Learning Action: How Chick-fil-A is Leveraging Learning Strategies for Growth - 11/19/20

This week’s Learning and Development action call hosted special guests Keri Bilotti, Head of Learning and Development, and Andy Lorenzen, Executive Director, Talent Planning at Chick-fil-A, the family-owned quick-service restaurant business. They were interviewed by i4cp Senior Research Analyst Tom Stone. Here are some highlights from the call:

• L&D at Chick-fil-A not only supports the companies' 2,200 staff employees, but also the operators of the restaurants and their much larger 200,000+ team members. So the topics and learning approaches they must use are as varied as just about any organization.
• Their top four priorities are: to be the most caring company in the world; diversity, equity, and inclusion; operator support; and staff capability. All of these priorities involve a learning and development component, so L&D is very strategic at Chick-fil-A, and far removed from the old-style course order-taker industry stereotype.
• The company's forecasted growth is also a driver of L&D activity. Their workforce will increasingly require more resilience to handle adaptation in the business environment; technology will be a cornerstone for operator support, staff effectiveness, and customer value creation; and lean thinking will move from idea to practice.
• Chick-fil-A follows a set of workforce principles, including: have an organizational strategy-first mindset; prioritize key capabilities; maximize current resources before adding new; staff with a longer time horizon in mind; structure sensibly; and approve the people with the work.
• L&D is relied on at Chick-fil-A as a key accelerator of the business and is a fundamental driver of their outstanding customer experience.

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