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Use of the
Performance Diagnostic Checklist to Improve Performance at Two Restaurant
Sites
by
Byron Wine, Manuel Rodriguez, and David
Wilder
Primary Topic
Food Service
Problem Definition
Two
franchise restaurants participated in the study.
Store 1 had 8 employees and 2 managers. Store
2 had 10 employees and 1 manager. Both restaurants
were located in the Southeastern United States.
In
both stores, promotional stamps were not being
consistently offered to customers.
- Baseline Store 1: Stamps offered to 26% of
customers
- Baseline Store 2: Stamps offered to 11% of
customers
Analysis Tools
Direct Observation was conducted by multiple observers per store during varying
times during hours of operation. Once consistent trends were evident by shift
per store, the authors utilized the Performance Diagnostic Checklist (PDC) (Austin,
2000) as the method of determining potential areas (Antecedents and Information,
Equipment and Processes, Knowledge and Skills Training, and Consequences) of
focus that may have produced the observed low levels of performance. By identifying
specific areas to target, the author worked with management at each store to
organize possible solutions that were identified as being likely to have the
most impact on employee performance, and to be most cost-effective.
Root Causes
Store 1: The management and the employees
of both stores indicated the antecedent and information
category, and the equipment and processes category
as being problematic. The employees were not given
the proper materials per shift, and during times
of high consumer involvement (e.g., lunch hours),
employees rarely offered promotional stamps. The
management and the employees of both stores also
identified that consequences instituted by the organization
were delivered inconsistently, and were dependent
on specific management on duty. Direct observation
also determined that employees contacted specific
negative consequences from customers when offering
the promotional stamps in the form of rejection,
negative statements about other customers misusing
stamps, and unfairness of the management of the stamps.
Store 2: The manager and the employee identified
a lack of proper antecedents, for example, information
was lacking about the use and distribution parameters
of the promotional stamps. This lack of information
contributed to a confusion about when and how often
promotional stamps could be given. Consequences were
also identified as being inconsistently delivered,
in that the management team often did not reinforce
employee's offering of stamps to customers. Finally,
the employee and manager also identified that equipment
and processes were in need of changing, as the appropriate
equipment was not easy to use. Furthermore, when
promotional stamps ran out, it took 3-4 working days
for additional promotional stamps to arrive at the
store.
Solution
Since direct observation and the PDC yielded the described results for the respective
locations, an intervention package was developed to be implemented in both locations.
Because both stores were operating under the same organization, the management
team agreed to have the same intervention package instituted across the two stores.
The package, created to address all problem areas identified in the PDC, consisted
of:
- Task Clarification - A memo
placed in the employee lounge indicating the
purpose of the initiative, and the desired behaviors
for offering the promotional stamps were described.
The employees were prompted to read the memo
once daily by the manager.
- Self-monitoring - A form was
given to the employee that enabled him/her to
record the number of times promotional stamps
were offered to customers as well as the number
of times the promotional stamp was accepted by
the customer.
- Equipment modification - Machines
that held the promotional stamps were repaired
and tested for ease of use. Additionally, extra
supplies of stamps and stamp cards were made
available to the employees per week based on
baseline data of the number of stamps given per
day.
- Goal setting - A goal was
established for the employees to offer stamps
80% of opportunities based on the current trends
indicated by management and through the direct
observation of the authors.
- Graphic feedback - Line graphs
representing the percent of employees offering
the promotion stamps to customers were displayed
in the employee lounge.
Results
In
store 1 the percentage of customers receiving an
offer of stamps increased to 72%, a 46% increase
from baseline. The manager of store 1 also described
the increase as “promoting more customer
focus” behavior. In store 2, the mean of
employees offering stamps increased to 81%. These
results represent a 70% increase in employee
performance from baseline.
References
Austin,
J. (2000). Performance analysis and performance
diagnostics. In J. Austin & J. E. Carr
(Eds.), Handbook
of applied behavior analysis (pp. 321-349).
Reno, NV: Context Press.
Rodriguez,
M., Wilder, D. A., Therrien, K., Wine, B., Miranti,
R., ,Daratany, K., Salume, G., Baranovsky, G., & Rodriguez,
M. (2005). Use of the Performance Diagnostic
Checklist to select an intervention designed
to increase the offering of promotional stamps
at two sites of a restaurant franchise. Journal
of Organizational Behavior Management, 25(3), 17-35.
Author
Bios
Byron
Wine is a graduate
student at the Florida Institute of Technology
in Melbourne, Fl. He can be reached at
bwine@fit.edu
Manuel
(Manny) Rodriguez is a
consultant with the Continuous
Learning Group (CLG), a firm dedicated to
delivering behaviorally based approaches
towards executing strategic initiatives.
He can be reached at MRodriguez@clg.com.
David
Wilder is an associate
professor of psychology at the
Florida Institute of Technology
in Melbourne, FL. He can be reached
at dawilder@fit.edu
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