LAUNCH - Restaurant Leadership Development Program

  • Full-time

Company Description

Chick-fil-A, Inc. is the largest quick-service chicken restaurant chain in the United States and is uniquely positioned for continued future growth thanks to its delicious food, strong brand and award-winning restaurant design and architecture.

Each Chick-fil-A restaurant is independently owned and operated, and Daniel Lomax is the Owner/Operator of the Chick-fil-A Smyrna (GA) location. Daniel knew from a young age that he wanted to own his own business. In high school and college, he set up gumball machines in local businesses and started a car detailing company with a couple of his friends. His Chick-fil-A journey began in 2005 and three years later was selected to operate his first restaurant in Buckhead, GA. In 2012, he became the Operator of the Smyrna (GA) location. Daniel’s passion at Chick-fil-A is twofold: to develop and grow the business, and to invest in hungry leaders that have a strong work ethic and a passion for self-improvement.

Job Description

LAUNCH is a 30 month restaurant leadership development program at Chick-fil-A Smyrna (GA) @I-285 designed to create opportunities for recent college graduates to gain meaningful leadership experience in key areas of responsibility within a $5+ million restaurant that directly impact the direction of the business.

Why was the LAUNCH program created?
Daniel recalls feeling frustrated and disheartened as he began his job search after he graduated from college. He was filled with practical knowledge from his classes, but still lacked the “real” work experience that most jobs required. As a fresh college graduate, he was unfortunately in “the skills gap”. He needed a meaningful job to gain experience, but most of those jobs required the very experience he hoped to gain! He was hungry, but needed an opportunity to learn and develop. This is where the LAUNCH program can help! The Chick-fil-A Smyrna (GA) @ I-285 restaurant is uniquely positioned to help hungry and aggressive individuals fast track the skills gap that plagues many people towards the beginning of their career through meaningful training and development to help them LAUNCH!

How can I expect to progress through the 30 months?

  • Months 1 - 3  – LEADING YOURSELF and BUILDING INFLUENCE – Your primary focus during the first three months of LAUNCH will be on building your knowledge (head), influence (heart), and skills (hands). You will primarily function in the Team Member role as you learn how to lead yourself and will build your influence as you become a meaningful part of the restaurant operation.

  • Months 3 - 8 – LEADING OTHERS - You will begin to lead others at this point as you take on the Shift Leader and Store Leader positions. You will play an increasingly vital role in the restaurant’s operations as you ensure the team is executing on the restaurant’s vision all day, every day. You will start by leading small groups of team members, and by the end will be responsible for running entire shifts.  

  • Months 8 - 30 – LEADING THE BUSINESS - You will take the skills and tools you learned to lead yourself and others and apply them as you lead the business in a Director level position. You will be given a specific area of the business to lead and will take on quarterly projects to create long-term / lasting improvements your assigned area of the restaurant.

  • Months 24 - 30 – PREPARING TO LAUNCH - As you wrap up your time in the program, you will largely switch gears to prepare for your departure. You will work with Daniel on how to best share your story with future employers and will craft a portfolio to showcase your work and your results. You will also focus on preparing the organization for your departure. By this time, you have become a vital member of the team with a very meaningful role. Your final test of success will be how much the team does not feel your departure. This will mean an intense focus on developing those who will take on your roles.

What can I expect my day-to-day work to look like?
In short, busy and hands-on! The Chick-fil-A Smyrna (GA) @ I-285 restaurant is an exciting and fast-paced work environment, serving around 2,500 guests a day. Although your specific role and responsibilities will change over the course of LAUNCH, you can expect to serve long hours, be on your feet for significant lengths of time, and work the majority of Fridays and Saturdays (our two busiest days of the week…BUT we have Sundays off!). This program is not for everyone. If you are envisioning a desk-type job, working 9-5 Monday through Friday, then this is not the program for you. However, if you are not afraid to work hard and want to be in an environment where you will develop your skills, knowledge, and influence as you launch your career, then this opportunity may be exactly what you are looking for.

What will I gain from the LAUNCH program?
LAUNCH is a unique balance between directed learning, hands-on activity, and open opportunities for you to show initiative in growing the business. Sometimes Daniel will function as a teacher, and other times as a coach or consultant. Success in this program, however, will depend on your level of commitment. Daniel’s role is to provide the resources and environment for you to thrive, but it will take an amazing work ethic on your part and a deep desire to succeed to fully take advantage of the program.

  • Personal Development – Throughout the course of LAUNCH, you will be required to read a total of 25 leadership books. For each title, you will complete a one-page summary of how the book affected you and will discuss the application of the leadership principles to your work in the restaurant. By the end of LAUNCH, you will have created a portfolio of 30 books that you have read, analyzed, and applied in a real work environment. This will show future employers that you are a lifetime learner and will also serve as an amazing resource that you can reference throughout your career.

  • Leading Others – You will have the opportunity to lead a team of 75 team members. At times, you will lead a shift, at other times you will lead a group of team members to complete a project. At the end of the 30 months, you will have meaningful stories to share about how you lead yourself as well as how you lead others.

  • Leading Projects – You will take on a handful of quarterly projects during LAUNCH. These projects will vary depending on your specific strengths, interests, and the current needs of the restaurant. For example, one quarter you may be focused on an aspect of our orientation process, while the next quarter you may be focused on our food cost waste on key items. By the end of the 30 months, you will be able to share how you planned and executed a handful of projects and led a team of individuals to get real and meaningful results.

  • Business Insight – Once you reach the Director level, you will meet twice a month with Daniel to review your progress, share what you are learning in the restaurant, and discuss the books you are reading and applying. You will also cover various business reports during this time and walk through challenging decisions that the Operator had to make throughout the previous month. This will deepen your understanding of how the business functions and help you dive into the mindset of a small business owner.

Why is the LAUNCH program 30 months? 
This program has been designed with two primary perspectives in mind. From the perspective of the candidate, it takes 30 months to rise through the restaurant’s leadership structure and experience meaningful, tangible results to take with you (e.g. personal devolvement and leading teams and projects). Recruiters have also affirmed that 30 months with a single employer demonstrates loyalty and commitment, especially in a first job. From the perspective of the Operator and the restaurant, 30 months is needed to walk you through the development program and LAUNCH you with the experience and skills that will make you successful in the future. This is a significant investment of time and resources in you, and  in order for this partnership to be a win for the business, you need to be functioning at the highest levels in the organization for a meaningful amount of time.

Qualifications

Only 2-3 candidates per year are selected to participate in the LAUNCH program. As such, the selection process is highly competitive. You must meet the following requirements to be considered for the program:

  • Bachelor's degree from a 4-year college or university by the program start date
  • Hungry to learn, grow, and succeed
  • Energetic, self-driven, servant-minded leader
  • Excellent communication and organization skills
  • Efficient and detail-oriented with a strong customer focus
  • Ability to take initiative and possess skills for problem solving and conflict resolution

The LAUNCH program sounds really exciting to me. What are the next steps?
Simply click the "I'm interested" link to begin the process of applying. Acceptance for this program is extremely selective, so be prepared for the entire process (from expressing interest to being accepted into the program) to take several steps and last upwards of one month. The purpose of the multi-step, month-long application is to ensure that you are committed to the hard work and dedication that it will take to follow this program to its completion.   

Additional Information

Chick-fil-A Smyrna (GA) @ I-285 is an equal opportunity employer, and we make employment decisions on a non-discriminatory basis. It has been and shall continue to be our policy that we do not discriminate in employment decisions based upon sex, race, color, religion, national origin, ancestry, citizenship, pregnancy, age, physical or mental disability, service in the uniformed services, genetic information, and/or any other protected status, classification or factor, in accordance with the requirements of all federal, state and local laws. This policy applies to all aspects of the employment process including, but not limited to, hiring, assignment, promotion, evaluation, compensation decisions and separation decisions. It is expected that all individuals will avoid any behavior, action, decision and/or conduct that is inconsistent with this policy.

This job posting is being managed by Forrest Johnson Recruiting on behalf of Chick-fil-A Smyrna (GA) @ I-285.

Company: Chick-fil-A Smyrna (GA)

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