Building Buy-In: Operators can co-opt screens to connect teams

Franchise veteran David Plait and his management team look for ways to pull young team members out of their smartphones and into the world at large.

“Their world is right here,” says Plait, holding up his phone. “It’s arguable that they feel as if their presence at the store is overwhelming compared to being in their comfortable surroundings, whether it be in their living room or their bedroom or a friend’s house, where the world is at their fingertips.”

Plait was filling up his tank at a Speedway when a screen embedded in the gas pump gave him an idea: What if he co-opted some of the features that phones provide to help pull people out of their devices?

“In today’s social media world, everything has to be media-worthy, you know, posting-worthy. ‘My photograph has to be perfect. I need to get followers and likes,’” Plait says. “I think some of it just has to do with feeling part of something. Giving people recognition really seems to be successful.”

He and his team installed an intranet system with screens at the back of house of his Hungry Howie’s locations. When a team at store No. 3 can compare their average drive-thru times to those at store No. 7, the world gets a bit bigger.

“To be able to create healthy competition and recognition among the team members by using the intranet and casting others’ accomplishments to each other, they feel as if the environment that they’re working within isn’t just their four walls,” Plait says.

The system encourages participation. As part of a Hungry Howie’s LTO, pizza chefs were tasked with making Pickle Bacon Ranch Pizza. When the pizza was finished, a creator snapped a photo and sent it in.

“It spurred communication and competition among different stores, which was actually fantastic,” Plait says. “Next thing you know, we were getting 15 to 25 photographs sent in a day. ‘My pickle bacon ranch is better than your pickle bacon ranch. How come you didn’t portion your pickles properly?’”

As the questions indicate, pizza chefs spontaneously policed each other. The photos also provided teachable moments for management because some pickles actually weren’t properly portioned. When a district manager visits a store, they have only so much time. The photos alert leaders to what needs to be applauded and what needs to be retaught.

“It really made them feel proud to send their photographs in,” Plait says. “The next thing you know, we’re getting photographs of the perfect salad, and we’re getting photographs of the perfect cheese bread and the perfect sub.”

By mimicking some of our phones’ features, Plait and his team helped pull people out of their devices and out of their individual stores. The intranet screens and other practices help team members see themselves as part of a whole. It’s about encouraging connections, building a brand, and reducing turnover.

“We are no longer just an individual making pizzas or greeting guests,” Plait says. “We are truly a brand. We see how we affect each other in positive and negative ways, and our world is bigger because of it.”