Cody T. Wadsworth
Internal Communications Manager, Restaurant franchising
Nashville, TN · (940) 555 0170 · name@example.com · linkedin.com/in/codytwadsworth
Key Qualifications
EXPERIENCE
Nine years in employee communications, four managing a team.
INDUSTRIES
Restaurant franchising, hospitality, retail operations.
SPECIALTIES
Deskless workforce communication, manager cascade, change communications, recognition programs.
SYSTEMS
Firstup, Poppulo, SharePoint, Workday, Qualtrics, Canva.
CREDENTIALS
Communication Management Professional, International Association of Business Communicators.
EDUCATION
Bachelor of Science in Communication Studies, University of Tennessee.
Results at a Glance
34%
Percent by moving
11,000
Employees with enrollment
1,400
Employee stories
Executive Summary
Internal communications manager for a restaurant franchise group with 11,000 employees, most of them working a shift rather than a desk. Nine years in employee communications. Builds channels people actually open on a phone between rushes, and measures whether the message reached the line, not just the district office.
Signature Achievements
- Raised open rates on company wide messages from 34 percent to 81 percent by moving off email and onto a mobile application built for shift workers.
- Cut general manager reported confusion about policy changes by two thirds after replacing bulletins with a weekly two minute video and a one page cascade sheet.
- Ran communications for a benefits change affecting 11,000 employees with enrollment completed by 96 percent of eligible staff, up from 78 percent the prior year.
- Built a recognition channel that published 1,400 employee stories in two years and is now cited in exit interviews as a reason people stayed.
- Reduced translation turnaround for Spanish language messages from six days to same day by contracting two on call translators.
- Wrote the internal holding statement process used during a food safety incident at nine locations, keeping the field informed hours ahead of local news.
Professional Experience
Internal Communications Manager
Sixteen Barrels Restaurant Group, Nashville, TN 2021 to present
Team of three supporting 11,000 employees across 240 company operated and franchised restaurants in twelve states.
- Owns every channel reaching restaurant teams, including the mobile application, digital break room boards and the manager weekly.
- Writes for the chief executive officer and prepares the quarterly all staff broadcast.
- Runs a quarterly pulse survey and reports the results to the operations leadership group with recommended fixes.
- Leads communications for menu launches, wage changes and any operational change that reaches the line.
- Manages a channel and production budget of 410,000 dollars a year.
Internal Communications Specialist
Bluegrass Hospitality Partners, Louisville, KY 2018 to 2021
Hotel management company with 2,600 employees across 31 properties, communications handled by a team of two.
- Produced the employee newsletter and the general manager briefing every week.
- Rebuilt the intranet on SharePoint so a housekeeper could find a pay stub in two taps.
- Wrote change communications for a property management system rollout across all 31 hotels.
- Trained 34 general managers on running a shift meeting that people remember.
Communications Coordinator
Cumberland Grocers Cooperative, Knoxville, TN 2016 to 2018
Member owned grocery cooperative of 900 employees across nine stores and a distribution center.
- Wrote the daily store bulletin and the monthly employee magazine.
- Coordinated the annual service awards and the employee giving campaign.
- Handled photography and video for store openings and community events.
Licensure and Certification
Communication Management Professional certification, awarded 2022
Education
Bachelor of Science in Communication Studies, University of Tennessee
Core Skills
Employee communications · Deskless workforce channels · Manager cascade toolkits · Change communications · Pulse surveys · Executive writing · Intranet management · Video production briefs · Bilingual message planning · Channel measurement