I was browsing through articles on Entrepreneur.com the other day when a headline caught my eye.
The headline read, 9 Employees at a Nebraska Burger King Announced Their Resignations By Writing on the Restaurant’s Billboard, ‘We All Quit. Sorry for the Inconvenience.’
I’ll admit my curiosity got the best of me, and I just had to know the story.
It turns out the employees of this particular Burger King were fed up with upper management.
They felt their concerns were not being addressed – like poor working conditions and management’s failure to hire more people to cover shifts, which resulted in 50 – 60 hour workweeks for the employees that were on the payroll.
They were beyond frustrated.
They felt they weren’t being heard. And they chose this unconventional way to let “the powers that be” know.
Photo Credit: WPLG Local 10 Rachael Flores
Their bid for attention went viral on social media. Not surprisingly, “the powers that be” were NOT amused.
I’m sure upper management for that Burger King outside Lincoln, Nebraska was a little embarrassed to be called out like that on social media.
But I wonder if they were able to set their indignation aside and see the lesson that situation offered for them.
That lesson is the importance of listening and hearing.
Listening to your employees. Listening to your customers. And hearing – REALLY hearing – what they are trying to tell you.
And once you have listened and heard, consistency in taking meaningful action – based on the feedback you receive – will build a culture of trust and more meaningful communication in the future.
After all, inviting feedback is great but means little if you don’t then take consistent action to improve.
The truth is, any of us as business owners could be “the powers that be” of that Burger King in Nebraska.
Are we listening?
Are we open to feedback – good and bad? And do we REALLY hear what our customers and employees are saying?
Do we consistently take meaningful action to address issues in response to that feedback and create that culture of openness and trust?
Those are important questions to ask ourselves as business owners.
Unhappy customers and employees can create a lot of chaos trying to get our attention. So, it’s worthwhile to take a look at how we’re doing in this area.
When you do the little things consistently and well, it changes your business in positive ways.
And this story proves there is value in making sure communication followed by action are at the top of the list of the things you do consistently and well.
Some say any publicity is good publicity, but no business wants to be the next viral sensation this way.
