts. “It will be a
big change.”
Sverre offers an analogy for the sheer
speed of change in this sector. “If I asked you
what were the biggest changes since yesterday,
you probably wouldn’t see any. That’s how
we perceive every day. But if you watched a
movie from 10 years ago, you’d think ‘Wow!
A lot of things have happened since then’.
We are going through an extreme change
in a lot of areas without really noticing
them from one day to the next. Having
an organisation adapt to these changes is
probably the most difficult part of my role.
But it’s also the most fun.”
The CEO Magazine pressed Sverre for
his favourite item on the menu of any
Umoe subsidiary. As it turns out, there are
two he can’t choose between. “The Standard
Whopper; there is nothing close to it.
Another favourite is from Eataly Pizza. We
entered a pizza tournament and they created
a pizza that came in at number three in the
world at the championship in Italy. It’s a
fantastic product.”
Interview | INSPIRE