Kristi Blass on the Power of PI - Lever Limelight on Ziosk

In this first edition of Lever Limelight, we spoke with Kristi Blass, Director of People and Culture at Ziosk. Ziosk is a restaurant technology company that pioneered the pay-at-the-table concept seen at restaurants such as Olive Garden, Chili's, Texas Roadhouse, and more. 

Ziosk was introduced to Lever Talent through The Predictive Index and has used it to empower their hiring and talent strategy. Kristi spoke with us to discuss what success looks like for her and for Ziosk as well as how the power of behavioral understanding has changed their recruitment and development process.

Ziosk and the Power of The Predictive Index

What does success look like for you and Ziosk?

It's really twofold at Ziosk. Internally, success is recruiting the right talent, developing the right talent, and retaining the right talent. And then, success for our customers is that two people are happy. It's the dining guests that sit at those restaurants, but it's also appeasing the restaurant clients... So that's our job of serving the restaurant customers as well as the restaurant staff.

Internally, our customers are our people, so we definitely want to embody a people-first, results-focused culture, and PI helps to allow us to do that, so we can learn about each other and be better for one another.

Comparing your work today to where you started, what has been the main thing that has allowed you to expand and grow?

Personally, I will say that The Predictive Index and Lever Talent's training really forces self-awareness... As Curtis Creekmore (of Lever Talent) says, "Once you know what you know, what will you do?"

So being empowered with that information and then to be able to act upon that information, that has changed my growth individually. And then what could I bring to my teams? So once you know what you know, what will you do? So I would say that's been the growth for me, is figuring out who you are and then how to be better for others and what do they need to succeed.

What inspired you to pursue leadership?

I wanted to return to my roots of recruitment and development many years ago, as I had done with New York life, and I wanted an opportunity to revamp the department and create a new vision and return to my passion for recruitment and development.

Comparing your work today to where you started, what has been the main thing that has allowed you to expand and grow? 

So our year one was focused on recruitment. So I would say that PI has tremendously improved our recruitment process and how we hire, you know, inserting that job description into PI's algorithm, selecting the right candidates, asking the right questions, then giving a tool on how to develop that person should you hire, that's where it has improved.

It has improved our recruitment process and then even sort of the building the blocks for development. For year two with PI and Lever Talent, it's really helping our leaders become self-aware, where are their strengths and weaknesses, and then what do they need to improve on themselves personally, but also what do they need to bring differently to their team? What does their team need to succeed? So I feel like it's become this big "aha!" for leadership and for team members...

I feel the training, the curriculum, the customer care, your process, the way Lever Talent treats Ziosk, a company of less than 150 employees, as their only customer, is what's giving us the tools we need to succeed. - Kristi Blass, Director of People and Culture at Ziosk

How has The Predictive Index changed your talent strategy approach?

Well, it's tremendous. We have never done this type of assessment. You know, we've done technical coding challenges, but the behavioral, you know, and the fact that it implements the Situation, Task, Action, Result (STAR) interview process, so combining PI knowledge and then the methodology of the STAR interview process, combining those two has really elevated our game.

We've always done the STAR side of asking those STAR questions, but then to implement the behavioral and to look for the “watch-outs” is where the strength is. So it really has allowed us to make quality hires and do some more...checks and balances of processes along the way.

It really has strengthened our hiring process and then kicked off the development process so that way we know what to expect during the interview process. Then you kind of know how to prepare yourself as a leader for that new hire joining your team.

Our mission at Lever Talent is to help people feel that they are closer to achieving more than they could have imagined. Do you feel that you are closer to achieving that goal?

Yes I do... I feel the training, the curriculum, the customer care, your process, the way Lever Talent treats Ziosk, a company of less than 150 employees, as their only customer, is what's giving us the tools we need to succeed.

So whether we're having Lever Talent on site, whether we're doing onboard training, online training, all of that has been beneficial to Ziosk, and we will continue to partner with Lever Talent as we continue to grow at Ziosk.

Becoming More Than You Ever Imagined

Kristi's dedication to revamping Ziosk's HR into a "people-first results-focused culture" highlights her visionary leadership and commitment to fostering a supportive and growth-oriented environment. Lever Talent's partnership with Ziosk shows the transformative power of The Predictive Index. From refining recruitment to fostering employee development and self-awareness among leaders, PI has been instrumental in Ziosk's journey.  This ongoing collaboration continues to empower Ziosk's team, exemplifying Lever Talent's mission to help individuals achieve more than they could have imagined.

To experience the power of The Predictive Index or explore working with Lever Talent book a call.