University at Buffalo - The State University of New York

Published: June 26, 2008

By KEVIN FRYLING
Reporter Staff Writer

When Jerry Newman decided to research the effect of good management on employees in a high-stress, fast-paced environment, his first thoughts weren’t of the people toiling in the financial markets of Wall Street or skyscrapers of New York and Los Angeles, but rather the minimum wage earners at the local fast food joints just up the road in Buffalo.

Jerry Newman says there’s much to learn about leadership behind the counter of a fast-food restaurant.

Newman, SUNY Distinguished Teaching Professor and chair of the Department of Organizations and Human Resources, School of Management, presented the results of his 14 months spent undercover as a low-level worker at seven fast-food outfits, including Burger King, Wendy’s, Arby’s and McDonald’s, before a jam-packed audience yesterday as part of the UBThisSummer lecture series. His lecture, “My Secret Life on the McJob: Lessons in Leadership,” was based on his book of the same title, which was released last year and named one of the best books of 2007 by The Wall Street Journal.

But while such praise has since proven Newman right in his conviction that there is much to learn about leadership behind the scenes of fast food joints—or QSRs (quick service restaurants) in the jargon of industry insiders—he joked that it took a little time to persuade his peers that the idea deserved a six-month sabbatical from his teaching duties at the university.

“We’ve got to convince [the School of Management] that they ought to give us a half-year off to do what we want,” said Newman of presenting his plan for his book to the school’s dean. “The previous [faculty member] who got a sabbatical had done something on the impact of presidential policies on the financial bond market. And then I come in and say, ‘I want to be a fast food worker.’”

But soon after holding down jobs at a couple fast-food restaurants, especially two very different Burger Kings in Buffalo, he said began to gather more than enough evidence that management style had a significant impact on the culture of a fast-food workplace. The manager of the best restaurant in which he worked was a master of using encouragement to coax high performance from her employees. The manager of the worst place he worked used ridicule and sarcasm to browbeat his employees into performing their jobs. Those management styles produced one workplace in which there was a social atmosphere among employees and everyone was proud of their contributions to the team, and another in which everyone mocked one another’s mistakes and frequently acted unprofessionally. The employee turnover rate was nearly 400 percent higher at the bad restaurant.

“People are the secret to a great organization,” said Newman, pointing to the observations of former General Electric Chairman Jack Welch, who’s published a series of successful books on management. “And the culture of sarcasm in this store was spread by the manager.”

Another surprise to come out of his research was an increased level of respect for the fast-food business in general, added Newman, noting that his book’s success has provided the chance to present his research many times in the past 18 months to QSR professionals from across the United States. Although their industry’s contributions to society are rarely acknowledged, Newman said fast-food restaurants train approximately 10 million people each year in some of the most basic and important skills for achieving success in the business world, including teamwork, reliability and learning to work under pressure.

“There’s nothing worse than working the front counter at the lunch rush,” Newman said, joking that he was “mediocre at best” as a fast-food employee, regardless of his many years teaching business courses in the School of Management. He encouraged audience members to exercise some compassion for the man or woman behind the counter the next time they’re in the mood for a quick bite at Arby’s or “Mickey D’s.”

“The next time you go to get a fast-food meal, please remember that they’re trying their darndest,” he said. “They’re making $7 an hour, they’re trying to start a career and they’re just doing the best that they can.”