A Quick Study | by Dr. Jerry Newman
To the Core
Follow the leads of others by establishing a clear vision for your brand and sticking to it.
Last month I suggested that consistency breeds quick serves’ greatest advantage: predictability.
All great brands strive for consistency in operations and human resources. Why does the buying public go to a quick serve? Sure, it might be the cost advantage, or maybe it’s because people like the food. But as we all know, a big part of the reason rests in predictability: They know what they’re getting when they walk into your restaurant. The larger the chain, the more this competitive advantage matters.
Although I asserted last month that certain companies worked hard to build consistency and predictability, I didn’t give much detail on how they did this. Let’s sketch out the details a bit more. I’d like to show that consistency and success have remarkably similar roadmaps in most large chains.
Let’s use McDonald’s, Yum! Brands, and Burger King as examples. All three brands have a roadmap so that everyone in the company has a clear picture of what goals are important and how to achieve them. All three do a great job communicating what is important to the entire company.
McDonald’s calls its consistency course the Plan to Win. Yum calls it the Dynasty Model. Burger King has a True North Plan. All of these plans point the way of the company, laying out in very clear words what is important.
For example, McDonald’s Plan to Win begins with the biggest picture. McDonald’s wants to be its customers’ favorite dining destination and hopes to achieve this by being a youthful, energetic, engaging place to eat. It stakes out its territory in the broadest way with an effort to capture the young and young at heart.
Yum’s road to a “dynasty” is clearly stated, too. While it seeks to be a brand of “customer maniacs,” it clearly states that the way it will win is by giving choice, and multiple brands mean multiple choices.
The challenge, of course, is to figure out how to create consistency when multiple brands with multiple personalities are thrown into the mix. Believe me when I say this task is both monumental and at the forefront of Yum’s operational and human resource activities.
Burger King builds its fortunes on “Have it your way.” The True North Plan still echoes this rebellion against conformity by stating that the route to more guests and more visits is through “what I want, the way I want it, when I want it.” Much like the challenge at Yum, Burger King’s challenge is to figure out how to build consistency when it stresses freedom of choice for customers.
The people part of these roadmaps is also clearly spelled out. McDonald’s roadmap charges crew and managers to create a friendly, accurate, and fast “I’m loving it” experience. The system to achieve this includes clear standards for treatment of customers and speed of service, zero incidents of rude behavior, and strict guidelines for staffing to ensure consistent service no matter the sales volume.
Yum calls this part of the roadmap “how we win together.” It starts with a remarkable statement: Believe in all people by trusting their intentions. It builds on this foundation by stressing the importance of teamwork, innovation, and personal development in completing tasks and delighting customers.
Customer mania is conducted through a performance metric called CHAMPS. Every store is scored and every employee is held accountable for cleanliness, hospitality, accuracy, maintenance, product quality, and speed. Success is met with recognition, recognition, and more recognition. Yum creates recognition awards and entire events that celebrate how the whole company wins together.
Part of Burger King’s True North Plan talks about how exceptional experiences for both customers and coworkers come from engaged workers; BK workers are supposed to be empowered to make smart choices and are accountable for results. Burger King also promotes fun and the celebration of successes.
Beyond stating these goals and norms clearly in key documents, all three brands work very hard to live the words they promote. For example, recognition is obviously the key at Yum. David Novak is a master at giving recognition and in inspiring others to embrace a recognition culture.
Each brand within Yum is charged with developing a recognition award. Each manager is expected to use recognition as a key managerial technique. At last count there were dozens of viable recognition awards for all kinds of behavior (e.g. the Fish Award, Good Scout Award, Radical Rooster Award, and Fasten Your Seat Belt Award).
Have a vision of what you want your stores to be then make sure everything you do is consistent with this vision."
Many of the largest brands spend considerable time trying to find ways to get their respective Plans to Win, True Norths, and Dynasty Models to seep down to the store level. Training is a key ingredient in this transmission process.
McDonald’s, for example, does more than state that fun should be a factor in every store’s operations. In my very first hour as a crew member at my first McDonald’s, I was asked to watch a video. It wasn’t about safety. It wasn’t about making sandwiches. It was about having fun and working with crew who want nothing more than to build new friendships.
So what’s the lesson to be learned? Have a vision of what you want your stores to be then make sure everything you do is consistent with this vision—especially training.
I’m sorry to report that I’m way behind in getting a draft to my publisher of The Leadership Compass: Finding Your True North. Something had to give, and unfortunately it’s this column, at least for the short run.
If you have any questions, please feel free to contact me. Have a happy holiday, and let your crew know they’re at the heart of your successes.
Dr. Jerry Newman is the author of approximately 100 articles on human resource issues and the best-seller My Secret Life on the McJob: Lessons in Leadership Guaranteed to Supersize any Management Style.
