How one cashier turned CEO discovered the secret sauce of running a Chick-fil-A franchise.
BIRMINGHAM, ALABAMA
After a brief stint in corporate America, Jerry Cotney was ready for a change. As an adult he had given his life to Jesus, gotten married, and was searching for a company where he could have a day-to-day, life-on-life impact on people.
“I was talking with my mentor one morning,” Jerry remembers, “and he said, ‘I think you’re describing the Chick-fil-A restaurant.’
“I read the book that the owner wrote about the values of the company,” Jerry continues, “and jumped on board as a 30-year-old cashier, wanting to learn the whole thing from the ground up, with the dream of being an operator one day.”
Six years later, that dream came to fruition.
“We’re a small, atypical Chick-fil-A in a mall—only about $1 million in business. That made it tough to start,” says Jerry.
“Also, a competing Chick-fil-A opened about a mile away, which impacted sales by 15 percent. They took the entire team from my location to that one; so, when we started, about three fourths of our team didn’t have any Chick-fil-A experience, and only one leader had more than three months of experience.”
Jerry was in over his head. Without an adequate talent strategy, employee turnover was high, especially at one critical position: the breader table.
“We were really struggling with staffing,” remembers Jerry. “I was hiring at a relatively low wage with little revenue. I was also getting a lot of staff members coming out of transition programs who struggled to be reliable.
“We were really struggling with staffing.”
“One employee was the tipping point for me,” Jerry continues. “After two or three people turned over at the breader table, I had been very intentional about investing in him. But, after six months with this employee, I heard the familiar phrase: ‘It’s time to move on,’ and I didn’t understand or know why.
“I thought to myself, ‘What am I missing here?’”
Another employee’s sentiment became so toxic that she accused Jerry of discrimination and filed a complaint with the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC).
“We went to arbitration for a false claim, which was a big waste of time for everyone involved; but it was still painful and sobering.
“Without a clear path for advancement,” Jerry reflects, “I would have continued to be vulnerable to that kind of accusation. Someone took advantage of a situation where there was ambiguity.”
Luckily, one of Jerry’s employees had a well-connected father who knew about Jerry’s staffing struggles. After all, his son worked there.
Jerry recalls: “I knew that I needed some sort of professional development program or coach, but I hadn’t settled into it yet. I was ready by the time Harris came along.”
“I knew that I needed some sort of professional development program or coach.”
Harris Wheeler, introduced to Jerry by the employee’s father, is a Convene Chair: an accomplished business leader who leads a team of Christian CEOs, to help them grow their businesses, maximize their influence, and honor God.
“I realized that being able to troubleshoot in a community of business leaders from other industries would bring fresh ideas to the table,” says Jerry.
“I realized that being able to troubleshoot in a community of business leaders from other industries would bring fresh ideas to the table.”
Harris and his Convene team presented Jerry with a Top 3 Challenges exercise. This helped Jerry to fully identify that employee turnover was his number-one issue.
“I realized that I needed to create a clear path for team members to understand what their development steps are,” remembers Jerry.
That year, with support from his Convene team, Jerry began developing a comprehensive talent strategy. He implemented a monthly recognition program, weekly video emails with encouragement and feedback, a new bonus structure, and even raised wages.
“I had a scarcity mindset when it came to wages,” says Jerry. “I had to let go of that paradigm.”
The results from all this?
“That year we cut our turnover in half,” remembers Jerry. “Harris introduced me to Net Promoter Score (NPS), which we use to measure team member engagement. It’s based on the question, ‘Would you recommend working here to a friend or family member?’ 50 percent of employees answering ‘Yes’ is supposed to be excellent. Our score got up to 70 and 80 percent.
“We grew sales 22 percent in 2019,” continues Jerry. “That’s enough to win the highest award for my role. (Chick-fil-A even bought me a car!)
“Then, our customer satisfaction. Three of the four years I’ve been here, we’ve set a record for this location for guest satisfaction. This is a 46-year-old location.”
Jerry continues: “With higher wages, we had higher-caliber team members coming on board, which allowed us to start delivery services before COVID. Without delivery during COVID, we may have been closed by now.
“We also have an opportunity to move to a new restaurant that’s going to be built this fall. The volume of business will be four to five times what we’re experiencing now, and the team will be well over three times the size: about 75 to 95 employees.”
Jerry’s personal life has also improved as a result of his relationships in Convene.
“I really appreciate having that space where we can talk about personal relationships,” says Jerry. “I grew to see and appreciate the symbiotic relationship between your personal and professional life.
“Convene has helped me to be more intentional about my marriage and being a good dad. I’m doing better now than I ever have.”
What’s Jerry’s advice for anyone on the fence about joining Convene?
“Chick-fil-A CEO Dan Cathy says, ‘If the rate of change that’s happening outside your business is faster than the rate of growth and change inside, then you’re going to be irrelevant.’ Convene is a great vehicle to help with giving you different approaches and perspectives from outside your industry.
“Why not embrace something new with an investment in yourself?”
Jerry Cotney is the Owner/Operator of Chick-fil-A Brookwood Village in Birmingham, Alabama.
Disclaimer: Some quotations have been edited for length and clarity.