Chicken Salad Chick Restaurant Process Design - Increasing Sales by 15% and Overall Guest Satisfaction by 30%
Team Restaurant Manager, Shift Leads, Team Members
Tools Microsoft Excel, SMG-Guest Satisfaction Platform, Google Forms, Microsoft Word, Altimetrics-food inventory system
Timeline ~3 Months
Overview
Chicken Salad Chick was needing a new Restaurant Manager and needing to turn the business around. Sales were down and guest satisfaction was down. Additionally, employee retention was extremely low.
Role & Impact
As General Manager I was the lead in research and process implementation.
Problem Statement
The current Comparative Sales over last year are sitting at -5%.
Additionally, the OSAT guest scores are in the 60 percentile range and employee satisfaction and morale is low, evident by the low retention rate.
After taking over the restaurant I could immediately tell the first thing I needed to do was research to better understand the guest and employee struggles.
Research
Guest Surveys
-> Happiness: Guests are overall unhappy. Satisfaction scores sitting in the 60s
-> Engagement: Guests are unhappy with the engagement process, product is subpar and not what they come to expect from the brand
-> Adoption: New business flows in because the brand is relatively new
-> Retention: Return business is low based on comparative sales and survey responses to “will return” and “will recommend”
CONTRAINT/PROBLEM
Customer surveys show guests are clearly unhappy with the service but no manager has compiled that data before.
INSIGHT: I decided If the data from the guest surveys were compiled into an affinity diagram then I could pinpoint the specific pain points and construct a deliverable action plan to execute.
Affinity Diagram
Using all the guest comments in the guest surveys I was able to extrapolate the
Service Factors that were most affecting our scores and in turn find our guests pain points.
Quality
Speed
Friendliness
Accuracy
Cleanliness
Quality of the food is not up to standard and consistency is not on par with the Brand Standard
Many people come here for a quick lunch break and are not getting their order in the expected 2 minute ticket time
The stressful environment is causing employees to not be in the cheerful upbeat mood we expect of our employees
When the orders are going out, they often have mistakes as we are not properly checking tickets as they go out, in an attempt to meet the speed standard.
The regular attendance to lobby cleanliness cannot be met due to staffing issue and prioritizing the right needs first.
INSIGHT: After compiling the data from the guest surveys I decided to speak with the employees to see what circumstances were and how they felt about the work environment. I decided to conduct this research in in a moderated anonymous survey study so that the employees would give me their honest opinions
Unmoderated Anonymous Work Conditions Survey
I asked employees to complete a simple survey and turn in that simply asked, What do I need to fix to help you do your job to the best of your ability?
Key Observations:
-
Consistency: Lack of Brand Consistency
-
Training: Lack of Proper Training
-
Lack of Documentation and Governance
Research in a Nutshell
The core of the issue I learned was lack of training and consistent expectations of company standards. All the data and numbers pointed to this being what the root cause of sales drop and low employee retention rates were.
After compiling data I decided to implement a whole new service and training process to fully realize the financial potential of the restaurant.
Based on all the data gathered in the research phase I decided to retrain everyone using a new training outline and creating a "new employee training system" in addition to implementing company standard practices to be placed throughout the restaurant to keep employees reminded and accountable for the expectations expected of them
New Training Process
I created a training guide for each of the three core positions in the restaurant. Each of these were binders of company standards and practices along with a detailed 3 day guide for each new hire to go through with a mentor or trainee to insure they were ready to take the position on by themselves and to be ready for success.
New Training Guides
-
Clear Training from Day 1
-
Training Specifically for each position
-
Reference Guide to always fall back on
Positional Standards
-
Daily Expectations laid out
-
Brand Standards
-
Checklists for accountability
Visualization of Standards
-
Visualization of Brand Standards
-
Clear guidelines for consistency
INSIGHT: We immediately saw a turn-around in the food quality and our overall guest scores. Employees were much more enthusiastic and positive and confident in the ability to do their job well.
After initial training processes were in place, I then focused on the implementation of daily standards and processes
Recognize
Train
Maintain
Implementation of Standards
Weekly Recap
-
Review of Weekly Sales
-
OSAT Score
-
Food Loss
Weekly Guest Comments
-
Review Guest comments
-
Derive actionable insights
-
Implement Action Plan based on User Experience
Food Cost Review
-
Review TOP food loss items
-
Review standards to
minimize loss -
Convey in relatable terms
so team can understand
and act on plan
Before and After
Sales in decline
Employee retention low
Low return business
Standards non-existent
Sales moving to positive
Employee retention high
Consistent regulars
Brand standards set as expectation
INSIGHT: Employee morale immediately went up and we reached an employee retention rate of 80% over the following year.
Process Design in a Nutshell
Implementing this Process Design was instrumental in us achieving the desired results for the business and for retaining the employees we wanted to help us achieve these goals.
80% 90% 15%
Employee Retention Rate
OSAT Score
Sales Growth
Take Aways
-
Trust the research
-
Follow through
-
Show people their value