Crew Today, Leader Tomorrow

Front Row: Yolanda Johnson, Britten Petty, Jaboris Blackwell

Middle Row: Tykeshia Brown, Anthony Courtney, Elysia Perry, Sheila Patterson, Tiara Cornelius, Katie Smith

Back Row: Cody Poole, Mary Quinlin, A.J. Johnson, Pam Pruitt, Malcolm Carter, Mike Rogerson

Ponder Enterprises, Inc. completed its second set of Shift Leader classes on November 20, 2013. Shift Leaders must attend the following classes:

Crew Today, Leader Tomorrow

Coaching

Person in Charge

Ponder Enterprises Financial Class

The last class introduces the Shift Leaders to Ponder’s P&L to include definitions of certain accounts, EBITDAR, and how to use IMS reports to track down inventory loss. Once the loss is identified, develop a plan of action to correct loss. The Shift Leader’s final exam is to review the P&L and IMS reports to identify areas that their sample restaurant can improve their contribution to Ponder’s bottom line.

In a continual effort to refine the classes, new General Managers go through the classes as students; not coaches. This gives the new G.M. an idea of what is expected of their Shift Leaders and opens up opportunities to Coach new Shift Leaders through difficult situations using material covered in the classes. In this class, Malcolm Carter, the new G.M. of the Hardee’s of Quincy, and Pam Pruitt, the new G.M. of the Hardee’s of Ozark participated in the classes.

Following Ponder Enterprises’ tradition, all participants were treated to a steak dinner cooked by Ernest Ponder, Vice-President of Operations for lunch of the final class. After their final exam, there was a short graduation ceremony. This gave Mike Rogerson, Director of Training, an opportunity to review how each participant had grown in their abilities during the 5 months. Mike also challenged these Shift Leaders to go back to their restaurants and use the information given over the last 5 months. Use their fellow participants as a resource when issues arise. To be the “Man in the Arena.” The District Managers also gave advice to the Shift Leaders.

Shift Leaders have only to complete their In-Restaurant Exercise given in the Person in Charge class. Every Ponder’s Shift Leader is certified in shift control by at least 2 upper management personnel. Between these classes, using the Shift Leader Selection process, Shift Leader workbooks, and completing a certification Ponder Enterprises is building its strongest management teams ever.

A special thank you goes to the District Managers and seasoned General Managers who took time out to be coaches for the class. Of course, it is easy to get coaches when Ernest cooks! Seriously, the input that coaches gave helped keep the participants on track. All classes were made easier with their help.

Since 2012 when these classes began, Ponder Enterprises has had 89 Shift Leaders and Restaurant Managers go through all four classes. Ponder Enterprises operates 24 Hardee’s restaurants in Alabama, Florida, and Georgia.

Mike Rogerson
Director of Training and Special Projects

SuperStar Service Rally

Ponder Enterprises held it’s SuperStar Service Rally for the General Managers on June 26^th. The rally started with an exercise that helped all in attendance deal with the positive & negative  consequences of making changes. Then each district was required to come up with a cheer or “war chant” detailing SuperStar Service. You will see in the videos that each district had a lot of fun and put a lot of thought into their cheer! Next came the skits; again a lot of thought was put into their skits!

 

District 1 Cheer

 

 

District 2 Cheer

 

 

District 3 Cheer

With the fun out of the way. We all looked at what the customer’s feedback for 2013 was telling Ponder Enterprises on how we were doing and where we needed to improve. All were surprised that “Slow Service” was not the customers’ major complaint; it was ‘Rude/Argumentative Service”. The group then took 6 incidences that happened in the restaurants and then by developing a SuperStar Service attitude they figured out how these incidents could and would be handled in the future. There was good news in that in the last six weeks, Ponder Enterprises restaurants have received more compliments through the Sync line so far this year than in all of 2012!!

To drive home that SuperStar Service cannot be a program from the Operations Manual, all General Managers were given the book “The Simple Truths of Service” by Ken Blanchard & Barbara Glanz.  The PowerPoint presentation of Johnny was shown. This presentation drove home the point that true SuperStar service must come from the heart. We all found out that Johnny made a difference because he chose to, not because he had to.

External and internal guests were identified. The discussion then got very active in deciding what three areas  that all Ponder Enterprises restaurants would change and improve with every internal and external guest. The next step is that meetings will be held in each restaurant by the District Manager and General Manager to get the idea and message to every employee; including showing the “Johnny” video. Our employees are the ones who will make this a success. We at Ponder Enterprises are empowering our employees to be Superstars of Service in the customer’s mind! We are holding everyone accountable for great customer experiences. We are excited to see the success that we will come in the weeks and years!!

Mike Rogerson
Director of Training and Special Projects

Ponder Enterprises Shift Leader Graduation

Ponder Enterprises has completed the latest series of Shift Leader Classes on June 19th. Ponder Enterprises has made the commitment to hold these series of classes twice a year. The classes that were held consisted of:

January 9^th – Crew Today, Leader Tomorrow Class

April 4^th – Coaching Class

May 22^nd – Person in Charge Class

June 19^th – Ponder Enterprises Financial Class

The final class introduces the participants to the P&L and how to read and critique their restaurant’s performance. This included a session that defined key concepts on the P&L such as amortization, depreciation, and EBITDAR. Participants learned how food cost is calculated on their P&L and what Ideal Food Cost means, as well as, GAP. IMS was introduced to the Shift Leaders and how they could use the software to better monitor and make improvements as needed in inventory control. Their final test was to take a P&L and critique the restaurant’s financial performance, both good & bad. If there were areas of improvement that was needed, their group had to decide on possible solutions to use to improve the restaurant’s performance.

The participants were treated to the traditional “Steak Dinner” cooked for them by Ernest Ponder, Vice-President of Operations. After a quick review of the day’s class, participants that completed all four classes were awarded certificates of completion of the required course work. Their final task is to complete the “In-Restaurant Exercise” that was given to each participant at the Person in Charge Class.

Shift Leader Classes begin again at Ponder Enterprises on July 10^th.

 

List of participants (based on picture):

First Row: Dean Blackburn, Director of Operations; Jolisa Blackshear, Hardee’s of Leesburg; Jacqueline Davis, Hardee’s of Tallahassee 8; Nicole Roberts, Hardee’s of Colquitt; Ashley Garrett, Hardee’s of Crawfordville; Sarah Gray, Hardee’s of Dothan 5; Sabrina Lindsey, Hardee’s of Dothan 2.

Second Row: Wanda Peterson, Hardee’s of Enterprise; Kimberllin Dillard, Hardee’s of Dawson; Mike Rogerson, Director of Training; Stephanie Reeves-Brooks, Hardee’s of Dothan 2

Back Row: David Morris, Hardee’s of Cairo; Zane May, Hardee’s of Hartford; Patty Mobiglia, Hardee’s of Hartford.

Two Complete Star Academy

Mike Rogerson, Director of Training, and Necy North, District Manager, completed their final Star Academy class during the week of November 12, 2012. This last portion covered business planning, presentation skills, leveraging time, and financials. 

Mike and Necy began their Star Academy experience the week of August 20, 2012. Proper pathing was the sole focus of this week. The learning experience was completed both in the classroom and in the restaurant.

The second trip to St Louis for Star Academy was the week of September 24, 2012. The classroom instruction covered leadership, communication, and coaching skills, as well as strategic problem solving.

Each segment of Star Academy re-enforced or presented the necessary skills needed to be an “Unforgettable” Leader. Participants were moved out of their comfort zones to learn the key messages. Both Mike & Necy would recommend these classes to all multi-unit supervisors; these classes are the building blocks of success for the multi-unit supervisor.

Ponder Enterprises’ Shift Leader Classes

By Mike Rogerson

In a continuing commitment to achieve our mission statement: “To be the Best Hardee’s Franchisee” - Shift Leader classes were begun on February 15, 2012. Total enrollment of Ponder Enterprises management team members was 84. The final set of scheduled classes of 2012 was held from November 6 through November 8, 2012. There were 58 participants that graduated and received a certificate by completing the four required classes. Graduates were also treated to (a new Ponder Enterprises tradition) a steak dinner cooked by Ernest Ponder (David Stevenson stood in as head grill man for one day). All three classes enjoyed a spirited review of all that was learned by playing Jeopardy!

Ponder Enterprises will continue to follow Hardee’s Food Systems, Inc. schedule of classes:

First Class: Crew Today, Leader Tomorrow

Second Class: Coaching

Third Class: Person in Charge

Fourth Class: (Specialized for Ponder Enterprises) P&L’s

Plans are being made to schedule all 4 classes to be completed twice in 2013 (First set of classes scheduled from January through June and the second set scheduled from July through December).

Ponder Enterprises is also implementing the Hardee’s approved selection processes to select employees for positions of higher responsibility, standardizing all training, and all new management team members will certified that they can properly run their shift per Hardee’s Food Systems’ standards. 2013 will be another year of commitment of giving all employees the tools needed to be a success not only at the work but in their personal life as well.

Congratulations to all graduates!

Class One Graduates

Class Two Graduates

Class Three Graduates