Ramon Torres: From Correcting Lenses to Shaping Careers

They say hindsight is 20/20, and that adage rings true for Ramon Torres, senior director of talent and total rewards at Torchy’s Tacos, a national Mexican street-food-style restaurant chain. Now, Torres started out with dreams of becoming an eye doctor, which led him to work as optician in his local Walmart. As he started managing vision centers, he noticed something strange—he enjoyed training employees and thinking about business outcomes more than he liked what would have been the day-to-day responsibilities of an optometrist.

“I get excited when I can lead people through change,” he says. “Seeing the tangible results of what teams can accomplish together really motivates me.”

Luckily for Torres, he worked at the nation’s largest employer. After making his new interests known, he quickly found an opportunity to train Walmart associates as a talent development facilitator. After that, it didn’t take long to realize he had discovered his niche.

Torres spent nearly two decades taking on roles of increasing importance at the iconic retailer. During that era, he developed national talent selection programs, implemented compensation strategies, advised senior executives regarding nonstore operations, and designed total rewards programs. Being a part of a corporation making billions with 1.3 million US workers showed Torres what it takes to operate at scale.

During a business trip to Texas, the human resources leader found something unexpected that changed his career course—the best damn taco he ever ate. The place? Torchy’s Tacos, an unconventional and fast-growing, fast-casual chain with a rabid cult following.

Some of Torres’s Walmart colleagues had joined the unique brand started by Mike Rypka when he had little more than a food truck, a red vespa, and an obsession with making “damn good tacos.” Torres followed their lead and joined the company as director of total rewards and talent management in 2019.

Each day, thousands of taco enthusiasts race to Torchy’s, where they’re greeted by a baby devil mascot, super friendly employees, and cooked-to-order tacos. The brand’s most loyal fans even know how to order off the secret menu.

The fun branding, remarkable customer experience, and vibrant culture stands out in stark contrast to what Torres experienced at Walmart, but what really attracted him was Torchy’s growth plan. In 2006, Rypka was crisscrossing across Austin, Texas, on his Vespa to hand out free samples and drum up business.

When Torres joined the company, they had about sixty locations. Now, Torchy’s has more than 120 locations and thousands of employees, with plans to expand across the nation.

Torres saw the potential in Torchy’s and knew he would have the opportunity to develop the teams, tools, and processes to enable growth. Despite his excitement, the HR leader experienced a period of culture shock as he left the established world of a retail behemoth to lay the people foundation at a fresh and buzzworthy enterprise. He coped with the transformative change by looking for places to add value.

“It’s always a challenge to join any organization, but someone coming in from the outside can see things others don’t and offer a fresh perspective,” he says.

So, that’s exactly what Torres set out to do. He helped business leaders analyze their talent pool and think through future plans before designing compensation strategies and benefits packages that, like Torchy’s tacos, are made-to-order.

However, the COVID-19 pandemic complicated his first full year at Torchy’s. Torres and other leaders shifted their priorities from growth to retention. He prioritized total rewards and expanded healthcare benefits to include all employees while adding new features like earned wage access and financial wellness offerings.

The efforts helped Torchy’s emerge from the pandemic in a strong position and, as a result, Torres was promoted to senior director of talent and total rewards last summer. Now, he’s busy doing all he can to elevate Torchy’s culture to create an environment that supports growth and development.

“I want everyone who works here to have visibility to career paths so they can understand what knowledge, abilities, and competencies they need to develop to accomplish their goals,” he explains.

The former optician knows that front-line employees often lack knowledge about how they can grow their career. As such, he encourages managers to meet with employees one-on-one to help each member of the Torchy’s family understand internal opportunities and connect them to resources. Under his leadership, Torres has seen line cooks move to district management positions and other employees take similar steps.

For Torres, those values of perseverance and cooperation were modeled for him at an early age. Raised by his Mexican father and Canadian mother near Detroit, his father worked in the automotive industry to create better opportunities for him. “My parents always looked out for the family and wanted to make sure we had a better and easier life than they knew,” he says.

Early mornings on the football field helped him understand the importance of teamwork, especially since he was a trumpeter in the marching band. Bands, like Torchy’s employees, only succeed when there is unison. “It’s great if I play my trumpet well, but if the people around me hit the wrong notes, the song doesn’t sound right,” he explains.

You can accomplish more together than you ever could alone. And that’s a damn good lesson you can be sure Torres is taking to his hardworking teams at Torchy’s.