Both Lou Rotella III, chief operating officer, and John Rotella, general manager, Rotella’s Italian Bakery, Omaha, Neb., have taken the lessons and examples given to them by their father and grandfather to cultivate leadership styles that have high expectations but are not without compassion and empathy for their employees. Both men lead first with a collaborative mindset, accepting feedback from all departments and job roles when looking at how to improve the bakery, solve challenges and serve customers. These traits are part of the reason they were named Baking & Snack’s Operation Executives of the Year in 2024. There is pride in being Rotellas, proving themselves and taking personal responsibility for the success of their employees and the business. 

“My grandfather and father really threw us into the bakery to learn with everyone else, and I really appreciate that because we did have to earn the employees’ respect as a Rotella on the production room floor,” John said. “We had to earn their respect and work our tails off to prove that we could do a good job.” 

While some of the newer employees may not realize John Rotella and Lou Rotella III have worked every job in the bakery, the experience gave them both tremendous respect and appreciation for all that their employees do. It guides how they approach training and decision-making. 

“We consider our employees a part of the Rotella Bakery family,” Lou Rotella III said. “We have an open-door policy so that people feel comfortable approaching us with any thoughts, ideas, suggestions or concerns.” 

When it comes to making decisions in the company, a theme of collaboration is consistent throughout. Both Lou III and John see the value of bringing different departments together in an attempt at getting all eyes on a challenge or a project. 

“It’s important when you’re a leader to not just jump into something but try to study the situation,” Lou Rotella III said. “Making a better-informed decision takes into consideration a lot of people’s inputs. We have a lot of smart people at the bakery who each has their own subject matter expertise.”

This takes a high level of communication, however, something that John Rotella pointed out has been helped by software and other technologies. 

“As we grew our bakeries, we had to bring departments together. The night and day shift were a little divided, and we had to bring everyone together as one company,” he said. “We’ve been able to do that through communication, particularly implementing more software that helps all the team leaders and employees communicate with each other.” 

Training and onboarding have also become more critical as the company has grown to not only retain those employees but also ensure everyone is operating in a way that reflects Rotella’s core values. Lou Rotella III spoke to an approach that puts the burden on the company to appropriately and adequately equip employees. 

“We’re at the point in our company that when a new employee walks into a large-scale manufacturing facility, it can be overwhelming,” he said. “We want to properly onboard them so that they feel comfortable. They know where things are, what their job is supposed to be and who to go to if they have questions, whether about their job function, policies and procedures, food or occupational safety. We try to do that up front so people feel comfortable on their first day.” 

This article is an excerpt from the December 2024 issue of Baking & Snack. To read the entire feature on Operations Executives of the Year, click here.