by K BoxRight

Created on: June 12, 2008   Last Updated: June 13, 2009

Majority of the American population loves fast food. We have so many choices of restaurants that satisfy our hunger desires. Many of us have come to depend upon fast service, effective management, and customer satisfaction. However, there is a great majority of fast food restaurant employees who seem to not care about service and a great a deal of managers who seem to not care about providing effective leadership.

I am one of the many Americans who eat more fast food than I should. However, lately, I have come to regret my late night trips to some of the more popular venues that I visit. The reason is teamwork ineffectiveness. Encouraging teamwork is one of the most important methods in ensuring great customer service. I have heard so many people say, "the food was nasty, the cashier was mean, and the manager did not seem like a leader."

Although there are customers who look the other way and there are those who make a formal complaint, I am one who challenged management to change the way they lead. My challenge to a manager was "how will you encourage teamwork performance in your restaurant? His response was "we normally are too busy to take the time to strategize this effort." This is very disturbing. We want to visit restaurants that are inviting and restaurants in which the customers feels as though they are getting the best overall experience than any other restaurant they have visited. In other words, we want to know that our money is being used in a restaurant in which the leaders and the employees appreciate our business. I have learned from many customers that their visits result in the feeling of being the "unwanted."

Since when do the manager and the team of employees become to busy to give the very people who are responsible for their success the most important attention? I think the problem lies with ineffective teamwork performance. In many restaurants, the issue is that employees are simply not challenged to work together in the interest of the business. Many employees feel that the only reason that they exist in the business is to do a job and not obtain a career. The scary aspect of this is that many of the managers we see in these restaurants have been chosen from the group of individuals who still think that it is just a job, not a career. Therefore, effective leadership is not an area in which they are familiar. We have all been in those restaurants in which at least one employee gives the impression as if they do not care about your business. I think to myself, "do they realize that they are the backbone of this business and that failure to provide customers with their expectations is a failure in the overall structure of the business itself?"

This brings me back to the challenge that I posed to one fast food manager. My assessment of this is that managers must possess the training, skill, and desire to encourage teamwork performance. They should set goals and ensure that those goals are met. In addition, they should make sure that their team of employees should exhibit the most professional behavior no matter what position in which they have been hired. Managers must instill in their employees the work ethic and behavior necessary to respect the organization. In doing so, they come together as a group of employees and leaders who care about the continuous and successful growth of the business. Furthermore, they become united in the effort to ensure that they are taking the best care of their greatest gift-you and I, the customer.

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