Recognition in the Restaurant Business in India

Whenever I visit McDonald’s, Pizza Hut, Taco Bell or Dominos in India, one thing I notice consistently is the enthusiasm and smile on the faces of the folks who work there – the counter staff, the waiters, the delivery boys etc. At the same time, when I go to other restaurants the staff is keen to service you as a customer, but I can’t see the spark on their faces – When I look at them they seem to be telling me “I am doing this job, because I need the money and I can’t find anything else better”.

While at McDonald’s, I get a different feeling – the employees seem proud to be working there – they seem to enjoy being there – they seem to belong there. Surprisingly the pay at McDonalds versus the other restaurants is almost the same – Infact, the local ones seem to be paying their staff a little better as that seems to be the only way they can get people to work for them.

While being a global brand, a large company etc. may help, I believe that the big companies have figured out that they need to have happy people as their frontline staff – since their brand is too dependent on them.

Not surprisingly, all these companies seem to take recognition quite seriously. Taco Bell had a poster with the words “Recognize, Recognize, Recognize”. McDonald’s has a large poster titled “Employee of the Month” with space for photographs of 12 employees to be placed on them for each month. These are located in the store in a place that a customer can take a look at, if he/she is interested. When I spoke to some of the employees, they told me that they keep getting rewarded and recognized for a number of things – for cross selling products that are more profitable for them – e.g. Fries and Coke with a burger; for staying an extra hour, for chipping in with a extra day of work in place of a co-worker etc. Above all they told me that what they liked was the fact that they were really busy throughout their work shift – which means business is good. They trusted that if business is good, their management will take care of them with bonuses, salary raises, benefits, growth etc.

Is it a coincidence that McDonald’s is the largest restaurant company in the world ($25 billion in revenues) or have they have really figured out what is it that matters for their business? Their people – especially their frontline staff. By building trust, by appreciating them consistently & sincerely and by empowering them to make decisions on the fly for the benefit of the customer, they have created a business that is exceptionally successful and profitable.