Introduction
Field observation is a potent tool for collecting information about a company’s work, organizational behavior, and culture. For this reason, one of Chick-fil-A’s restaurants was chosen as the setting. The observation was conducted on Saturday, February 18, starting at 11 a.m. Several factors explain the choice of place.
First, it is a known chain of restaurants with established organizational behavior, culture, and values. It means there will be a chance to understand whether the values proclaimed by the brand are used in natural settings and whether the employees follow them. Second, it can be busy with numerous and diverse clients, which is essential for understanding how teams cope with various tasks.
Diversity and Inclusion
Diversity is the first essential element of the organizational culture and behavioral models that can be noticed at first glance. Chick-fil-A emphasizes that it cultivates diversity in teams and welcomes people of all cultures, religions, and backgrounds (“Committed to being better at together,” n.d.). The team under observation consisted of black, Hispanic, and white people of different genders and ages. It means that diversity exists as part of the company’s organizational culture, and the company benefits from it. Moreover, there were no tensions between team members, meaning they felt comfortable interacting with other race representatives. It is a positive aspect of helping Chick-fil-A to avoid ethical issues or discrimination.
Moreover, the observation helped to discover inclusive patterns. The brand meets all client’s needs, including customers with specific demands (“Culture & values,” n.d.). Disabled people can also visit chain restaurants and enjoy the desired service and food. In a real-life setting, the team had to service a deaf man. They coordinated to provide him with visual aids to ensure he could choose and order his desired product. This evidence shows that inclusion is a part of Chick-fil-A’s organizational culture and behavior. The company cultivates it to guarantee that different groups of clients can enjoy the services and remain satisfied with the brand.
Motivation and Satisfaction
Employees’ behavior and performance are also linked to motivation levels. Motivated employees demonstrate higher commitment, engagement, and readiness to contribute to the company’s evolution (Robbins & Judge, 2018). For this reason, organizations focus on cultivating intrinsic and extrinsic motivation levels by meeting workers’ basic needs and providing opportunities to move to more complex requirements, such as self-realization and actualization (Robbins & Judge, 2018).
As for Chick-fil-A’s team, all members seemed motivated to work and ready to assist clients. They did not show signs of bad moods, irritation, or lack of engagement. It can indicate the high motivation levels and effectiveness of the current model employed by the company. Additionally, the new worker seemed most motivated to acquire the job and build a career. In such a way, Chick-fil-A successfully works with its clients and considers motivation an essential element of organizational behavior.
Furthermore, motivation is interconnected with attitude toward the job and satisfaction. The level of contentment employees feel from their jobs influences their desire to continue working, acquire new skills, and contribute to the team’s development (Robbins & Judge, 2018). At the same time, unsatisfied workers have negative attitudes toward their colleagues and duties, which deteriorates the atmosphere within the collective (Robbins & Judge, 2018).
This means that these aspects are critical for companies. Thus, the satisfied employee can be determined using specific indicators, such as readiness to support and help others, no absenteeism, involvement, desire to achieve particular goals, commitment, positive mood, and minimum conflicts (Robbins & Judge, 2018). Some of these indicators were found while observing the work of the team at Chick-fil-A.
Thus, all team members were in a good mood, ready to help and chat. Moreover, they should have tried to avoid doing their jobs or working with big orders. It means that their attitudes were positive, and they were satisfied with the job and position. The observation shows that Chick-fil-A is effective in motivating its workers and helping them to remain happy.
Focus on Clients
Another important takeaway from observation is the team’s focus on clients and their needs. Chick-fil-A considers clients and their significant needs the top priority and builds its organizational behavior culture around it (“Culture & values,” n.d.). The results of this approach can be seen in practice. All workers were focused on customers when they asked them or were ready to make an order. The observed employees stopped talking about their things when the client approached, which helped them listen to them attentively, recommend a product, or answer a specific question. It helped to ensure all visitors were satisfied, which is vital for clients’ loyalty, satisfaction levels, and firms’ revenue (Robbins & Judge, 2018). Additionally, this aspect of organizational culture can be viewed as the brand’s competitive advantage.
Collaboration Within a Team
Collaboration is another critical component of organizational behavior impacting outcomes. As part of staff training, companies focus on cultivating effective models of leadership and cooperation that are useful in the workplace (Robbins & Judge, 2018). It is crucial for brands such as Chick-fil-A as the time and speed of clients’ order processing impact satisfaction levels (Robbins & Judge, 2018). The observation helped admit that employees knew their roles and could collaborate effectively.
Moreover, one new worker was added to a skilled and experienced group during his probation. This approach is also practical as it helps to preserve the desired levels of effectiveness and guarantees that a newbie will be supported by colleagues (Robbins & Judge, 2018). In practice, colleagues helped a man in some situations, which shows their readiness to collaborate and interact.
Conflict and Leadership Issues
Additionally, there were no conflicts between the team members or between employees and clients during the observation. Usually, problematic situations are integral to a collective’s development and might emerge at individual and group levels (Robbins & Judge, 2018). However, it is vital to ensure that clients do not see conflicts and are not involved in them. Thus, during the observation, no signs of problematic situations emerged. Employees were friendly to each other, they had some jokes, and they interacted with clients in a positive mood. Even when the senior manager was asked for assistance, no conflict emerged because of the mistake made by a new worker.
Moreover, specific leadership and power patterns were observed while observing the work of the team. Foundations of group behavior imply that interactions within a particular team should be built following specific leadership models (Robbins & Judge, 2018). The senior employee or a leader should be responsible for the result, which requires their assistance at particular stages and monitoring.
As for the observed team, all members had equal authority and statuses, except for the person who seemed new. However, it did not significantly impact their interactions or behaviors as they did not order each other. Instead, in some cases, they asked for assistance or support. At the same time, the senior manager was not present in the room; however, he emerged immediately when the complex situation with the order emerged. This means that the organizational behavior model within Chick-fil-A rests on the idea of equality between team members and the additional authority provided to supervisors or senior managers. It helps to address complex situations and resolve leadership issues that might emerge.
Communication
Communication was another aspect analyzed during the observation. It is a core component of the organization system within teams, impacting the effectiveness of delegation, interaction, and results (Robbins & Judge, 2018). The choice of effective models is vital for building solid and high-performance groups (Robbins & Judge, 2018).
Analyzing Chick-fil-A’s team, one can admit the effectiveness of communication. They avoid using inappropriate words when talking to each other and, at the same time, are always polite to clients. Moreover, following the company’s code, they mostly say, “My pleasure,” responding to feedback or appreciation (Overdeep, 2018, para 7). It is an essential aspect of organizational behavior, helping the brand to attract new clients.
Environment
Finally, it is necessary to admit the importance of the environment for the company’s performance. The tidy, clear, and well-organized spaces attract more clients and help to increase their satisfaction levels (Robbins & Judge, 2018). Speaking about Chick-fil-A, there were no issues associated with this aspect. The whole area was clean and tidy and regularly cleaned by a worker.
Moreover, employees were dressed in clean and pleasant-looking uniforms, which helped to create a pleasant and attractive atmosphere and think about the safety of the food and products provided here. In other words, the company recognizes the importance of the physical environment and cares about it.
Possible Problem
Nevertheless, the observation discovered one problem, such as a team member’s need for more basic hygiene understanding. A female employee scratched her nose, trying to avoid sneezing, but she did not wash her hands afterward. It can be an isolated case implying that the worker forgot to follow the prescribed rules. Otherwise, the company does not devote much attention to explaining the significant aspects of hygiene and making it part of the organizational behavior. It might be a weakness that should be addressed to avoid poor outcomes.
Conclusion
Altogether, the observation conducted in Chick-fil-A restaurant helped to collect important information about the company’s organizational behavior and culture. In general, the team makes a positive impression. All members are friendly, polite, and tidy, and they focus on the client’s needs to ensure they remain satisfied and will return. Employees demonstrate effective communication patterns, support, and collaboration. The team is diverse and acknowledges diversity and its importance.
Moreover, from observation, employees seem highly motivated and satisfied with their jobs and positions. It is understood from involvement, no absenteeism, and supportiveness. The occasional disregard for hygiene was the only negative aspect noticed in the course of the study; however, it can be a stand-alone case. It means that Chick-fil-A successfully cultivates the required values and trains its staff.
References
Committed to being better together. (n.d.). Chick-fil-A. Web.
Culture & values. (n.d.). Chick-fil-A. Web.
Overdeep, M. (2018). The real reason Chick-fil-A employees won’t say, “You’re welcome.” Southern Living. Web.
Robbins, S., & Judge, T. (2018). Organizational behavior (18th ed.). Pearson.