The Secret Behind How Chick-fil-a Gets Their Young Workforce to Deliver World-Class Customer Service Consistently

How are certain businesses able to scale and still maintain business excellence to their customers and their employees?

Ryan Magnon, Senior Principal Operations Lead at Chick-fil-A Corporate has worked with two of the biggest hospitality giants, Horst Schulze, co-founder of The Ritz-Carlton, and Truett Cathy, founder of Chick-fil-A. And he shares some valuable insights into delivering world-class customer service consistently.

1. Quality attracts quality.

It’s not just about going out and finding great team members. It’s starting with a nucleus of quality leaders. When leaders identify with the company values, they are more likely to create an environment for their team members and attracting team members that also value that. 

2. Once you become a leader, you lose the right to make excuses.

When you transition from being a team member to being a leader, you go from being cared for to being the one who cares for within an organization. You are now responsible for other people and for making sure things are done the right way. It’s never the team member’s fault, but the leader’s. If you’re not spending a majority of your time pouring into the people that report to you, you’re doing something wrong. 

3. When you help other people get what they want, you’ll get what you want. 

It’s a concept of focusing on others that always starts with the leader. 

4. Focus on excellence every day. 

Every brand out there does something really well. It’s not so much about comparison. But you want to learn from them to grow and get better. Excellence is the constant creation every day of doing things as well as you possibly can. It requires discipline, focus, and a purpose. 

5. Focus on purpose, not just function.

Only chairs fulfill a function, but people fulfill a purpose. And when you can connect someone to an environment of belonging and purpose, they will rise up if they connect with it. 

For more information and resources on creating a culture of business excellence in your company, check out The Customer Service Revolution podcast. If you’d like to listen, head over to Episode 033: The Secret Behind How Chick-fil-a Gets Their Young Workforce to Deliver World-Class Customer Service Consistently.