Operator Development Program

Leader: _________________________________________

Operator: _______________________________________

1
Welcome
Welcome to the Operator Development Program. My hope is that at
the end of the three years, with the experience of running this multi-
million-dollar business, you will have the skills necessary to succeed
as an operator for Chick-fil-A. I am beyond blessed to serve you during
this time. We will give you opportunities to learn all aspects of the
business and prepare you to be a worthy candidate for the Chick-fil-A
Corporate Leadership Development Program or Chick-fil-A Operator.

You will be hard pressed to find a more difficult business to get into
than Chick-fil-A.  I cannot promise that you will make the cut.  But
after three years, I can promise that you will be a better leader,
entrepreneur, and business leader.  You will be ready to take on
anything!

Thanks for growing with me.  Let's make this happen!

Eric Brommer

2
Operator Development Program Outline
This program will be divided up into 6 sections where you will have
specific roles and growth opportunities. Each section will last 6
months.

 Director
 Marketing Director
 Hospitality Director
 Kitchen Director
 HR/Administration Director
 Owner

In each role, we will cover content within each of the following

categories:
 Leadership:
o Learning leadership principles and skills.
o Examples: reading books, listening to podcasts, attending
leadership events, personal assessments, etc.
 Skills:
o Learning skills that will aid you in your current and future
roles.
o Examples: meeting facilitation, eTrain, Serve Safe, etc.
 Tasks/Goals:
o Projects/goals that will help you gain experience and stories.
o Examples: Create a quarterly strategic initiative, attend a
Grand Opening, etc.

**Our Meetings: Twice a month

3
 Table of Contents
Section I Section II
Director – 6 Months Restaurant Marketing
Director (RMD) – 6 Months

Leadership: Leadership:
 Learn about your Role  Learn about your Role

 SERVE Leadership Model  Create Raving Fans Strategy

 DISC Assessment  Read: How Did You Do It,

 Read: The Dream Manager Truett?

Skills: Skills:
 eTRAIN Assignments  RMD Need-To-Know Terms

 SERVESAFE Certification

Tasks/Goals:
Tasks/Goals:  Complete RMD Training
 Chick-fil-A Excellence Tour Class
 SMART Goal Planning  Create Marketing Plan

Section III
4
HR/Admin. Director – 6 Hospitality Director – 6
Months Months

Leadership: Leadership:
 Learn about your Role  Learn about your Role

 Read: Mindset  Read: Setting the Table

 Read: EntreLeadership  Read: Ideal Team Player

Skills: Skills:
 Scheduling the Team  Meeting Facilitation

 Payroll  FCR/CEM Business Analysis

 Truck Order/Inventory  Hiring Process Scorecard

Tasks/Goals: Tasks/Goals:
 Visiting CFA Support Center  Grand Opening Certified

Trainer Program
 Break a Record

Section IV Section V
5
Kitchen Director – 6 Months Operator– 6 Months

Leadership: Leadership:
 Learn about your Role  Learn about your Role

 Read: Good the Great  Read: Chess Not Checkers

 Preparing for Interviews  Read: 5 Dysfunctions of

Teams

Skills: Skills:
 End of Month  Bi-Annual

 Contracts/Repairs and Meeting/Training

Maintenance Facilitation
Tasks/Goals: Tasks/Goals:
 Toastmasters
 Results – Your Impact
 Maintaining a LEAN
 Mock Interviews
Environment

Section VI

6
SECTION I
Director

7
Director: Leadership Table of Contents
Learn about your Role
As a leader for our business we have chosen you because we believe
you have 3 essential attributes that make leaders unique:

Leadership Attributes:

1. See Differently
2. Serve Consistently
3. Lead Brilliantly

Besides the daily lessons and learnings, you will be obtaining while
working in the business, we will take time over these next 6 months to
educate you in a few additional learnings.

Director Role Learnings:

1. SERVE Leadership Model

2. DISC Assessment
3. Read Dream Manager by Matthew Kelly
4. eTRAIN Assignments
5. SERVESAFE Certificate
6. Chick-fil-A Excellence Tour
7. SMART Goal Planning
Director: Leadership Table of Contents
SERVE Leadership Model
S – See and Shape the Future
8
 E – Engage and Develop Others
R – Reinvent Continuously
V – Value Relationships and Results
E – Embody the Values

Chick-fil-A has determined that great leaders share a few things in

common. Those similarities, combined with the unique Chick-fil-A
culture, form the basis for the SERVE model. Great Leaders Serve is a
curriculum series that presents important skills and practices that
form the fundamental difference between good leaders and great
leaders.
At Chick-fil-A, we often compare our leadership
model to an iceberg. A major part of the leader’s
make-up is determined by factors that exist
below the surface. No matter how much you
address your visible behaviors and skills, there’s
only so much you can change unless you also
strive to change what’s below the surface. Those unseen parts
represent your inner character, or integrity. That’s what the SERVE
model is all about.
**You should be reading The Secret: What Great Leaders Know and Do
by Ken Blanchard

S ee and Shape the Future

9
Ask yourself, “Am I taking people somewhere?” “Am I helping
others see a future goal?” “Do I see the future myself?” As a leader
in the restaurant you must have a clear vision of where you are
going as a business or in your area of responsibility. You then
must communicate that vision to others so that they join you in
that vision!
Q&A: What is your Operator’s vision for the future of the business?
How are you a part of it?
___________________________________________________________________________
___________________________________________________________________________

___________________________________________________________________________
___________________________________________________________________________

E ngage and Develop Others

Do you actively seek out others that will be an asset in achieving

your/the store’s business goals? Do you create an environment
that brings out the best in the team? Are you intentional about
helping others grow and develop along the way? No one can
10
achieve great feats on their own. It takes the entire team, and it’s
up to you as a leader to develop others to be the best they can be
to achieve the best we can achieve!
Q&A: Who can you be currently engaging and developing? Who is
engaging and developing you?
___________________________________________________________________________
___________________________________________________________________________

___________________________________________________________________________
___________________________________________________________________________

R einvent Continuously

Progress is always preceded by change. As a leader, you must

constantly be asking, “How can we make this better?” “What do I
need to change about myself to better serve our goals?” This will
mean you may challenge long standing systems or procedures.
Most importantly, you can’t be afraid of failure or adopt a
controlling attitude to the point you avoid change.

11
Q&A: How are you currently focused on making yourself better? Is
there anything we need to challenge in the business to make our
team better? (cultural, systems, policies etc.)
___________________________________________________________________________
___________________________________________________________________________

___________________________________________________________________________
___________________________________________________________________________

V alue Relationships and Results

There exists an inherent tension between relationships and

results. It is unavoidable. To be a great leader, you cannot always
make everyone “happy.” Neither can you achieve lasting results if
you burn bridges with all your employees along the way. The key
is to equally value both people and progress, honoring people
and adding value to their contributions as you add value to the
business.
Q&A: Which do you believe you value more, relationships or
results? How might you need to adjust your mindset and actions to
more equally value both?

12
___________________________________________________________________________
___________________________________________________________________________

___________________________________________________________________________
___________________________________________________________________________

E mbody the Values

You must “walk the talk” is absolutely true as a leader in the

restaurant. It is not enough to hold great intentions, but you must
align your actions with your intentions. This is especially true
when it comes to the values that we as an organization see to
represent. To create a culture of honor, dignity and respect, YOU
must treat all with honor, dignity and respect.
Q&A: Can you list our store core values? Which do you feel you live
out most genuinely? In which do you need to grow?
___________________________________________________________________________
___________________________________________________________________________

13
___________________________________________________________________________
___________________________________________________________________________

14
Director: Leadership Table of Contents
DISC Assessment
What is a DISC Assessment?
DISC is the leading personal assessment tool used by more than 40
million people to improve work productivity, teamwork and
communication. DISC is non-judgmental and helps people discuss
their behavioral differences. All who take a DISC assessment receive a
detailed report about his or her personality and behavior.
One of the greatest benefits of DISC is that is provides a common
language that a team can use to better understand each other and
adapt their behaviors to one another. Other benefits include:
 Increase your self-knowledge; how you respond to conflict, what
motivates you, what causes you stress and how you solve
problems
 Facilitate better teamwork and minimize team conflict
 Manage more effectivity by understanding the dispositions and
priorities of employees and team members
 Become more self-knowledgeable, well-rounded and effective as
a leadership team (2)

What do the letters mean?

D- DOMINANCE

15
  Places emphasis on results, the bottom line, and confidence.
 Can be blunt
 Accepts challenges
 Gets straight to the point
I – INFLUENCE
 Places emphasis on influencing others, openness and
relationships.
 Enthusiastic
 Optimistic
 Likes to collaborate
S - STEADINESS
 Places emphasis on cooperation, sincerity and dependability.
 Calm manner and approach
 Supportive actions
 Humility
C - COMPLIANCE
 Places emphasis on quality, accuracy, expertise and competency.
 Enjoys independence
 Objective reasoning
 Wants the details
Taking the DISC Assessment
An important note is that all people possess some measure of each of
the four DISC profile types. How much of each type determines our
behavior?

16
Your Disc Assessment Results
D _____

I _____

S _____

C _____

Discussion:
___________________________________________________________________________
___________________________________________________________________________
___________________________________________________________________________
___________________________________________________________________________
___________________________________________________________________________
___________________________________________________________________________

Director: Leadership Table of Contents

Reading: The Dream Manager by Matthew Kelly
“One of the primary responsibilities of all relationships is to help each
other fulfill our dreams.”
Questions
1. Greatest takeaway from The Dream Manager?
17
________________________________________________________________________
________________________________________________________________________
________________________________________________________________________
2. There a need for this in our business? If so, where do we start?
________________________________________________________________________
________________________________________________________________________
________________________________________________________________________
3. There a need for this in your personal life? If so, where do we start?
________________________________________________________________________
________________________________________________________________________
________________________________________________________________________

Director: Skills Table of Contents

eTRAIN Assignments
eTRAIN is Chick-fil-A’s training curriculum program. It includes every
procedure for nearly every aspect of the restaurant. This is an
excellent tool to learn the “Chick-fil-A Way” for all things Chick-fil-A. It
is crucial that have a thorough knowledge of correct procedure as you
are leading others on the shift.

18
You will begin working on your assignments in eTRAIN. The store
Training Director or Operator will supervise you through this process.
Completion of modules includes watching all required videos (and/or
reading pamphlets) and completing the knowledge tests with a 90%
or higher.
You have 6 months to complete all videos and tests for the following
modules:
 Foundations & Food Prep
 Desserts and Beverages
 Hospitality
 Ordering Experience
 Cleaning and Maintenance
 Sales Beyond the Restaurant
 Emotional Connections Marketing

19
Director: Skills Table of Contents
SERVSAFE Certificate
As a restaurant manager, it is crucial that you have received thorough
education and certification in proper Food Safety Management and
Handling. Moreover, many states require that all food service
managers are certified in the ServSafe Food Safety Manager program.
As such, all our store leaders are
required to be ServSafe certified either
before employment or early in their
tenure with the team. Your certification
will remain in effect for five years.
Per the National Restaurant Association,
The ServSafe Program “leads the way in providing comprehensive
educational materials to the restaurant industry through face-to-face
and online instruction. More than 5 million foodservice professionals
have been certified through the ServSafe Food Protection Manager
Certification Examination, which is accredited by the American
National Standards Institute-Conference for Food Protection.”

20
Director: Tasks/Goals Table of Contents
Chick-fll-A Excellence Tour

What is an Excellence Tour?

An Excellence Tour is an opportunity to learn from the best! An
Excellence Tour is simply visiting another Chick-fil-A that is executing
certain areas of the business with excellence. Through this experience,
you will learn and develop creative strategies to improve our store’s
own performance. While visiting you, along with the Operator, will
critically observe and, perhaps, get hands-on to experience excellence
in action. In this exercise, you will answer a series of questions to
expand your own thought processes and then develop ideas for what
you observed could be applied in our own store.
Why go on an Excellence Tour?
While all Chick-fil-A’s strive for excellence in all areas - all day, every
day - there are some that have particularly exceled in certain aspects
of the business. This could include running a consistently high profit
margin, flawlessly executing the 2nd Mile Service model, or achieving
top capacity speed in the drive-thru. By critically observing and

21
experiencing this excellence in action, we can learn and develop
creative strategies for improving our own performance.
What should we be looking for? (Few Examples of what to look for)
 What communication tools (signage, social media, etc.) are
utilized with the team?
 Are there any unique ways the team is creating REMARKable
experiences?
 Are there any differences in layout (stock/storage, dining room)?
 How are set-up sheets made? Who primarily makes them?
 Are team members cross-trained? How are they scheduled?
 What do you initially notice regarding cleanliness? Do they utilize
a dining room host/hostess?
 What marketing materials do you observe, both inside and
outside the store?
 How is the parking lot laid out? What methods are being used in
the DT (IPOS, outside payment, expeditor, etc.)?
 What uniform requirements are utilized?
 What do you observe about the cleanliness of the kitchen?
 How are holding systems, including LEAN, being utilized?

Post-Excellence Tour Questions

1. Most significant takeaways?
_________________________________________________________________________
22
________________________________________________________________________
________________________________________________________________________
2. Name three primary difference regarding shift operations:
________________________________________________________________________
________________________________________________________________________
________________________________________________________________________
3. Name some observations that could be beneficial to our restaurant
________________________________________________________________________
________________________________________________________________________
________________________________________________________________________
4. What do we bring back to our restaurant? How do we successfully
accomplish this?
________________________________________________________________________
________________________________________________________________________
________________________________________________________________________

Director: Tasks/Goals Table of Contents

23
SMART Goal Planning

24
Creating 4 SMART Goals for next year
1. SMART Goal: Chick-fil-A Related
_________________________________________________________________________
________________________________________________________________________
________________________________________________________________________
2. SMART Goal: Chick-fil-A Related
________________________________________________________________________
________________________________________________________________________
________________________________________________________________________
3. SMART Goal: Personal
________________________________________________________________________
________________________________________________________________________
________________________________________________________________________
4. SMART Goal: Personal
________________________________________________________________________
________________________________________________________________________
________________________________________________________________________

25
 SECTION II
Restaurant Marketing
Director (RMD)

26
RMD: Leadership Table of Contents
Learn about your Role
Now that you have 6 months under your belt as a Director, it is time to
learn a very important cornerstone of our business: The Restaurant
Marketing Director (RMD) Role.

Director Role Learnings:

1. Need-to-Know Terms
2. Create Raving Fans Strategy
3. Read: How did You Do It, Truett? By S. Truett Cathy
4. RMD Need-To-Know Terms
5. Complete RMD Training Class
6. Create Marketing Plan

RMD: Leadership Table of Contents

Create Raving Fans Strategy

27
Six Years ago, this Strategy was taught to me. I believe executing this
strategy continues to be one of the main differentiations between our
brand and everyone else.

Discussion Questions
1. What parts of the “Create Raving Fans Strategy” are we executing
well?
_________________________________________________________________________
28
________________________________________________________________________
________________________________________________________________________
2. What parts of the “Create Raving Fans Strategy” can we improve in?
________________________________________________________________________
________________________________________________________________________
________________________________________________________________________
3. How do we hold ourselves even more accountable?
________________________________________________________________________
________________________________________________________________________
________________________________________________________________________
4. How do we make this a part of our DNA?
________________________________________________________________________
________________________________________________________________________
________________________________________________________________________

RMD: Leadership Table of Contents

Reading: How Did You Do It, Truett? by S. Truett Cathy
We always reference to the “Truett the Entrepreneur” but if he also
didn’t know how to MARKET his food, service, brand, we wouldn’t be
here today.
1. Greatest takeaway from How Did You Do It, Truett?
29
________________________________________________________________________
________________________________________________________________________
________________________________________________________________________
2. How did Truett Market his food, service, and brand?
________________________________________________________________________
________________________________________________________________________
________________________________________________________________________
3. What can we take away from this book to our restaurant or
personal life?
________________________________________________________________________
________________________________________________________________________
________________________________________________________________________

RMD: Skills Table of Contents

Need-To-Know Terms

A-List:
Refers to the Chick-fil-A VIP program that equips Operators to identify
and honor their most loyal customers, invite them to participate and
surprise them throughout the year. A-List is an integral part of Chick-
fil-A One as the deepest, most personal way for Operators to connect
with their most loyal customers.
Areas of Opportunities for our Restaurant:
30
________________________________________________________________________
________________________________________________________________________
________________________________________________________________________

Brand Builder:
A tool that enables you to design and print customized marketing
materials. Access Brand Builder through the @Chick-fil-A website.
Areas of Opportunities for our Restaurant:
________________________________________________________________________
________________________________________________________________________
________________________________________________________________________

Brand Strategy:
A documented plan for staying true to the core of a brand while also
stimulating progress in such a way as to build reputation and
relevance with customers. Brand Strategy outlines “who” a company
is and how to match that with “what” the company offers in every
customer touchpoint.
Areas of Opportunities for our Restaurant:
________________________________________________________________________
________________________________________________________________________
________________________________________________________________________

Campaign Activation Guide (CAG):

31
The Campaign Activation and Options Guide gives RMDs an overview
of each National Campaign from the national, market, and local level.
Every guide has a complete list of optional marketing elements and
Brand Builder options that Operators can order to supplement and
complement POP elements. The Campaign Activation Guide is online
and available as a printable PDF.
Areas of Opportunities for our Restaurant:
________________________________________________________________________
________________________________________________________________________
________________________________________________________________________

Customer Experience Monitor (CEM):

The CEM is a receipt generated web-based program that gives guests
the opportunity to provide feedback about their visit.
Areas of Opportunities for our Restaurant:
________________________________________________________________________
________________________________________________________________________
________________________________________________________________________

Center Stage
A one-stop shop for Local Marketing ideas, programs, events and
content. It contains the resources that will help create memorable
moments and strengthen relationships with guests. You can access
Center Stage through the @Chick-fil-A website.

32
Areas of Opportunities for our Restaurant:
________________________________________________________________________
________________________________________________________________________
________________________________________________________________________

Chick-fil-A One:
Refers to the integrated digital experience available for Chick-fil-A
customers. Chick-fil-A One brings together Mobile Ordering, paying
through the Chick-fil-A One App, thanking customers with free food
offers, A-List (which is the more premium membership status) and
Chick-fil-A One National Giveaways.
Areas of Opportunities for our Restaurant:
________________________________________________________________________
________________________________________________________________________
________________________________________________________________________

Custom Creative
A review team that approves any creative material created made for
the Restaurant. Any time you create/design a promotional piece
(banner, flyer, PAL, direct mail, T-shirt, etc...) it should be submitted to
[email protected] for approval.
33
Areas of Opportunities for our Restaurant:
________________________________________________________________________
________________________________________________________________________
________________________________________________________________________

Create Raving Fans Strategy (CRF)

A strategy that encompasses our mission of providing excellent,
quality food with superior service that allows us to care for our guests
personally. Through this we are able to build trust with our
customers, while growing sales.
Areas of Opportunities for our Restaurant:
________________________________________________________________________
________________________________________________________________________
________________________________________________________________________

Dashboards
Dashboards is a reporting platform that provides a visual and
interactive experience for Operators and staff to quickly access
information needed to make decisions, in areas such as sales, financial
return, labor, ROE, CEM, drive-thru experience and franchise
opportunities.
Areas of Opportunities for our Restaurant:
________________________________________________________________________
34
________________________________________________________________________
________________________________________________________________________

Digital Offer:
Any offer with a magnetic stripe or machine-readable code that has
been validated by the POS system. Digital Offers come in different card
formats (e.g. Digital “Be Our Guest” Card, Calendar Card, Direct Mail
and First 100 Cards. It is given to customers to be used to redeem
specific products.
Areas of Opportunities for our Restaurant:
________________________________________________________________________
________________________________________________________________________
________________________________________________________________________

Emotional Connections Marketing (ECM):

Emotional Connections Marketing (ECM) creates value by focusing on
“what you get,” not “what you pay”. While many of our competitors
“subsidize” (decrease what guests pay), we “emotionalize” to create
value beyond the transaction, leveraging Food, People, Cows and
Influence.
Areas of Opportunities for our Restaurant:
________________________________________________________________________
________________________________________________________________________
35
________________________________________________________________________

eTrain:
An online Learning Management System for accessing, coordinating
and tracking training in the Restaurant. You can access eLearning
through this resource.
Areas of Opportunities for our Restaurant:
________________________________________________________________________
________________________________________________________________________
________________________________________________________________________

Facebook Forum:
An RMD led group on Facebook that Restaurant Marketing Directors
can join to share and learn ideas, best practices, and generate
discussion around current topics within their role. Group name:
Chick-fil-A Marketing Directors
Areas of Opportunities for our Restaurant:
________________________________________________________________________
________________________________________________________________________
________________________________________________________________________

36
Limited Time Flavor (LTF):
A term used to describe a temporary item on the menu, whether it be
seasonal, or more test-related. LTF items are featured during national
campaigns and have their own Point of Purchase (POP) material.
Areas of Opportunities for our Restaurant:
________________________________________________________________________
________________________________________________________________________
________________________________________________________________________

National Campaign
Each year, Chick-fil-A typically has four to five National Campaigns
that deliver one or two clear messages to Chick-fil-A customers
across the country. Campaigns include Winter, Spring, Summer, Back-
to-School and Holiday.
Areas of Opportunities for our Restaurant:
________________________________________________________________________
________________________________________________________________________
________________________________________________________________________

Personalizing the Order:

37
The primary purpose of personalizing the order is to enhance the
guest meal and overall dining experience with us. Meals can be
enhanced by educating guests about our menu options and helping
select what is right for them. The approach is not meant to pressure
the guests into purchasing too much, but rather adding value to their
experience and building trust with them over time. Personalizing the
order leads to strengthened relationships with guests, which creates
more Raving Fans of your Restaurant, & the Chick-fil-A brand. This in
turn leads to increased sales & brand growth.
Areas of Opportunities for our Restaurant:
________________________________________________________________________
________________________________________________________________________
________________________________________________________________________

Point of Purchase (POP):

Refers to campaign promotional materials that are displayed in the
restaurant near point-of- purchase locations (drink towers, menu
boards, Drive-Thru). POP is auto-shipped to Restaurants before each
upcoming National Campaign.
Areas of Opportunities for our Restaurant:
________________________________________________________________________
________________________________________________________________________
________________________________________________________________________

Rollout Guide:
A detailed guide that gives context and executional information when
a new product or service is launched.
38
Areas of Opportunities for our Restaurant:
________________________________________________________________________
________________________________________________________________________
________________________________________________________________________

RMD Newsletter:
In each weekly update, there is information on important deadlines,
upcoming registration dates, marketing headlines, and more. On
occasion, the RMD Newsletter may send out an urgent message or
update.
Areas of Opportunities for our Restaurant:
________________________________________________________________________
________________________________________________________________________
________________________________________________________________________

ServicePoint:
ServicePoint is Chick-fil-A's proprietary Point of Sale (POS) system
used at Chick-fil-A non-licensee locations. You can utilize this site to
access sales during events, create contests for Team Members, and see
itemized reports for a specific day.

39
Areas of Opportunities for our Restaurant:
________________________________________________________________________
________________________________________________________________________
________________________________________________________________________

Social Media Publisher (SMP)

The Social Media Publisher is powered by, MomentFeed, which is a
tool that Restaurants can now use to manage and amplify their online
presence through social media engagement in multiple platforms and
provide effective reputation management.
Areas of Opportunities for our Restaurant:
________________________________________________________________________
________________________________________________________________________
________________________________________________________________________

RMD: Tasks/Goals Table of Contents

RMD Training Class
RMD training is designed to provide a customized, hands-on training
experience. The eTrain modules are required pre-work that serve as a
foundation for RMD Training.

Training Requirements & Expenses

 Tuition is $215
40
  RMD Training is held at the Support Center in Atlanta
 Pre-work: Marketing eTrain, "Marketing Strategy and Planning")
 Travel/Hotel expenses for both Operator and RMD
 Wages for RMD: 3 days of training (9 hours each day)
  

Post RMD Training Class Questions:

What has been your greatest takeaway after RMD Training Class?
________________________________________________________________________
________________________________________________________________________
________________________________________________________________________
How will this training help our restaurant?
________________________________________________________________________
________________________________________________________________________
________________________________________________________________________
RMD: Tasks/Goals Table of Contents
Create Marketing Plan
Marketing Plan:

In-Restaurant Events:

What In-Restaurant Events do we have planned this year?

________________________________________________________________________
________________________________________________________________________
41
________________________________________________________________________

Leverage Social Media:

How is our Social Media Presence?

________________________________________________________________________
________________________________________________________________________
________________________________________________________________________
Which social media platforms do we want to increase/decrease?
________________________________________________________________________
________________________________________________________________________
________________________________________________________________________
Lead with Real Food

How do we currently Sample? Can we improve this aspect?

________________________________________________________________________
________________________________________________________________________
________________________________________________________________________
Form a Giving Strategy

How are we giving back? The Four Pillars?

________________________________________________________________________

42
________________________________________________________________________
________________________________________________________________________
Are we doing Random Acts of Kindness? If not, why?
________________________________________________________________________
________________________________________________________________________
________________________________________________________________________

Chick-fil-A Cow

Are we utilizing our Cow to our best abilities with the community?
________________________________________________________________________
________________________________________________________________________
________________________________________________________________________

Food Distributions

Are we distributing free, whole product samples to guests away from

the restaurant?
________________________________________________________________________
________________________________________________________________________
43
________________________________________________________________________

Blitz the Community

How are we “Blitzing” the community with DOC’s?

________________________________________________________________________
________________________________________________________________________
________________________________________________________________________

SECTION III
HR/Admin. Director

44
45
HR/Admin: Leadership Table of Contents
Learn about your Role
These next 6 months are centered around “back office” tasks.
However, to keep you sharp, I will add in a few extra Learnings.

Director Role Learnings:

1. Read: Mindset by Carol Dweck

2. Dave Ramsey-EntreLeadership
3. Scheduling
4. Payroll
5. Truck Ordering
6. Visiting the Chick-fil-A Support Center

46
HR/Admin: Leadership Table of Contents
Reading: Mindset by Carol Dweck

After Reading “Mindset” review the following notes:

47
Take the “Growth Mindset Test”

Practice hearing both voices, and practice acting on the growth

mindset. See how you can make it work for you.
Take this “Mindset Test ”
https://mindsetonline.com/testyourmindset/step1.php and record
your results here
________________________________________________________________________
________________________________________________________________________
________________________________________________________________________
Are there any areas that you have a fixed mindset?
________________________________________________________________________
________________________________________________________________________
________________________________________________________________________

48
HR/Admin: Leadership Table of Contents
Dave Ramsey – Entreleadership
Reading: Entreleadership

1. Throughout this last six months as

HR/Admin. Director, you are to read Dave
Ramsey’s book EntreLeadership. This can be
purchased online at multiple websites.
Discuss any questions you have regarding
this purchase with your Operator.
2. You are to watch/listen to one podcast per
week during this last six months as HR/Admin. Director. Your
Operator will communicate any specific EntreLeadership resources
and/or podcasts you are to access and complete. Please discuss this
during your next coaching session. You can join the EntreLeadership
community and gain access to all podcasts, articles and other
resources at www.entreleadership.com.
Come prepared to each coaching session prepared to share your
answers to the following:
Which podcast did you listen to this week?
What are one or two main takeaways that impacted you personally?
What are one or two main takeaways that could make a positive
impact on the business?

49
HR/Admin: Skills Table of Contents
Scheduling the Team

Proper sales forecasting and scheduling is perhaps one of the most

crucial aspects of running a profitable business. It takes detailed
attention and dedicated time to ensure we are maximizing our labor
cost opportunity each day.
As the HR/Admin. Director you are responsible for scheduling the
front of house personnel each week. You must work in cooperation
with the Kitchen Director, who will be scheduling the back of house
work force, as well as the Training Director, who will be scheduling all
training events in the store. Also, you will need to check with the
Marketing Director for any additional scheduling needs for in-store
events.
The beginning point in scheduling is learning how to properly forecast
sales. This is a combination of reviewing last year’s sales, the current
average sales increases, and any special events/holidays that could
affect the sales totals.

HR/Admin: Skills Table of Contents

50
 Payroll

As the HR/Admin. Director you are

responsible for completing the bi-
weekly payroll. Payroll is an
important task and must be
completed correctly and within the
proper time to ensure all employees
receive their compensation.
Payroll includes:
 Reviewing all time punches for accuracy
 Inputting deductions
 Bonuses and any other payroll items
 Submitting payroll data and printing checks.
It is best to begin this process on the Monday of pay week.

51
HR/Admin: Skills Table of Contents
Truck Order/Inventory

Rule #1- Don’t run out of food!!!!

While this is funny to say, it is not a laughing matter. Ordering truck
properly is not simple either. If I told you to not run out of something
the easy response is to over order. However, when you over order
product, unnecessary work is created and potential for theft or loss
rises because you wouldn’t notice the excess missing. In this section,
we will discuss some best practices for managing inventory.
BEST PRACTICES

 FIFO – First In, First Out

o This keeps product fresh and from spoiling
causing you to have a shortage
 Keep inventory organized – Everything in its
place
o This keeps you from double ordering which
could lead to wasted time stocking and lost
product from spoilage
 Update Travel Path Monthly –
o This prevents you from wasting time walking
around between items and allows you to order
the item that is next physically.
 Update Order Guide Quarterly –

52
 o This keeps you from routinely skipping over
items that you don’t order but are still sitting
there. (This is like towing a broken car that
has been in the drive way for too long)
 Label Everything – (Self Explanatory)
o Make sure people know where to find what.
 Update Build-to’s – Build to - Product on hand = Order
o This helps you order truck quickly with a
buffer built in.

After reviewing the above information, complete the following

actions:

 Observe a truck order being placed

 Have current inventory manager demonstrate adjusting
travel path
 Update order guide and inventory items
1. After placing your first truck order, what is the most expensive item
per case?

2. Is the travel path accurate?

3. What is the most ordered item in the restaurant (per case)?

53
4. How long did it take you to place the truck order? How long
“should” it take?

5. Do you have any other questions about truck order or inventory

management?

HR/Admin: Tasks/Goals Table of Contents

Visiting the Chick-fil-A Support Center

By now you have spent countless hours developing your skills as a

leader. You’ve served in the Chick-fil-A restaurant environment and
participated in outside development opportunities. But how much do
you know about the Chick-fil-A Corporation? Let’s begin with the
basics:
Company History Overview

Chick-fil-A, Inc., Founder S. Truett Cathy died Sept. 8, 2014, at age 93.

Cathy started the business in 1946, when he and his brother, Ben,
opened an Atlanta diner known as The Dwarf Grill (later renamed The
Dwarf House®). Through the years, that restaurant prospered and led
Cathy to further the success of his business. In 1967, Cathy founded
and opened the first Chick-fil-A restaurant in Atlanta's Greenbrier
Shopping Center. Today, Chick-fil-A has the highest same-store sales
and is the largest quick-service chicken restaurant chain in the United

54
States based on annual system-wide sales. We now have over 2,300
stores in 46 states.

Why We are Closed on Sundays

Our founder, Truett Cathy, made the decision to close on Sundays in
1946 when he opened his first restaurant in Hapeville, Georgia.
Having worked seven days a week in restaurants open 24 hours,
Truett saw the importance of closing on Sundays so that he and his
employees could set aside one day to rest and worship if they choose
– a practice we uphold today.
Our Corporate Purpose
“To glorify God by being a faithful steward
of all that is entrusted to us. To have a
positive influence on all who come in
contact with Chick-fil-A.”

Visiting the Chick-fil-A Support Center

Before advancing to the next stage, I will take you to the Support
Center in Atlanta, Georgia. I still remember when my Operator took
me and the lasting impact it had on my career and life.

55
 Section IV
Hospitality Director

56
Hospitality Director: Leadership Table of Contents
Learn about your Role
Anything that happens from the “Swinging Door” forward is your
responsibility.

Director Role Learnings:

1. Read: Setting the Table by Danny Meyer

2. Read: Ideal Team Player by Patrick Lencioni
3. Meeting Facilitation
4. FCR/CEM Business Analysis
5. Hiring Process Scorecard
6. Certified Trainer
7. Break a Record

57
Hospitality Director: Leadership
Reading: Setting the Table by Danny Meyer
"Each diner needs to believe that they're the only
one in the world that matters," – Danny Meyer

1. What did you like most about the book?

________________________________________________________________________
________________________________________________________________________
________________________________________________________________________
2. What is your lasting impression? Name two or three key takeaways.
________________________________________________________________________
________________________________________________________________________
________________________________________________________________________
3. How would you share the main concepts of this book with the team
in a way that impacts them?
________________________________________________________________________
________________________________________________________________________
________________________________________________________________________

58
Hospitality Director: Leadership Table of Contents
Reading: Ideal Team Player by Patrick Lencioni

"Humble, Hungry and

Smart—The Three Virtues
Combined. What makes
humble, hungry and smart
powerful and unique is not
the individual attributes
themselves, but rather the
required combination of
all three. If even one is missing in a team member, teamwork becomes
significantly more difficult, and sometimes not possible.,"
– Patrick Lencioni

As leaders, you are responsible for recruiting, selecting, and

developing talent. This book gives you some insight into some of the
characteristics that create a good culture that leads to great results.
As you read this book, do so from three different perspectives and ask
yourself the following questions-

Personal
Do you see yourself as an ideal team player?
59
________________________________________________________________________
________________________________________________________________________
________________________________________________________________________
What of the three areas do you need to grow in personally to be an
Ideal Team Player?
________________________________________________________________________
________________________________________________________________________
________________________________________________________________________
Recruiting
What is one way you can identify an Ideal Team Player in an interview
process?
________________________________________________________________________
________________________________________________________________________
________________________________________________________________________

What is the most important characteristic to you when recruiting?

________________________________________________________________________
________________________________________________________________________

60
________________________________________________________________________
Leading
How many Ideal Team Players do you believe we have on our team?
(Without listing names)
________________________________________________________________________
________________________________________________________________________
________________________________________________________________________
What is something you can do to help our team grow to be more
Ideal?
________________________________________________________________________
________________________________________________________________________
________________________________________________________________________

61
. Hospitality Director: Skills Table of Contents
Meeting Facilitation
6 Steps to Having Great Meetings

Questions
1. Are executing the 6 Steps? If not, what’s our plan to begin?
62
________________________________________________________________________
________________________________________________________________________
________________________________________________________________________
2. What are we doing well in our meetings?
________________________________________________________________________
________________________________________________________________________
________________________________________________________________________
3. What is one thing you would change to make our meetings more
effective?
________________________________________________________________________
________________________________________________________________________
________________________________________________________________________
4. Is there any benefit to conflict in our meetings? Why or why not?
________________________________________________________________________
________________________________________________________________________
________________________________________________________________________

Hospitality Director: Skills Table of Contents

FCR/CEM Business Analysis

Chick-fil-A has lots of acronyms! Let’s look closely at three:

63
FCR
Fee Calculation Report “Revenue – Expenses - Fees = Profit” (For
Operators)

CEM
Customer Experience Monitor “Percentage of 5 out of 5 answers on
receipt surveys”

IPO
Incremental Profit Opportunity “Potential Profit – Overages = Actual
Profit”

CEM
CEM is one of our four
lenses that give us insight
into what guest think about
our business. CEM is based
solely on guest perspective.
64
When analyzing our business through this lens we are looking at ways
to grow sales by meeting/exceeding guest expectations in different
areas.
You can access CEM scores on @cfahome > Reports & Tools > CEM. It
is important to remember these results need to be looked at over a
period to show trends. If you look at CEM scores for just one day or
one week you will not have an accurate insight into guest perception.
Chick-fil-A has found that the link between “Overall Satisfaction” and
sales as the key metric. Many different things impact “Overall
Satisfaction” but most fall under OE (Operational Excellence). “Taste,
Fast Service, Attentive/Courteous, and Order Accuracy.” By looking at
the chart to the right, you can see these scores compared to last
period ad your operator team. Take some time to play on the CEM site
and find the reports you like.
FCR
To the left we have a
sample FCR breakdown.
This information is
generic but as you work
with our restaurants
financial info we expect
you to keep it private and
not share it with anyone
outside our leadership
team.

65
This report is generated each month to show income – expenses =
profit. Our goal is to grow profit and there are two main approaches to
doing so.
1. Grow “Top Line” Sales. You may be asking, what does this mean?
Look to the left and the top lines list income. With fixed cost, you can
increase the amount of profit by increasing sales. This sounds too easy
and simple but many people choose option number two. To grow top
line sales, you must invest in marketing, labor, food, and other
investments. These costs hit your profit immediately and the ROI
(Return on Investment) is recognized further down the road. There is
also the risk of not recognizing a return of increased profit. Therefore,
many people choose option number 2.
2. Grow profits by reducing expenses. If income remains constant,
then you can increase your profit by reducing cost. There are two
main variable cost – Food & Labor. Food cost is usually 28%-31% and
Labor cost ranges between 17%-23%. If both costs are on the high
average, then profit is reduced by 9%!!!!
IPO
This report is a 12-month rolling report that shows where we have
overspent per projections. This report is very useful to identify and
create action plans for attacking cost.
Chick-fil-A’s Corporate Purpose is – “To glorify God by being faithful
stewards of all he has entrusted to us, and to have a positive influence
on all who come in contact with Chick-fil-A”

66
Questions
1. Stewardship is one of our Core Values. How can we be better
stewards of our resources?
________________________________________________________________________
________________________________________________________________________
________________________________________________________________________
2. As you look at our IPO, what is our greatest area of opportunity and
what are you going to do about it?
________________________________________________________________________
________________________________________________________________________
________________________________________________________________________
3. What questions do you have about the FCR, CEM, or IPO?
________________________________________________________________________
________________________________________________________________________
________________________________________________________________________
4. What is something we should to do to grow top line sales?
________________________________________________________________________

67
________________________________________________________________________
________________________________________________________________________

68
Hospitality Director: Skills Table of Contents
Hiring Process Scorecard

Three C’s

 Character: Keywords- Integrity, Trust, & Humble

 Competency: Keywords- Speed, Hustle, & Hungry
 Chemistry: Keywords- EQ, Polite, & Smart

Role Specific Characteristics

FOH
 Core 4: Eye contact, Smile, Enthusiastic, Personal Connection
 Quick/Purposeful
 Hospitable

BOH
 Athletic/Competitive
 Detail Oriented

Zero Core 4 with little to no experience

Some Core 4 and some of the 3 C’s

Good Core 4 with good C’s

Excellent Core 4 & Meets

Excellent Core 4 & Embodies all other Chick-fil-A Characteristics

As the Hospitality Director, you are now one of the final interviews for
team members. Our hiring process at Chick-fil-A is as follows:
69
Sourcing
We source applicants from many different places. Snag-a-job,
talentreef, indeed, in person, colleges, high schools, churches, etc.
Having a steady flow of great applicants is the foundation of a great
restaurant.
Recruiting
Creating a meaningful brand that people want to work for is the
cornerstone of our recruiting. Once candidates have been identified
we need to “Sell” them on the job. If we have a great reputation with
our current team members, then sourcing and recruiting become
easier task. There does need to be a strategy for sourcing and
recruiting but a great reputation makes both easier.
Screening
How do we know who is a good fit? This is our opportunity to screen
applicants per our needs and to our scorecard listed above. We can
screen applicants based on availability, experience, past job history,
charisma, and values. This screening can occur when reviewing
applications, over the phone, or in person interviews. This doesn’t
need to be too deep of an interview. The goal is to cast a wide net and
find a few gems.

Focus
This is where you need to ask culture/role related questions, and
check references. Do they embody our values? This interview is with

70
the Director of the area they are applying to work. For EX. “A FOH
candidate has been screened by the Training Director and has been
passed to the Hospitality Director for a Focus interview.” Ultimately, is
this person a good “Fit” for your team while meeting all the
expectations of availability, skills, and experience.
Final
The final interview is just that. One meeting with the operator or
other directors to make sure that the process of screening and
focusing was followed. This step is important because it holds us
accountable to the process. If we compromise the process, we will
surely pay for it down the road either in headaches from the poor
decision or from others who must deal with the poor decision.
If you haven’t done so already, sit in on each of these phases of our
hiring process and record your thoughts below:
________________________________________________________________________
________________________________________________________________________
________________________________________________________________________

71
Hospitality Director: Tasks/Goals Table of Contents

Grand Opening: Certified Trainer Program

The Certified Trainer Program is designed for Chick-fil-A Team

Members and emerging Chick-fil-A Restaurant leaders who have a gift
and a passion for training and developing others. Certified Trainers
commit to serve at 3 short-term service opportunities.
If the candidate is selected for the Certified Trainer Program, they are
required to complete a 5-day training course at the Chick-fil-A
Support Center. The focus of this training is on leadership acumen and
training skill. Participants will be evaluated throughout the course on
their ability to conduct effective training sessions, coach Team
Members, and display leadership by creating training opportunities.

Certified Trainer Role Description

72
The Mission of a Certified Trainer
"To serve the Chick-fil-A brand by equipping Team Members with the
resources and skills to execute Operational Excellence and to bring the
Chick-fil-A culture to every Restaurant through Team Member training
and coaching." 
Certified Trainer Profile
Knowledge
Proficient in Chick-fil-A brand standards and procedural knowledge
Foundation: Demonstrates a working knowledge of Chick-fil-A
processes and procedures
Work Ethic: Pursues flawless execution of Chick-fil-A operating
standards
Resources: Incorporates resources into all training experiences
Growth Mindset: Shows an eagerness to learn and learns quickly
Training Skill
Proficient ability to utilize training resources and skills
Communication: Speaks and writes clearly and articulately
Accountability: Welcomes and provides consistent and timely
feedback
Strategic: Utilizes effective questioning and training tools to facilitate
learning
Emotional Intelligence: Adjusts training approach to accommodate
the learning needs
73
Speed & Accuracy
Proficient capacity to execute Chick-fil-A procedures with speed and
accuracy
High Standards: Strives for personal excellence and exhibits
organization
Flexibility: Adjusts quickly to changes and remains calm under
pressure
Efficiency: Demonstrates effective time management skills
Proactivity: Assesses needs and responds quickly
Leadership
Expert ability to demonstrate leadership capacity
Integrity: Upholds ethical standards and does not cut corners
Ownership: Takes responsibility for the outcomes of decisions
Professionalism: Exhibits maturity in speech and behavior
Coach: Ability to influence a trainee to greater performance and
ownership
Attitude
Expert ability to demonstrate a genuine and positive attitude
Enthusiasm: Exhibits a passion for training and excitement for Chick-
fil-A
Teamwork: Enjoys collaboration and is willing to serve in any
capacity

74
Respect: Displays confident humility in interaction with authority,
peers, and trainees
Optimism: Demonstrates patience with trainees and a commitment
to their success

Before you begin the official application process for the Certified
Trainer Program, you need to ensure you have completed the
following:
 All assigned eTRAIN modules
 SERVSAFE Certification
 3 consecutive development meetings with the Training Director
(or in-store CT)
 Participated in training at least 2 new employees here at the
store, both FOH and BOH.

Hospitality Director: Tasks/Goals Table of Contents

Break a Record

The final task for this section is simple. Break a record!!! You can use
you training on reports and identify a needle then move it. This could
be car counts, SOS, CEM, FCR information, or another metric not
mentioned. Just make sure this goal is SMART.

75
Goal:
Start Date Target Date
Disciplines:

Current Reality: Results:

76
 SECTION V
Kitchen Director

77
Kitchen Director: Leadership Table of Contents
Learn about your Role
Opposite of Hospitality Director, anything that happens from the
“Swinging Door” backward is your responsibility.

Kitchen Director Role Responsibilities:

Systems for everything including, cooking less more often, thawing

cabinet, unloading and organizing truck, rotating RTE product, holding
times, chicken cool down process, ordering produce, ordering truck,
organizing stock, controlling chemical waste, cross-contamination
prevention systems, pest control systems.
Creates a Culture of Food Safety where we execute SAFE and eRQA
at 100% and provide feedback to the entire team
Cleaning and Maintenance calendar, daily, weekly, monthly, semi-
monthly, and annual cleaning schedule that is implemented and
working properly.
Can effectively perform with excellence all areas in BOH including
proper catering procedures, has passed all required test and can use
the 3-step training method to coach other team members.

How to measure performance:

78
Health Inspection-cleanliness, temperatures etc.
ROE- Product Score
ROE- Production Environment Score
CEM- Taste of Food Score, Temp. of food
CEM- Overall Cleanliness Score
Maintaining a LEAN Kitchen
Scheduling: Create weekly schedule.

Additional Kitchen Director Role Learnings:

1. Read: Good to Great by Jim Collins

2. Prepare for Interviews
3. Learn End of Month Procedures
4. Contracts/Repair & Maintenance
5. Toastmasters
6. Maintaining LEAN Kitchen

Kitchen Director: Leadership Table of Contents

79
 Reading: Good to Great by Jim Collins

As you read this book look back at the history of Chick-fil-A and ask
yourself, “Is Chick-fil-A a great company?” and “How did Chick-fil-A
become great?”
Jim Collins shares the name of our former President- Jimmy Collins,
Author of “Creative Followership”. Jim studied over 1400 companies
with his research team asking the same questions of each company.
They did not go in with a preconceived theory of what makes good
companies great, they did their research then reviewed the data. As
you read this book you can record some notes here and answer these
questions for your one on one meetings.

Questions
1. What was your favorite company discussed in the book and why?
________________________________________________________________________
80
________________________________________________________________________
________________________________________________________________________
2. Explain the fly wheel & doom loop concept?
________________________________________________________________________
________________________________________________________________________
________________________________________________________________________
3. In your opinion, what is Chick-fil-A’s “Hedgehog” concept?
________________________________________________________________________
________________________________________________________________________
________________________________________________________________________
4. In your opinion, what is something we should do in our restaurant
to take a step towards greatness?
________________________________________________________________________
________________________________________________________________________
________________________________________________________________________

Kitchen Director: Leadership Table of Contents

Preparing for Interviews
Reading: Who by Geoff Smart & Randy Street

81
Preparing for interviews may seem a daunting task. How do you know
what you will be asked? How can you prepare for the unknown? What
do you need to improve when it comes to clarity of speech,
professionalism, and stature? How can you balance humility with a
confident spirit?
On the other extreme, it may be tempting to discount the importance
of thoroughly preparing for interviews. Maybe you plan to just “wing
it.” I can tell you, for the high-caliber and competitive interview
process in place for the Chick-fil-A Leadership Development Program,
proper preparation is essential.
One great way to learn how to be a superior interviewee is to learn
the methods of the interviewer. Since its release
in 2008, the book Who: The A Method for Hiring
has influenced dozens of multi-million dollar
corporations’ in their approach to interviewing
and hiring.
Chick-fil-A also endorses Who as an excellent resource not only for
hiring corporate positions, but also assembling an “A” team within
individual restaurants. As you read WHO, you will get an inside scoop
on the types of questions you may be asked.
The Four Interviews
The Who method for hiring shares four main interview types for
which you should be prepared. This does not mean that your personal
interview experience with Chick-fil-A will include each of these four in
separate instances, but you should be prepared for each style.

82
 1. The Screening Interview - This is a short phone interview, which
is meant to eliminate most “B” and “C” Players. If the
candidate’s answers to your key questions—regarding career
goals, what they’re good at, what their weaknesses are and how
their past bosses would rank their performance—are
satisfactory, you can advance them to the next stage.
2. The “Top-grading” Interview- The most important step in the
interview series, the Top-grading interview is essentially a
chronological history of the candidate’s career. For each
position, starting with the earliest, five key questions are asked:
what they were hired to do, what the high and low points were,
how their bosses would rate their performance and why they
left. The goal of this interview–—which lasts two to three hours
—is to dig deeper and gain insight into who the candidate is,
what’s important to them and how they operate.
3. The Focused Interview - This phase is conducted after successful
completion of the “Top-grading” interview. Here, the candidate
is interviewed by other team members, who ask additional
questions and gather follow-up information about specific
outcomes and competencies of the scorecard.
4. The Reference Interview - This final interview involves checking
references against what the candidate provided, and gathering
supplemental information from bosses, coworkers and (for
management positions) subordinates.
The Five C’s
So apart from excellent interview skills, what makes a prime Chick-
fil-A candidate?
83
 2. Character
 Faithfulness, ability to adapt, responsibility, maturity
 What associations are you involved with?
 Church, civic organizations, athletic teams/coaching
3. Chemistry
 Team environment – can you work well with others?
 Do you make things about yourself or prefer others above
yourself?
4. Competency
 Have you shown a track record of
growth/development/getting better over time?
 Have you taken on more responsibility than required of you?
5. College
 4-year degree
 Well-roundedness – coaching/development, volunteering
 How are you engaging others to make them be better?
6. Credit
 Good Credit – bankruptcy, foreclosure, paying debts.
 Why should they trust us with CFA $ if we can’t manage our
own?
The Application Process
The following is the official description of and qualifications for the
Chick-fil-A Corporate Leadership Development Program as presented
on @cfahome.
Leadership Development Program at Chick-fil-A
The Leadership Development Program is for individuals interested in
leading corporately operated restaurants. Once accepted, you will
serve terms as a Grand Opening Supervisor (GOS) and then an Interim
Manager (IM).

84
The ideal profile of a GOS and Interim Manager (IM) is a college
graduate with a Bachelor's Degree who has demonstrated significant
leadership capacity in a Chick-fil-A environment. The GOS/IM must be
able to be away from home for extended periods of time. The
candidate should provide a solid demonstration of competency,
character and chemistry, a track record of strong decision-making
abilities and management of personal finances.
If the candidate is selected for the Leadership Development Program,
they will be required to complete the Leadership and Restaurant
Principles Class at Chick-fil-A, Inc.'s corporate office before beginning
their tenure.

Before applying for the program, it is recommended that candidates

have the following experience:
 Sourcing, Recruiting, Interviewing and Selecting Team Members
 Ordering uniforms for new Team Members
 Thorough understanding of every aspect of HR/Payroll and the
ability to train others on it
 Thorough understanding of every aspect of labor scheduling and
ability to train others on it
 Understanding every aspect of the Store Management
Workstation and ability to train others on it
 Inputting vendors in back office systems
 Inputting supplier invoices through the Web Supplier Payments
application
 MBM, credit memos and reimbursements
85
 Systematically paying vendors - Printing, reprinting, voiding
and/or reissuing vendor checks
 Understanding every aspect of ordering and ability to train
others on it
 Understanding ALL that goes into a month-end and the ability to
train other on it
 Completed ALL modules of the eTRAIN – passing all related tests
with 90% or higher
 Be capable to train others on the modules and other resources
available

86
What to Expect

Before your selection we will set up a mock interview with either

myself or fellow Operator to prepare you for the LDP interviews

Following your initial application, you will begin the interview

process. Be prepared that this process could take several months.
Chick-fil-A will conduct thorough background and reference checks.
Your first interview will be the WePow, recorded web interview. This
interview is a five-question screening interview. Next is a WebEx Top-
Grade interview. This is a competency based interview looking at your
resume, storytelling, and skills. If you pass this interview you will be
invited to the Support Center for Final Interviews. These interviews
are meeting with LDP leads and consultants. The main question is this,
“Can you be a competitive operator candidate in the next 2-3 years?”

Kitchen Director: Skills Table of Contents

87
 End of Month

As Kitchen Director, you are responsible for all aspects of the store
“back of house.” This includes the monthly “End of Month (EOM)”
package. Completing and preparing EOM correctly is a critical task, as
this is sent to our home office accountant to complete all monthly
financials.
The following is a checklist that will guide you in completing EOM. If
you have questions, PLEASE ASK. Completing EOM is a learning
process.
EOM Checklist:
2-4 Days before End of Month (EOM)

 Update the Travel Path (Inform)

 Update Prices (inform)-
 Make sure majority of invoices have been input.
1 Day Before

 Input all outstanding transfers

 Adjust Time Punches (Reports & Tools > Time Punch)
o Under reports in Time Punch Applications, select Time
Detail Report for Payroll Period and ensure that there are no
additional undocumented errors. Excessive overtime may be
sign that someone forgot to clock out. Check to see if there
are any open time punches as well
 Input any P&L Notes (Reports &Tools > End of Month > P&L
Notes> Comments) Any communications to the accountant that
88
 are out of the ordinary go here (ex: Spread an expense over
several months, apply an accrual, etc.)
 Ensure all invoices are input
 Organize the inventory in ALL of the store to ensure ease of
counting the following day.
 If there is space up front, move any inventory into its correct
place from the back

End of Month (EOM)

1. Click Mark P&L to see if there are any outstanding categories
2. Check to see if there were any additional transfers today.
3. Verify that ALL invoices are completed and checks printed for
them. Open Check Writer to verify for yourself that there are
no invoices left unpaid.
4. Distribute plenty of change to all active registers and then
count change fund.
5. If Truck was received on this day, organize inventory before
counting.
6. Give front leader/team member a front stocking list to make
sure they are not getting items from the back during inventory
count (create this stock list, laminate, and keep it with EOM
file)
7. Begin inventory count between 2-4PM.
89
 8. End of Night: Check Time Punch to ensure all day crew team
members are off the clock
9. Wage Accrual
a. Pull up a time detail report of all employees from the start
of the pay period to current time
b. Calculate the rest of the wages for the evening. $10 x # of
employees x total hours left until 11pm
c. Add wages from a and b
10. Check daily sales to make sure you have input any paid outs
for the day.
11. Input Monthly Samples in Inform
12. When marking the P&L input the refill percentage
13. Assemble Month End Package (MBM, Invoices, Paid
Outs/Deposit Slips)
14. Mail Month End Package

Kitchen Director: Skills Table of Contents

Contracts/Repairs & Maintenance

Contracts can be tricky things. When was the last time you read ALL
the fine print on a document? While you may not be aware, you have
signed many different contracts and probably agreed to things that
you may not have fully understood.

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After this section, you will review ALL contracts

There are some major vendor contracts we sign in the restaurant.

Bread, Waste, Linen Service, and Cleaning Service to name a few. Each
of these companies look for contracts as a guarantee of business. As
the restaurant, we look at contracts as a guarantee of cost and terms
of service. The goal is that both parties are satisfied with the contract
after all negotiations.

Below is the short list we have when signing and reviewing contracts.
Term – How long is the contract/relationship for? The goal is for all
contracts to be as short as possible. As the restaurant, this helps
insure better service because you can choose to do business with
another company at the end of the term.
Contract Renewal/Cancelation – Does this contract renew
automatically? Under what terms can we cancel service? How much
notice must be provided before renewal or cancelation? These are all
questions to ask when looking at the fine print.
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1. What is our most expensive contract? What is the longest contract?
________________________________________________________________________
________________________________________________________________________
________________________________________________________________________
2. What contracts should we look to renegotiate for better terms?
________________________________________________________________________
________________________________________________________________________
________________________________________________________________________
3. What is the process to cancel our waste contract?
________________________________________________________________________
________________________________________________________________________
Repairs & Maintenance is right at our core value of stewardship.
When we say, “we want to be good stewards of ALL that is entrusted
to us” we are talking about time, money, people, AND equipment.
The word Steward means to treat something like it belongs to you,
even though it doesn’t. By stewarding equipment, we should take
good care of it while
using it and prevent
repair issues by
performing routine
maintenance.

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For Example – If BOH team members keep slamming henny’s it could
wear out the springs. However, for this discussion we will be looking
at “Preventative” maintenance and not daily/weekly cleaning and use.
The picture above is of the Facilities & Equipment Maintenance
Calendar. This should be saved to the restaurant calendar currently.
By clicking on the links, you will have access to the pamphlets
detailing the work needing to be completed. Some tasks can be
completed by our restaurant staff while others require professional
vendors.
Below is a list of the types of service agents needed.

 HVAC - *Heating, Ventilation, & Air Conditioning. These service

agents work on all refrigerated equipment and AC units. Ice
Maker, Freezer, Coolers, etc. This vendor is sourced locally at
the discretion of the operator.
 Plumbing – Cleaning Grease Traps, unclogging drains, and
other plumbing issues. Sourced locally.
 Window Cleaning/Pressure Washing – Sourced locally.
Usually handshake agreements on a month by month basis.
 Henny Penny tech and Garland Grill tech – Sourced through
Strategic. All repairs to the Grill and some to the Henny’s need
to be through strategic. Call the warranty number listed on the
equipment or the restaurant equipment detail sheet.
Lastly, there is a responsibility matrix listed on the Equipment site on
@cfahome. This details who is responsible for paying for what
between the Operator and CFA Inc. Most facility issues such as re-

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pavement and re-grouting tile are all expenses run through facilities
for approval.

Repair & Maintenance Exploration:

1. What is the cost of a new Garland Grill?
________________________________________________________________________
________________________________________________________________________
________________________________________________________________________
2. Who is our HVAC vendor and what did they charge for last visit?
________________________________________________________________________
________________________________________________________________________
________________________________________________________________________
3. How much do we pay for pressure washing?
________________________________________________________________________
________________________________________________________________________
________________________________________________________________________

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4. Per the responsibility matrix, who is responsible for replacing a
compressor? Who is responsible for replacing a “High Limit Sensor”
on the Henny Penny?
________________________________________________________________________
________________________________________________________________________
________________________________________________________________________
Kitchen Director: Tasks/Goals Table of Contents
Joining a Toastmasters Club

Whether you are selected to a Chick-fil-A Corporate position or

Operator, there are few things that will prove more beneficial to your
career than developing strong public speaking
skills. For some public speaking comes more
natural than others. However, it takes an
objective viewpoint from others to gain a
realistic perspective of your level of speaking
skill.
One highly-regarded organization that is
dedicated to developing public speaking skills is
Toastmasters International. Toastmasters stands as a world leader in
communication and leadership development and currently hosts over
313,000 members. Members attend club meetings where they are
given opportunities to practice public speaking, gain feedback, and
observe others who have exceled in public speaking skill.

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Over the next 6 months we will join a Toastmasters club to work on
your pubic speaking and attend classes together.

Kitchen Director: Tasks/Goals Table of Contents

Maintaining a LEAN Environment

At Chick-fil-A we have adopted a LEAN mindset. As you look around

the restaurant we have three main LEAN systems. LEAN Chicken
Thawing, LEAN Chicken Entrées, and LEAN Prep. Each of these
systems uses a Kanban as a trigger for a task.

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 “This is a Japanese word for trigger” This system was
developed by Toyota to reduce waste of time and
amount of stock on hand.
Sound familiar to our prep system? It is amazing what we can learn
from different industries if we take the time to ask great questions
and be open to change.
As we move forward in this section you will be tasked with analyzing
our restaurant with a LEAN mindset. What are some systems that we
could change and where are we wasting resources?

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LEAN Environment Exploration:
1. Give a letter grade to the LEAN thawing process execution of our
team?
________________________________________________________________________
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________________________________________________________________________
________________________________________________________________________
2. Per the “TIM WOODY” activity, where are we wasting the most
resources?
________________________________________________________________________
________________________________________________________________________
________________________________________________________________________
3. What is one system you would change or implement to make our
restaurant even more LEAN? When will you make this change and
what is your plan for implementation?
________________________________________________________________________
________________________________________________________________________
________________________________________________________________________

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SECTION VI
Operator

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Operator: Leadership Table of Contents
Learn about your Role
My business is a part of me and something I hold so deer to my heart
With that being said, the final 6 months of this program, I will give you
my spare set of keys and we will OWN this restaurant together.

Director Role Learnings:

1. Read: Chess not Checkers by Marc Miller

2. Read: The 5 Dysfunctions of a Team by Patrick Lencioni
3. Bi-annual Meeting/Training Event
4. Results: Your Impact
5. Mock Interviews

Operator: Leadership Table of Contents

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 Reading: Chess Not Checkers by Marc Miller

Mark Millers book, Chess Not Checkers, is about

adapting strategies from the game of chess. Mark Miller
reveals four essential moves all high-performance
organizations make. They bet on leadership, act as one,
win the heart, and excel at execution.

Bet on Leadership
1. How have you bet on leadership with your team?
________________________________________________________________________
________________________________________________________________________
________________________________________________________________________

2. Is there someone we could take a bet on that would help us build

the bench?
________________________________________________________________________
________________________________________________________________________
________________________________________________________________________
Act as One
1. Is our restaurant vision clear?
________________________________________________________________________
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________________________________________________________________________
________________________________________________________________________
2. How can we celebrate our values and excellence?
________________________________________________________________________
________________________________________________________________________
________________________________________________________________________
Win the Heart
1. On a 1-5 scale, rate our community as a leadership team,
community as a restaurant team?
________________________________________________________________________
________________________________________________________________________
________________________________________________________________________
2. How can you instill ownership in your team?
________________________________________________________________________
________________________________________________________________________
________________________________________________________________________
3. What does, “Foster Dreams” mean to you? How can you help foster
others dreams?
________________________________________________________________________
________________________________________________________________________

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________________________________________________________________________
Execute with Excellence
1. Rate our compliance with CFA standards on a 1-5 scale? Is there
something we should address?
________________________________________________________________________
________________________________________________________________________
________________________________________________________________________

2. How can we communicate the “score” better? What are you doing to
communicate the “score” to your team?
________________________________________________________________________
________________________________________________________________________
________________________________________________________________________

Operator: Leadership Table of Contents

Reading: 5 Dysfunctions of a Team by Patrick Lencioni

Before we begin, think about the best and worst teams you have been
a part of. List some of the characteristics of both below:
GOOD TEAMS BAD TEAMS

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__________________________ ___________________________
__________________________ ___________________________
__________________________ ___________________________
__________________________ ___________________________

Chick-fil-A officially began studying teams in the late 1980’s, and the
discovery continues today. The Secret of Teams as presented by Chick-
fil-A looks like this image:

SKILLS COMMUNITY

RESULTS

TALENT
Key Insights to Develop Great Teams
 Great teams focus on RESULTS
 TALENT is the foundation of great teams
 SKILLS are essential for success
 COMMUNITY separates the great teams from all the others
Six Characteristics of a HPLT
There are at least six defining characteristics of a healthy and high
performing team:
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1. Is your team pursuing a COMMON PURPOSE and SHARED
GOALS?
Have you clearly communicated the purpose of your team and the
goals you are seeking to achieve in your area? As a kitchen
director, do your team leaders know and understand our speed of
service or ROE goals? Have you developed a purpose statement for
your kitchen leaders?
________________________________________________________________________
2. Are the members of you team GROWING?
Does each member of your team have a development plan? How
much time are you devoting to developing your team each week or
month?

3. Does your team IDENTIY and SOLVE PROBLEMS

What problem is your team currently trying to solve? What
successful can you point to in the last 90 days regarding problems
the team has solved?
________________________________________________________________________
4. The members of the team hold each other ACCOUNTABLE
What standards do you have in place for team accountability? Who
is holding you accountable?
________________________________________________________________________
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5. The members of the team demonstrate genuine CARE and
CONCERN for each other
Do you take the time to learn about your teams’ lives outside of the
workplace?
________________________________________________________________________
6. Is your team achieving PHENOMENAL RESULTS?
________________________________________________________________________

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Operator: Skills Table of Contents
Bi-Annual Meeting/Training Event

In this section, you will be tasked with planning and executing one of
our bi-annual, whole team meetings!
This meeting needs to meet the following objectives-
 Cast Vision
 Celebrate successes
 Recalibrate on execution
 AND if appropriate, roll out new system, food, or processes
There are several steps in planning meetings. Here are some best
practices-
 Clarify Objectives with Team
o If you want to effectively implement change you need unity
and shared ownership.
 Create Agenda
o Like HPLT meetings, this keeps you on task so you can
communicate exactly what you want to within the allotted
time.
 Communicate the Meeting Time to the Team!
o This needs to be done early and often. Nothing worse than
planning an event and not having guest. This is much more
complicated than scheduling an HPLT meeting because of
the added complexity of numbers and engagement level.
 Develop Content and Delivery Method
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 o This could be a PowerPoint, paper hand out, email, etc. The
important thing is that you know your audience and get
creative so the message sticks.
 Meeting about the Meeting
o This is your dry run through the agenda to make sure the
“who’s” know the “what’s” and the “how’s” of the meeting.
Take a moment to ask for feedback on the meeting plan and
be humble enough to make changes. The goal is to have a
great meeting not to impress people with your ideas.
 Execute
If you have any more questions about this task, please bring them to
your one on one meetings.

Operator: Tasks/Goals Table of Contents

Results: Your Impact

This is your chance to look back and see the fruit of

your labor. Take some time to review reports, notes,
and any measurable items from the past few years.
Where were we? Where did you take us? These are
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great questions but fall short if you cannot speak to “how” you moved
the needle. For each amazing result, you need to show the beginning
situation, the tactics, actions, and results. This method is known as the
STAR Answer Method.
Displaying your results in a graph is an easy method to see the
situation and the results. As mentioned above you need to have
stories ready to speak to the “HOW” and the “WHAT” you did to
achieve those results. Below is an example of a results snapshot-

Personal Operator Resume

The link below is my personal resume in becoming an Operator. I am
showing you this not for recognition but to help you understand the
importance and time in creating your own story.
ericbrommer.net
Questions
1. If you could only share one story in an interview, what is?

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2. What result are you most proud of?

3. In your opinion, what is the one metric or number that defines a

healthy business? Why?

Operator: Tasks/Goals Table of Contents

Mock Interviews

The following are two analogies to assist you in developing your

“story.”
Three Course Meal Interview
Appetizer – As you share information with the interviewer you need to
serve them like a chef. Don’t swap the order of the meal because there
is a purpose to it. You begin with an appetizer. This is just enough for
people to get to know you without feeling overwhelmed. If you spend
most the interview here, then the interviewer never gets to the steak
or dessert! Everything before your pertinent work experience should
be limited to the appetizer section.

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Main Course - This is your chance to let them ask questions and spend
time enjoying getting to know you. Take time to share leadership
stories, results, and personal stories that impacted who you are. Be
prepared for follow up questions.
Dessert – This is your chance to leave the interviewer with a
“REMARK” able story, your last impression. Make sure this story is
rooted in your values. Whatever you share be genuine and keep it
short and sweet.

Connect the Dots

During an interview, you will be asked many different questions. It is
now your responsibility to connect the dots. If you have an answer
that seems unrelated to the job you are applying for, you must
connect the stories. In the end, once you have connected these stories
together they should paint a picture of who you are as a leader and
why you fit the position you are applying for.
These are not tricks to acing an interview rather guidelines that will
help you learn to share your story in a more professional manner.
This is a fun and stressful time to be interviewing. Below will be a list
of characteristics of a Chick-fil-A Leader, a list of interview questions
you could begin to answer, and a challenge to seek out mock
interviews.

Skills and Attributes of a Chick-fil-A Leader

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Systems & Processes
Understands and efficiently solves problems as they arise; Automates
processes where possible; Organizes the business; Has a process and
system focus in management approach; Is effective with time
management skills

Growth & Potential

Adapts to change and uncertainty; Asks and Uses feedback to develop
oneself; Can describe helping others develop; Handles multiple projects
simultaneously
Customer & Community Focus
Actively involved in community or civic organization; Finds ways to
enhance the Customer Experience; Articulates a customer engagement
strategy that has resulted in business growth
Purpose & Leadership
Exudes personal leadership philosophy and style; Articulate personal
strengths and weaknesses of own leadership style; Gains team buy-in
through vision and alignment regarding their personal goals and
objectives.
Communication Skills
Leads meetings and classes with confidence; Articulates and provides
clear direction when leading; Gives feedback and has crucial
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conversation when needed. Can share one’s Story with Clarity and
Passion.
Professionalism
Keeps a professional relationship with Operator and team; business
appropriate attire; Communicates effectively and professionally,
practices Core Four behaviors naturally in all situations.
Culture
Shares the values of Chick-fil-A, including Generosity, Personal and
Business Excellence, Stewardship, Hospitality, Personal Responsibility,
Personal Influence over Position Power, Balancing Results and
Relationships, Having Fun.
Chemistry
Team Oriented, SERVE Leader, Lead with Questions rather than Telling,
Treats Others with Honor, Dignity and Respect, Possesses a sense of
Confident Humility
Competence
Proficient in Chick-fil-A Requirements, Knowledgeable in Systems to
Maintain a Food Safe Environment, Remarkable Customer Experiences,
Efficient Operations, and Reasonable Profit Margin through Effective
Food and Labor Cost Management.
Growth Mindset
Oriented toward and abundance mentality that allows for all to benefit
through growth without winners and losers.

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Lifetime Learner
Understands the value of continuous education and personal growth so
the business never outgrows you.

Restaurateur Perspective
Possess a Passion for Food and a Genuine Appreciation for Every
Customer.
Entrepreneurial Orientation
Is motivated by the Challenge of Business Maximization, Preventing
rather than Solving Problems in the Business, and the Opportunity to
Make Key Decisions that will determine the trajectory and ultimate
success of the business.

Sample Interview Questions:

 Tell me about your life start with everything before high school.

 Tell me about your time in high school. 3 best moments, 3 worst

moments.

 College. 3 best, 3 worst

 What involvement have you had or currently have with your

community?

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 What do you do when you are not at work?

 What interests you about owning your own business?

 Why do you want to own a restaurant?

 What is your leadership philosophy?

 What interested you about joining CFA?

 Why the operator role?

 Your degree in school was business marketing, why did you

choose that degree?

 What has been your most difficult personal decision?

 Who have you developed outside the restaurant?

 Who have you developed inside the restaurant and how?

 Walk me through your work experience prior to CFA.

 Walk me through your CFA experience.

 If I were to ask your Operators what you did in their restaurants

what would they say?

 Walk me through your assignments.

 What have you done to be a successful Leader?

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  Tell me about your most difficult customer experience.

 What will be your biggest hesitation when becoming an

Operator?

 Tell me about a mistake you have made recently.

 What has been your experience with the P&L?

 What do you learn from the P&L?

 What do you do with the information you learn from the P&L?

 What have you done to create a great environment for your

team?

 If CFA didn’t work out what would you do?

Challenge
Schedule a mock interview with the following people
 Your current Operator
 Another Operator
 A leader with outside CFA experience
 Meeting with Business Consultant
 Ask your operator to schedule a meeting with LDP consultants or
operator selection

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Closing Remarks
CONGRATULATIONS!! If you read this section after completing this
development process, then I owe you and your family dinner at the
place of your choice.

My hope and prayer is that you will be successful in life and that you
can look back on your time here as a blessing. I’m so proud of all you
have accomplished.

I am blessed to have been a part of your journey and can’t wait to lead
this business alongside you!

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