Even giants like McDonald’s need combat veterans on staff, I realized that yesterday.
Before I even begin to recount this story, I want to start by saying this is in no way a bad review of McDonald’s, I fed my tribe of 5 for $21, I’m not going to complain about that. I did, however, notice some things that I think businesses need to take note of.
Yesterday we decided to have lunch at McDonald’s because the kids love it there. They enjoy the french fries and the play area, and I enjoy the cost of the food. We went to the restaurant that many readers of this blog are familiar with, you know, the one on Skibo road near Fort Bragg? I looked down at my receipt of $21 and the MBA in me marveled at how they made money, realizing that their margins must certainly be in the pennies per item. Well, after about five minutes of pondering the profit margins of this fast food behemoth I realized that I was not going to be getting my food very quickly, several people in front of me in line were still waiting, and it wasn’t looking good for them either.
I leaned back to watch intently on the operation, switching from MBA mode where I was thinking about the supply chain, volumes, and margins, to military mode and I began analyzing the leadership in this fast food establishment.
Although there were at least 8 employees on staff, there were only three employees working. One was making the food, one was taking orders inside, and one was taking orders for the drive through. These three were trying diligently to keep up with the demand, but were failing to meet customer expectations. I felt like a lane grader from my ROTC days as I had the thought that any Ranger Instructor would agree with, “If I can’t tell who’s in charge, someone is getting a no-go.”
The prep station was a mess. Someone had started to unload a box but didn’t finish, and now it sat right in the area where they prep trays and bags for customers. That created further disorganization and chaos. The next order came up, and as one of the employees handed it to an older gentleman next to me she commented, “I know it was for here, but we’re out of trays.” I noticed three trays under the box in the prep station, and as I looked to my right, five more by the trash can.
One employee was standing next to the fryer watching something cook…don’t those things have timers? I know i’ve heard that annoying alarm.
Another walked by several times, apparently looking for apple pies; don’t know if she found them.
A guy with a different shirt, maybe the manager? Doesn’t he notice there are four employees standing around doing nothing but staring at screens? Guess not. Where’s he going, there’s 15 people waiting on food?
I looked at my wife, “They’re staffed appropriately, but they’re not using the personnel properly.” She rolled her eyes, as she often does when my mind wanders this way and gave me a soft kiss on the cheek.
It was at that moment that I realized I could walk five miles onto Fort Bragg, grab any guy with Sergeant Stripes and a maroon beret, with absolutely zero training and place him in that McDonald’s and in five minutes he would have that place totally unfucked. Everyone would be doing something…mostly cleaning (the place needs it). No one would be standing around, and everyone would know what everyone else was doing. Most of all, everyone would know who was in charge.
That Airborne E-5 would notice the same things that I did: You, the prep station needs cleaned and someone needs to be stationed there, getting orders ready, nothing else. Two people cooking, not one. You there, stop staring at the fucking fryer, it has a loud ass alarm when the shit is ready, go clean something. What are you doing? Looking for apple pies? Ok, find them, and don’t walk by trash on the ground again, you pick it up and throw it away, slob. You, go pick up all the trays around the restaurant. You, you’re not on break, put out the cigarette and go clean the bathroom, smells like shit in there. That’s seven…he still has two more people to assign tasks to.
McDonald’s, the fast food giant, which clearly knows how to make money, that analyzes every single detail of the business, made one critical error: they didn’t hire a leader. They wasted salaries of unused labor and frustration on the part of customers, which will cost them money as myself and others will certainly be more apprehensive about going there again in the future.
What the combat veteran has is a keen understanding of how to get a team working united towards a common goal. He has trained himself to see the battlefield and through the chaos, identify weaknesses, and move quickly to stop them. He has been under a stress that you simply cannot imagine, and he did it with a smile on his face. He may know nothing about your business, but he knows how to lead, and it’s not the stuff you’re going to learn from reading a John C. Maxwell book, it’s the stuff they make movies out of.
Your people are your most important asset, and they need leadership. The US Military knows how to train leaders. Go ahead and exploit that for your gain, I know plenty of guys that would be willing to work for you.
-LJF