Growth of a Crew Member.

One of the crew members in my store, M., who I have mentioned once or twice earlier, as someone who offered me feedback on my own growth, is being keyed for a management position. She's young and smart, has the ability (if not always the desire) to charm the hell out of customers with impressive service, and seems to be a pretty quick learner. Part of management is being able to hang in all areas of the restaurant. She did not know a single thing about Production, until yesterday. Saturdays are typically mellow days, we get more families and more people just out living life than people rushing a half hour lunch break from work like we get during the week.

I had the shift in the afternoon and instead of having M. work in the back Drive Thru booth, giving our customers impressive customer service, I positioned things so she was in the kitchen learning with a fairly efficient crew member named C. and I worked her position in the Drive Thru, while the assistant manager ran the front end of the store. I still have control and my hand in things, as well as training M. in the kitchen, even while working a very busy area of the store.

M. and C. had a communication difficulty - M. doesn't speak very much Spanish and C. effectively does not speak any English. They got along great though, because things are pretty simple - and I acted as translator for most of what was going on (HA! those life skills are coming in handy here!). M. picked things up really fast, and got to get a taste of production (even though I neglected to have her do E-Learning first) on a relatively slow shift. It worked out well.

The funny thing is, though pegged for management, it really did not come to anyone's mind to train M. on Production, at all. This strikes me as just a sloppy mistake, and I actually had to use politics and persuasion on a decision maker to get her the time to start learning the kitchen. It turned out well though - it's a really simple job, when just about everything is made identically. It is hot, and M. mentioned how she needed water. I personally watched her drain 3 cups of water in a row 4 different times. It sure is thirsty work.

M. did a great job, and we got a chance to talk after the shift. She liked getting the opportunity to grow her diverse skills and told me she appreciated me getting her into the kitchen so she could learn. Job well done.