The EOS® process suggests that your core values are non-negotiable. They are a tangible key to health and performance. Here’s a story that shows why.
Did you know it’s harder to get a Chick-fil-A franchise than it is to get into Harvard?
Less than 1 percent of Chick-fil-A franchise applicants who make it past the initial screening ultimately become “owner-operators.” Compare that to a 4.5 percent admission rate at Harvard last year. Pretty eye opening.
What’s the reason?
It really comes down to how stringent the company applies its core values. A recent Inc.com newsletter we received highlighted a part of the secret sauce that makes Chick-fil-A produce the highest revenue per-store of any restaurant chain: $4.17 million a year per store. (McDonald’s is 5th at $2.77 million.)
You can find their values discipline illustrated throughout the 1-year interview process that a prospective operator endures. Their franchise team has multiple conversations at regular intervals throughout the year. During each conversation they ask a version of the same question: why do you want to own a Chick-fil-A?
The same question is repeated and discussed over and over for a year. It’s not an accident. They’re hunting for an issue. Chick-fil-A painstakingly looks for the five characteristics they want in an operator that tie directly into their core values. And those values are non-negotiable.
In your business
Business owners and leadership teams need to ask themselves a critical question every time they seek a new employee (or keep existing ones for that matter – but that’s for another conversation). Are we applying our core values to produce great hires that fit our company? If not, you might inadvertently sowing the seek of future team dysfunction.
With EOS®, organizations break through the ceiling by using their core values to create healthy, high-performing teams. Get in touch to be sure your core values are clear and are being applied to build great teams.
About Grow Exceptional
Grow Exceptional works with leadership teams to help get their businesses “unstuck” by implementing and teaching the widely adopted Entrepreneurial Operating System® (EOS®).