SumOfAllFears
Grim Reaper of Misguided Liberal Souls
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RE: I ate at Chick-Fil-A today.
(08-01-2012 11:03 PM)UCF08 Wrote: Quote:If you did and saw everything you have purported you'd be 100 years old. I know you are not even 30, acting like 14. IF There are incidents where are the prosecutions. The fast company article does not even bring up the subject of "massive backround checks". WTF is wrong with you, Cathy is just looking for dedicated people with a passion for customer service. .
Like Native Georgian reiterated, I'm talking about their operators, and everything I've posted backs up exactly what I said. It's an arduous process, unlike any other QSR that I'm aware of (the others only really care about up-front capital and total net worth), but it's for good reason; their success rate is in the high 90%, the cost of becoming a partner (they don't franchise technically, as they want more control so they can control their branding) is only $5k, at least ~2 years ago, and Chik-Fil-A fronts most of the money for the start-up costs. It's part of the reason why you don't see any Chik-Fil-A's in really bad shape, they don't allow for the owning of more than one location (except in extreme circumstances) which means that there is an operator intricately involved in the daily business of each location. You don't have that with McD's/BK/etc, which is why there is a vast difference in quality/cleanliness/etc between different locations. Most of those franchises are owned by large companies which own large amounts of them, and there is enough separation between the owner and the managers to allow for there to be differences there. As anyone who's ever worked in a restaurant will tell you, it only takes a few weeks for a great one to go to complete sh*t with the wrong management.
But don't take my word for it, take Forbes
Quote:The fast-food purveyor seeks loyal employees and operators who believe serving chicken is God's work. Careful screening of new hires keeps it out of trouble.
At a busy Chick-fil-A in Rome, Ga. Richard Yadkowski keeps a paternal eye on employees squeezing lemons and cooking chicken. Like seven teens who work in his restaurant, Yadkowski, 33, came to Chick-fil-A when he was living in a group foster home created by Chick-fil-A founder and chairman S. Truett Cathy. "I tell the kids, 'This is not just selling sandwiches; it pays for your upbringing,'" says Yadkowski, a hardworking, happily married Southern Baptist who plans to work with Chick-fil-A for life.
Chick-fil-A tries to recruit and retain loyalists like Yadkowski, who is so devoted to the company and its founder that he named his son Samuel (Cathy's first name). The privately held chain--with $2.3 billion in systemwide sales last year from 1,300 franchised stores in the U.S.--is best known for chicken-breast sandwiches that inspire fans to camp out so they are first in line when a new restaurant opens.
Cathy, 86, credits the company's success to 975 franchisees and 600 employees who are unusually dedicated in an industry known for grumpy operators and high turnover among hourly workers. The turnover among Chick-fil-A operators is a low 5% a year. Among hourly workers turnover is 60%, compared with 107% for the industry. "We tell applicants, 'If you don't intend to be here for life, you needn't apply,'" says Cathy, who opened his first restaurant in 1946.
That's not the only company mandate. Chick-fil-A's corporate mission, as stated on a plaque at company headquarters (and by Cathy), is to "glorify God." It is the only national fast-food chain that closes on Sunday so operators can go to church and spend time with their families; franchisees who don't go along with the rule risk having their contracts terminated. Company meetings and retreats include prayers, and the company encourages franchisees to market their restaurants through church groups. Howe Rice, a franchisee in Glen Allen, Va., hosts a Bible study group in one of his two Chick-fil-A restaurants every Tuesday. He offers a free breakfast to all who attend. "You don't have to be a Christian to work at Chick-fil-A, but we ask you to base your business on biblical principles because they work," says Cathy.
Chick-fil-A is run by Cathy and his sons Dan T., chief operating officer, and Donald (a.k.a. Bubba), a senior vice president. They screen prospective operators for their loyalty, wholesome values and willingness to buy into Chick-fil-A's in-your-face Christian credo, espoused often by Cathy, an evangelical Southern Baptist who says "the Lord has never spoken to me, but I feel Chick-fil-A has been His gift."
The company asks operators to pay just $5,000 as an initial franchise fee. KFC, for example, demands $25,000 and a net worth of $1 million.
Chick-fil-A pays for the land, the construction and the equipment. It then rents everything to the franchisee for 15% of the restaurant's sales plus 50% of the pretax profit remaining. Operators, who are discouraged from running more than a few restaurants, take home $100,000 a year on average from a single outlet. A solo Bojangles' franchisee can expect to earn $330,000 (Ebitda) on sales of $1.7 million.
Loyalty to the company isn't the only thing that matters to Cathy, who wants married workers, believing they are more industrious and productive. One in three company operators have attended Christian-based relationship-building retreats through WinShape at Berry College in Mount Berry, Ga. The programs include classes on conflict resolution and communication. Family members of prospective operators--children, even--are frequently interviewed so Cathy and his family can learn more about job candidates and their relationships at home. "If a man can't manage his own life, he can't manage a business," says Cathy, who says he would probably fire an employee or terminate an operator who "has been sinful or done something harmful to their family members."
The parent company asks people who apply for an operator license to disclose marital status, number of dependents and involvement in "community, civic, social, church and/or professional organizations."
But Danielle Alderson, 30, a Baltimore operator, says some fellow franchisees find that Chick-fil-A butts into its workers' personal lives a bit much. She says she can't hire a good manager who, say, moonlights at a strip club because it would irk the company. "We are watched very closely by Chick-fil-A," she says. "It's very weird."
Is it legal? There are no federal laws that prohibit companies from asking nosy questions about religion and marital status during interviews. Most companies don't because it can open them up to discrimination claims, says James Ryan, a spokesman for the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission. Chick-fil-A has more freedom to ask whatever it wants of franchisees because they are independent contractors and not necessarily subject to federal employment discrimination laws. (Employees, however, may sue under those laws.)
The company might face more suits if it didn't screen potential hires and operators so carefully. Many Chick-fil-A job candidates must endure a yearlong vetting process that includes dozens of interviews. Ty Yokum, the training manager for the chain, sat through 7 interviews and didn't get the job. He reapplied in 1991 and was subjected to another 17 interviews--the final one lasted five hours--and was hired. Bureon Ledbetter, Chick-fil-A's general counsel, says the company works hard to select people like Yokum, who "fit." "We want operators who support the values here," Ledbetter says.
As for your claim that I'm making stuff up about my personal life, I don't know where I've been inconsistent about what I've done in the past. I worked in retail leasing for 3+ years and did site-selection for many different QSR's (mainly while interning, most brokers are lazy as sh*t and want to make the new guys do all the driving) and while doing that, you learn about the business you're doing it for. I don't know what else to say besides maybe you should try learning more if a 27 year old has a more varied life experience than you have? However, nothing I've said is at all incorrect and I'd appreciate an apology or at least admittance that you were wrong.
Just because Cathy runs the business different than BK, you think it's wrong, something must be wrong. You might even think it is illegal. Well, it's not. He is free to hire whomever he thinks will advance his company's objective. So until you can show me that a homosexual person was denied employment on the basis of sexual orientation, it's all a false narrative. Ginned up by you and the media, just like we see on a daily basis, here and the MSMedia. To me you have become so used to absorbing the lies, you are unable to recognize the truth. You don't seek it, or even care about it. So you are incorrect in your view that massive background checks are performed for illegal purposes and employees are screened on the basis of sexual orientation. As for an apology...... Blow me. (thats homosexual sarcasm)
(This post was last modified: 08-02-2012 12:17 AM by SumOfAllFears.)
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