Made-to-Order Success in the Fast Food Industry

How do you know when an HR project is going well? When the client places an even bigger order before the first results are even in!

Dynamo is one of jobEQ's partners in Belgium, and they experienced this kind of success with one of their clients: the largest European fast food chain. Before the management management develpoment project was fully complete, the client was so happy with the results from the first few restaurants that it ordered the same for even more restaurants.

This project consists of management development training for restaurant managers and assistant managers. The fast food company, like many companies, wanted all of their managers to be like their top performing managers. They hired Dynamo to profile the top people and implement a coaching method to help all managers get closer to this ideal profile. This is a case where the client combined multiple tests to get even more information. They used iWAM to build a Model of Excellence and COMET to develop a library of ideal work behaviors. Initially, the project involved five company-owned restaurants, each with one manager and about five assistant managers. This is the process that Dynamo followed:

1. Provide a two-day training session on People Management. This event gave the managers practical ideas on management and people skills.
2. Test the managers and assistant managers using iWAM (for attitudes and motivations) and COMET (for competence and behaviors).
3. Hold the first Individual Development Center, where the employees would receive one-on-one feedback. This included 360° feedback (self-assessment with assessment by a superior and two team members) and customized advice on how they should adjust based on what they learned about their profiles.
4. On-the-job coaching for both managers and assistant managers. This step turned out to be highly appreciated and very practical because it they learned while working, and it helped to integrate management skills.

The last step was to hold another Development Center after the management techniques have been implemented. Each manager and assistant manager is required to take the COMET test again to see how his or her behaviors have changed. The results and feedback will give the company a clear summary of their return on investment.

But before the last step even took place, this client had already seen enough results. The accolades started with Step 1. The employees applauded the two-day People Management session, because before that, the biggest challenge was getting practical ideas for managing workers that they could use every day. Wim Thielemans, managing director of Dynamo, said, "The participants also loved the fact that they got individual feedback during the Development Center. We weren't talking to a room full of 10 or 12 people. It was just one."

The company was so pleased that in the middle of the project, it ordered the same service for several franchise restaurants. As for us, we're just happy that our clients are so enthusiastic about using our products.

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