In this discussion, we talk about Coaching Skills with Phil
Orazi, Dean of Chick-fil-A University and Scott Mayson, Business
Consultant with Chick-fil-A in Atlanta, Georgia. Q –
What is the role of an Operator at Chick-fil-A, and what are
some of the challenges that an Operator faces?
Phil – Operators are selected and are independent contractors
for Chick-fil-A. We have some leverage with what they do, but
they operate very independent from us. Growth opportunities for
the operator can be an additional restaurant. Opportunities come
as performance is monitored and the Operators are counseled and
supported by the Business Consultants.
Scott – As independent contractors, they are the CEOs of their
organizations. The contractor is the president of marketing, the
president of human resources, and the president of operations.
They are responsible wholly for their restaurant. You can
imagine, being in the position, they have to deal with a lot of
different people; they have to delegate a lot of
responsibilities out. They have to provide insights and
direction for all types of people. They are dealing with folks
from high school aged team members on up to senior citizens.
When you’re in a fast paced environment, dealing with 30 or 40
employees at a time, there are limited time constraints for
being able to have some real effective opportunities to coach
and counsel their team members. Q – What are some
specific coaching skills issues that your Operators face?
Phil – It’s a challenge to ease off some focus on the present,
and be more responsible for the future. As that relates to
coaching skills, it allows the Operators to work on the
development of their own people to be more responsible for what
is going on in the present so that they can focus more of their
time on what is going on in the future.
Scott – One [issue] is always the lack of performance. We have
quality requirements, so there’s an opportunity to work through.
People may not follow procedures for a lot of different reasons.
I think that the coaching model allows an Operator to work
through each situation by defining the task or issue. There are
a lot of opportunities to help a team member understand the
value of the requirements and why they’re there. CMOE’s coaching
skills model allows great opportunity for dialog. The person who
is being coached feels more that it’s an opportunity for
learning and development rather than punishment. Q –
Can you give me a specific example of the Coaching Skills model
working?
Phil – I think as a manager and director of people, you need
everything you can get. Certain steps of the Coaching Skills
model affect people differently. I think what is does is it
gives you a lot of different behaviors, some of which will work
more successfully with some people than others. I found overall
I’m more effective when I use the Coaching Skills model
completely because one of the steps in the model will generally
have an impact on most everyone.
Scott – I recently had a store become available, and I had four
Operators ask for this location. So this model gave me a very
effective process to go through and almost interview them to
help them understand. It’s not just something that I can say
“yes, you’re qualified” or “no, you’re not qualified.” It’s just
given me a great process so that when we get through, the two of
us feel good about the outcome or the decision that’s been
made. Q – What is the one thing that you would tell
workshop participants before sending them out the door?
Phil – I would say that they don’t need to hide this. They
should openly use the Coaching Skills Model. Apply it to every
situation you can. I think you can be real open with this,
whether it is for performance improvement or starting a project,
or whatever.
Scott – They need to seek out every opportunity they can to use
the model. And more importantly, use the individual behaviors or
skills associated with that model. Use it in as many
opportunities as you can. It’s just like a muscle, you know
you’ve got to use it or lose it. It is probably the most
powerful tool of influence that I’ve found, and it’s just
because of the questions that I ask. First, it comes across that
I really care, and second, I’m asking very insightful questions
that are important to the issue and I’m not providing all of the
answers. When I ask those questions, it either engages them
emotionally or intellectually. It’s like you grab their heat or
their head. It invokes emotion or thought. When you sit down and
take somebody through that process, it’s just a very healthy
process to follow and it just gets powerful results. Q
– It sounds like you’re telling me that effective Coaching
Skills is not just something you do, it’s something you
become?
Scott – Yes. That is the deal. You know, I have a very strong
desire to become good at what we understand is coaching
(skills). I kind of equate it with focusing on results and
focusing on the relationship. We all want to get results, but I
never want to get results at the expense of sacrificing the
relationship. But if I spend all my energy on the relationship
and not focus on results, we’ll be the best friends in the
world, but neither one of us will be very effective. Both are
important in the process.
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