Discover the benefits of engaging hourly employees effectively.
Maintaining clear, effective, and thorough communication with employees across multiple locations is a challenge for every operator. Ensuring all employees feel valued and properly trained is an even greater challenge. Golden Chick, a quick-service chain with 225 locations, has found an effective software tool that addresses these obstacles.
“We talked to our general managers frequently, but we were missing that communication piece with our hourly employees and building engagement and culture with that crew,” says Michelle Kiker, director of training and operational services at Golden Chick. “Recognition of anything from their birthdays, anniversaries, or work wins took such a long time to get from the people in stores to us at the office.”
A healthy work environment increases productivity and employees are less likely to leave for another position. According to a Gallup poll, employees who feel connected to their work culture are 3.7 times more likely to be engaged at work and are 55 percent less likely to be looking for another job.
There’s a disconnect between corporate and hourly workers,” Kiker says. “I think [Shift] is certainly a component of bridging that gap. It promotes having fun. We do daily trivia created by our HR team for current events, like Hispanic Heritage Month and Black History Month.”
Keeping employees engaged is important when considering high turnover rates in the quick-service restaurant industry. Ensuring employees are engaged and properly trained has a direct impact on customer satisfaction. However, consistent training for every employee can be difficult to manage.
“Employees don’t have to log in on their phone, or get on a tablet and go into our learning management system. We can build visual instructions for our promotions or how to make and sell our new menu items and display them on [Shift] TV displays,” Kiker says. “So it’s easy from a training perspective to communicate upcoming items that employees will be making daily, and it increases guest satisfaction.”
Golden Chick originally rolled out Shift into six restaurants as a trial, but now has expanded Shift in every corporate location and a handful of franchise locations, with plans to roll it out to more franchises in 2024.
Shift plug-and-play displays allow companies to communicate with every employee directly, closing the gap between training differences and corporate communication blocks. “We hired [Shift] to manage materials for us,” Kiker says. “We send them the materials and they build the displays. We’re considering [Shift] for the entire brand. Franchisees would manage their displays presenting employee shoutouts, anniversaries, and birthdays, but we could still broadcast promotional things across the entire brand.”
Golden Chick’s innovative use of Shift has not only streamlined communication across its 48 locations but cultivated a vibrant, engaging culture that resonates with hourly employees and management. By integrating fun, recognition, and targeted training directly into the workflow, the quick-service chain has seen a notable improvement in employee engagement and customer satisfaction, showcasing the profound impact of technology on culture and operational success.
For more information, visit the Shift website.
By Ya’el McLoud
