Chick-fil-A Training Program Development Running head: CHIK-FIL-A TRAINING PROGRAM DEVELOPMENT 1 CHIK-FIL-A TRAINING PROGRAM DEVELOPMENT 2 Chick-fil-A Training Program Development Introduction Chick-fil-A is an organization that continues to grow and expand nationwide and as a result, the organization must develop a training program that can be utilized at every location. As a consultant, one of the first steps to complete when starting a new project is to assemble a SWOT Analysis as well as to prepare a Balanced Scorecard and Casual Chain Score card. SWOT analysis To ensure a successful consulting project the consultants must conduct an in depth analysis of the company and where the training program will lead it. The analysis of strengths, weakness, opportunities and threats will provide guidance to develop the program and other tools to evaluate its performance. The consulting project strengths will attract new customers and maintain already existing fans. The consulting project will add to their current position in the industry by focusing on personalized customer service. The second strength is employee involvement. Involvement of all levels will provide higher approval and success percentages. The program will also provide employees a completion timeline, and require them to evaluate the training they received. Evaluation will provide feedback on the training programs pertinence to restaurant operations. One of Chik-fil-A’s weaknesses is the public relations nightmare which occurred when the CEO, Dan Cathy, admitted to opposing same-sex marriage. As a result the company faced public scorn and a lost profits. Employees and customers alike also took this as acceptance of bigoted behavior towards LGBT employees or customers. The new training program will need to address the side effects of their CEOs comments. The consultant’s must ensure the program addresses a culture of inclusion and acceptance to counteract the CEO’s comments. Failure to do so could exacerbate the public’s view of the company’s attitude towards the communities they serve. The program’s second weakness will be the time required for each employee to complete the training program, learning the new procedures and standards of performance, and then any time spent afterwards providing an evaluation. The company has various opportunities such as the increase of menu items, expansion and customer service improvement. The consulting project will develop a training program focused on adding to the customer experience. The biggest opportunity offered by the training program is the opportunity to develop a way to evaluate employee’s performance. Finding a way to evaluate performance is essential to evaluating overall productivity (Markham, 2005, p.33). It will also allow the company to improve on operational processes affecting customer service. Re-enforcing the customer service experience by new training procedures will increase the market share and brand relevanc ...

1. Chick-fil-A Training Program Development
Running head: CHIK-FIL-A TRAINING PROGRAM
DEVELOPMENT
1
CHIK-FIL-A TRAINING PROGRAM DEVELOPMENT
2
Chick-fil-A Training Program Development
Introduction
Chick-fil-A is an organization that continues to grow and
expand nationwide and as a result, the organization must
develop a training program that can be utilized at every
location. As a consultant, one of the first steps to complete
when starting a new project is to assemble a SWOT Analysis as
well as to prepare a Balanced Scorecard and Casual Chain Score
card.
SWOT analysis
To ensure a successful consulting project the consultants must
conduct an in depth analysis of the company and where the
training program will lead it. The analysis of strengths,
weakness, opportunities and threats will provide guidance to
develop the program and other tools to evaluate its
performance. The consulting project strengths will attract new
customers and maintain already existing fans. The consulting

2. project will add to their current position in the industry by
focusing on personalized customer service. The second strength
is employee involvement. Involvement of all levels will provide
higher approval and success percentages. The program will also
provide employees a completion timeline, and require them to
evaluate the training they received. Evaluation will provide
feedback on the training programs pertinence to restaurant
operations.
One of Chik-fil-A’s weaknesses is the public relations
nightmare which occurred when the CEO, Dan Cathy, admitted
to opposing same-sex marriage. As a result the company faced
public scorn and a lost profits. Employees and customers alike
also took this as acceptance of bigoted behavior towards LGBT
employees or customers. The new training program will need to
address the side effects of their CEOs comments. The
consultant’s must ensure the program addresses a culture of
inclusion and acceptance to counteract the CEO’s comments.
Failure to do so could exacerbate the public’s view of the
company’s attitude towards the communities they serve. The
program’s second weakness will be the time required for each
employee to complete the training program, learning the new
procedures and standards of performance, and then any time
spent afterwards providing an evaluation.
The company has various opportunities such as the
increase of menu items, expansion and customer service
improvement. The consulting project will develop a training
program focused on adding to the customer experience. The
biggest opportunity offered by the training program is the
opportunity to develop a way to evaluate employee’s
performance. Finding a way to evaluate performance is
essential to evaluating overall productivity (Markham, 2005,
p.33).
It will also allow the company to improve on operational
processes affecting customer service. Re-enforcing the customer
service experience by new training procedures will increase the
market share and brand relevance.

3. Threats to the consulting project vary in magnitude. Lack
of owner support will be the most important one, as the
company that already has hundreds of establishments and
employees tries to roll out a new training program. Franchise
owners who doubt, or do not support the new training will
become a problem if the consultants do not address their
concerns. Another threat is the cost to develop the program
before implementation. The final threat, employee resistance,
poses a smaller, but no less important threat. Employees who
resist the training program goals will inhibit proper evaluation
of the program’s effectiveness.
Balanced Score Card
Balanced score cards were first introduced in the early 1990’s
to improve performance measurement (Gibbons & Kaplan, 2015,
p.449).
Through the implementation of categories that are not
centralized in financial execution, the balanced score card
creates a broader view and evaluation of a project. The balanced
score card includes four categories: processes, operational,
financial and growth. The score card in Appendix I follows a
similar approach but with a few extra categories to align it to
the project. Each of the categories presents an evaluated aspect
that can be subdivided into different topics.
The first category, development and growth, contains specific
project information. Dates and length of the project are
important details to present. The training programs detailed
timeline outlining how specific tasks contribute to the project
are explained and evaluated. The process category outlines each
new procedure used in the program. Personalized service, such
as asking names, offering choices and alternatives, or nutrition
facts are key parts of introduced elements. The stakeholders and
satisfaction category will explain how the training program will
add value to the company and will address stakeholder
relationships including customers, franchisees, employees and
top management. The last category, covering finances, will
evaluate how the training program will affect finances, the

4. overall cost of using consultants, and implementation by the
company; and finally the return on investment. Refer to
appendix A for balanced scorecard pertaining the training.
Casual Chain Scorecard
A causal chain scorecard is another type of scorecard that
companies use to manage their performances. This type of
scorecard consists of seven categories of measures. The
information in these categories shows how one category affects
the next. The categories are: input measures, cost measures,
reaction measures, learning measures, application/impact
measures, impact measures, and ROI measures. To create a
scorecard, it would help by beginning with the company’s
mission statement, vision, and any value statements the
company has. The next thing to look at is the company’s current
situation and then what the goals of improvement are. In this
case, the scorecard will focus on training and development. The
input measure includes all the people involved in the training
and development, the projects and the time spent on the project.
Personnel involved include those designing the training, those
conducting training and those being trained. Time duration will
include how long it took to design the training and how long
training takes. The cost measure consists of the costs for
everything involved in the input measure. From the cost of the
designing the training and development, the cost of instructors,
paid time to employees, and if the training is catered, as an
option the company would pay for.
The reaction measure includes the reaction and satisfaction
from all stakeholders involved. This category is the feedback
section. It could include the feedback of whether stakeholders
thought the training and development was relevant and worth
the costs. This will also include suggestions for redesigning the
training to include more relevant information. Trainees provide
feedback on whether the training helped them understand
expectations, makes their service more efficient, and any
improvements for future training. The instructors can also
provide information on whether the material was relevant and

5. how training affected the employees.
Chick-fil-A is an organization that continues to grow and
expand nationwide. As a result the organization must develop a
training program that can be utilized at every location. One of
the steps in evaluating Chik-fil-A’s casual chain scorecard is
seeing how they handle the development of the training
program. They should look at the amount of information they
need to provide to employees; the employee’s skill set, and
finally the employees perceptions. Developing a training
program allows each location to be unique but standardized. As
an organization known for its friendly, family orientated
atmosphere they must ensure they develop a training program
ensuring this is standard at each location, nationwide.
Impact measures for the training program for the
employees are broken down into two parts the intangible, (non-
monetary) and the tangible (the monetary) data. Utilizing these
will help the organization and the employees see the benefits of
the training program being developed. Intangible data, such as
providing great services to the customers, loyal customers, and
learning on the job skills and experience are all part of
intangible benefits for the training program. Tangible data are
more the organization can do for the employee and what the
employee can do for the company, such as higher profit
margins, employee promotions and bonus. Each one of these
are benefits for the organization and the employee.
The ROI measures are a formula that evaluates the total
cost of the consulting investment. Which is as follows
ROI = Net Consulting Project Monetary benefits
Consulting Project Costs X 100
This formula allows the organization consulting team be able to
see “how the benefits, expressed in monetary values, compare to
cost.” (Philips, Trotter, & Pullman Phillips, 2015, p. 433). By
doing this and working the formula the consulting team and the
organization will be able to see how well the investment is
doing, and if the consulting team contributions are working as
a good decision.

6. Conclusion
The purpose of the Chik-fil-A SWOT analysis is to enable us, as
a consulting organization, to complete such tasks as compile an
in depth company analysis, and recognize such topics as public
relations weakness, opportunities for expansion and to
acknowledging the threats of the project. Unlike a simple
scorecard or a balanced scorecard that only consider a smaller
number of factors, preparing a Casual Chain Scorecard will help
to identify both internal and external influences as well as to
help develop a full awareness of all the factors involved within
the new training program decisions.
References
Gibbons, R., & Kaplan, R. S. (2015). Formal Measures in
Informal Management: Can a Balanced Scorecard Change a
Culture?. American Economic Review, 105(5), 447-451.
doi:http://dx.doi.org.contentproxy.phoenix.edu/10.1257/aer.105.

7. 5.447
Markham, C. (2005). Developing consulting skills. Consulting
to Management, 16(4), 33-37. Retrieved from
http://search.proquest.com/docview/215899787?accountid=3581
2
Philips, J.J., Trotter, W., & Pulliam Phillips, P. (2015).
Maximizing the Value of Consulting. Retrieved from
https://phoenix.vitalsource.com/#/books/9781119123675/cfi/6/8
!/4/2/[email protected]:30.6.
Appendix A
Balanced Score Card Example
Appendix B
The Causal Chain Score Card: Input, Cost, & Reaction
Measures

8. Input Measures
· All people involved: Designers, Instructors, and Trainees.
· The training program
· Training time: designing the program, time to train
Cost Measures
All cost of the inputs:
· Cost of design
· Cost of Instructors
· Time paid to employees during training
Reaction Measures
All stakeholders involved:
· Trainees
· Instructors
· Designers

9. needs improvement meets exceeds
Consumer Satisfaction
Service Improvement
Finances
Consultant Expense
Project Expenses
ROI
Theory
Standards
New Program Introduction
Customer
Stakeholder Value Increase
Stakeholder Relationship
Phase 1 - Train Management
Phase 2 - Train the trainee
Performance Review
Expectations
Goal
Processes
Development
Length of Project

10. Evaluation
Presentation
Implementation
Development and Growth
needs improvementmeets exceeds
Consumer Satisfaction
Service Improvement
Finances
Consultant Expense
Project Expenses
ROI
Theory
Standards
New Program Introduction
Customer
Stakeholder Value Increase
Stakeholder Relationship
Phase 1 - Train Management
Phase 2 - Train the trainee
Performance Review
Expectations
Goal
Processes
Development
Length of Project
Evaluation
Presentation
Implementation
Development and Growth