The Secret To Developing Team Members When the Clock is Ticking

 

Retailers and restaurants move fast. Long before open and well after close, the clock is always racing and every second represents revenue lost or gained. How efficiently and quickly an operation can prepare itself to serve customers on an hour-by-hour basis defines its sales -- and, ultimately, its success.

In these service industry organizations, speed equals revenue. But it creates a costly management problem: There's little time to conduct the kind of coaching conversations that engage and develop Team Members. Employee engagement and development correlate with profitability, productivity and retention -- but they take time.

This time crunch focuses managers on the very immediate, and it's usually what a team member did wrong: how they screwed up an order, forgot to upsell the customer on the warranty, mishandled food or made an angry customer angrier. It's an understandable managerial reaction, but it's also punitive and negative. Eventually, that kind of management can lead to an unwelcoming customer experience -- and research shows that it can create a disengaging employee experience too.

Disengaged team members either stay and do a bad job, which increases costs and decreases customer engagement, or they quit and require replacing. So managers get stuck running an operation with either too many rookies or too many low-engaged Team Members, losing money in the process and with little time for the coaching that employees need to learn and grow -- and to produce the kind of customer experience that generates profit and earns loyalty and boosts NPS scores.

According to Gallup research, food service has an average annual turnover rate of 103% to 150% (and an average 3% to 5% profit margin). Customer-facing retail's turnover is over 60%.

It seems like an intractable problem in fast-paced industries. It is not. It's a profit-sucking cultural problem related to perspective, not pace. And it can be fixed.

Why a Grow With the (Work) Flow Approach Is A Great Solution

A Grow With the (Work) Flow strategy is vital when there's little time for lengthy development and coaching conversations. Of course, managers can do a deep dive into theory and data, but it's not necessary for a working knowledge of how to lead, how to be heard, and how to best connect with their teams and guests.

The most powerful and valuable development experiences involve hands-on, in-the-moment learning. There’s no substitute for being confronted by and having to address real business challenges. And, given the number of challenges we face in business, the opportunity to leverage them is limited only by the imagination.

However, development activity is only that—activity—until it is properly unpacked to reveal its lessons. In fact, many Team Members become so engrossed in the experience that they don’t take the time to reflect on how they’ve benefited from it. Yet again, conversation becomes the key to genuine growth. And simple questions help you launch the dialogue.

Call it what you will: In the moment. On the spot. Context sensitive. Instant. Bite-size. On the fly. Impromptu. Nano-coaching. Stealth development. It works!

Growing with the flow means development isn’t limited to scheduled meetings and is less burdensome in many ways. It can be quick—as short as one or two minutes. It can be casual—right on the sales floor or hanging over a cubicle wall. It can be completely unplanned—no notes or agendas to contend with. Hardly sounds like work, right?

But in life, there are always trade-offs. When you grow with the flow, you save time and there is less planning involved. But you’ve got to be willing to give something as well. And that something in this case is a little more of your attention. When you help team members grow and progress you elevate their mental and emotional engagement. And engaged team members will engage customers. In order to do this effectively managers need to form new habits and increase their social and conversational intelligence.

According to Gallup research, fully engaged customers represent a 23% premium in terms of share of wallet, profitability, revenue and relationship growth over the average customer. Fully engaged casual-dining customers make 56% more visits per month to their favored restaurant than actively disengaged customers do. Fully engaged fast-food customers make 28% more visits.

These higher engagement levels result from the emotional impact that employees invent fresh for every customer. That impact springs from engagement -- the disengaged won't bother -- and authentic talent. Talent can't be faked. Not well, and not for long.
Developing employees improves the team's profits and earns their loyalty. 

Grow with the flow based development also improves the brand's employee value proposition. That's what attracts and retains team members who exceed expectations and provide consistently excellent performance.

And when the clock is racing and every second represents revenue, those employees make all the difference. They decide what kind of experience their guests or customers will have. Coaching Team Members to know a to create an engaging customer experience is an extremely effective use of managers' time -- especially when they have no time to waste. 

Learn how Smart Development can equip retail and restaurant managers to coach employees to deliver an exceptional guest/customer experience with a Grow With the (Work) Flow development strategy.

To your greater success and fulfillment,

Peter Mclees, Leadership Coach, Trainer and Performance Consultant

SMART DEVELOPMENT

Take the Next Step... 

Interested in learning how Smart Development can equip your store and restaurant managers to help their team members Grow with the (Work) Flow. We begin with a collaborative discovery process identifying your unique needs and business issues. To request an interview with Peter Mclees please contact: 

Email: petercmclees@gmail.com  or  Mobile:323-854-1713

Smart Development has an exceptional track record helping service providers, ports, sales teams, restaurants, stores, distribution centers, food production facilities, nonprofits, government agencies and other organizations create a strong culture, leadership bench strength, coaching skills and the teamwork necessary for growth. 

Having worked with several companies throughout their growth cycle, we have valuable insights and strategies that would help any late stage startup, small or medium sized company achieve sustained growth and prosperity.