I’m sitting in a fast food place, right this moment. It’s not crowded, but it’s going to be. I was greeted warmly by a bright, chipper cashier, who took my modest order, and engaged me in some friendly banter, and the credit card machine worked.

I was given a little plastic traffic cone to identify me while I found a place to sit next to an outlet, which I could, because nearly all the tables here have outlets, which work. The floor is being swept right this moment. The rest room was clean.

My food arrived before my computer could boot up. I paid an extra $2 compared to the comparable menu items (fries and a drink) a famous burger place. My food was delivered cheerfully, it was reasonably tasty, and a lot of happy customers, mainly young families, are rolling in as I type this. The drive through is already packed.

I am at Chick Fil A, which is the world’s highest selling and most profitable chicken place, surpassing KFC despite the fact that they have 1/3 the number of stores, and are only open six days a week.

This does not happen by accident. Although there is no such thing as perfection, this company in the most competitive business, is able to thrive because of one reason: They try.

They have some fundamental advantages. They are new in most of the country, therefore there is no such thing as an outdated store. They limit their number of stores to avoid saturating the marketplace. Their menu is limited, now only 1/3 that of a McDonalds, and that allows them greater efficiency.

But according to this article and this article the main key to success is that they take care of their people.

Their employee selection process selects these chipper people, who are retained substantially longer than their fast food competitors because of a family environment, slightly higher pay than the competitors, plus benefits such as flexible scheduling and a tuition refund program that is paid whether the employee stays with the company or not.

The store managers a.k.a. “operators” selection process is tougher than Harvard. There are multiple interviews, “character checks” and other screening methods to make sure that the management at these places is squeaky clean.

Now to be sure, this is not without problems. The company has been involved in a number of discrimination lawsuits because of this “selectivity” of a certain type of person equates in some cases to discrimination, and they have found themselves in front of a judge.

Chick Fil A has the number one rating of customer satisfaction in the casual dining industry according to the American Customer Satisfaction Index and it is for a reason. They hire for character, they train and take care of their workforce, and it shows in their operations because people do their jobs.

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