Zata Blog

Batrus Hollweg International has done a very interesting study looking at the attitudes of Quick Service Restaurant managers and how they changed between 2001 and 2006.

Click here to download the overview

Overall, they noted:

Significant drops in Leadership and Commitment to Quality
Minor drops in Customer Service Orientation, Communication and Effort & Flexibility
Relatively no change in Problem Solving

The overview even goes on to create some interpretations.

For example, low scores on leadership can:

create a low likelihood of dealing with performance problems
make managers unresponsive the the needs of employees

Low scores on commitment to quality can manifest itself through:
needing a higher level of supervision
cause them to be slow on investigating and resolving food quality and service complaints

They suggest a couple of potential causes for these shifting attitudes

1. Changing generational dyanmics
2. Heavy competition for workers from industries such as retail or healthcare
3. Opportunities in the casual dining category

Overall, QSR owners must do a better job of emphasizing quality and leadership skills during the selection process and reinforcing those attributes during employment.

-Brad Brooks