Page 211 - Everything I Know About Business I Learned

Recognition

The #1 Club
Roots and Wings is a concept that sets McDonald’s apart from
other franchises, in that it held us to the company’s standards
yet encouraged us to develop new and innovative ideas to
improve the organization. Capturing this spirit and wrapping it
around McDonald’s penchant for recognition, I came up with
an idea to develop our management trainee ranks back when I
was a director of operations for a franchisee.
Understanding that our best success rate with talent was from
development within, I wanted to continue that flow of individu-
als. Many of our crew viewed the job as a stopgap between
schooling or getting into another career. These people, I knew,
might be interested in continuing up the advancement ladder if
they had a taste of it. So we formed the #1 Club, a chosen group
consisting of the more senior and top-performing crew. They
received a distinctive patch for their uniform, a raise, and the
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recognition of their peer group. To even be considered for this elite
group was looked at as an honor by their peers. And they had to
undergo a rigorous interview process as part of the review. Their
main responsibilities included helping managers on the floor when
needed and assisting in the many tasks of running the store.
Members of the #1 Club organized many of the crew’s social
functions and served as a sounding board for management to
glean insights into the crew’s perspective. It proved to be a great
asset and was looked at by the corporation as a possible national
program. Ultimately, the corporation established the “Crew
Chief” position, which was somewhat of a similar idea for devel-
oping new talent.
Two of these #1 Club members actually went on to become
owner/operators with their own organizations. One became a
very successful midmanagement-level employee within the com-
pany. And one, Willis Smart, became a regional vice president
for the corporation. Some 30-plus years later, Willis still recalls