Spicy Chicken Staff Culture
June 14, 2010
I enjoy doing work at chick-fil-a because I enjoy their coffee. I think it’s better than dunkin’s. I know that is sacrilege to many but I never seem to get a consistent cup of coffee at dunkin. Come to think of it, everything is always consistently good at chick-fil-a. I can’t remember ever having a bad experience at chick-fil-a. Not once. And I’ve had a lot of their chicken…ur…uh…coffee. Today I spent quite a bit of time at chick-fil-a and was positioned in such a way that I saw and heard lots of interactions among their staff. Just like everything else at chick-fil-a, their staff culture is excellent. Here are five things I noticed.
1. Their staff likes each other. I was there for the breakfast and lunch rush and it was all business but during the mid-morning slump there were lots of interactions between staff. Lots of younger employees talking to older staff. Lots of laughing. They liked being around each other.
2. The big dogs spend time investing in their people. I saw the owner of the franchise sweep through and no one panicked. It was normal, even expected. You could tell everyone enjoyed his being around. Imagine that. I saw the store manager helping a young employ with a menial task. I could hear her giving step by step instructions.
3. Everyone is focused on details. I noticed the franchise owner walking around the perimeter of the store with the store manager. I couldn’t hear them but you could tell they were discussing the condition of the flowers and landscaping. I overheard one of the younger employees calling our church to offer free food to our volunteers. So detailed.
4. The customer is their job. Everyone seems to have particular jobs/roles but all are ready to leave their job description behind to serve the guest. Several times I noticed employees leaving their job to do their job.
5. Everyone is competent. It is said of Jesus that He does everything well. Chick-fil-a does chicken better than most churches do Jesus.
