LOS ANGELES —Industry leaders interested in making more money need to better support their multi-unit managers, or MUMs, Jim Sullivan told attendees at the Multi-Unit Foodservice Operators conference held recently here.
The industry’s approximately 90,000 MUMs are responsible for millions of dollars in purchasing decisions and sales and nonetheless regularly are neglected by the corporate officials who put them in their positions, said Sullivan, chief executive of
Three years of research revealed that MUMs are generally undertrained and overworked, he said. While most unit managers receive about 16.5 days of training in preparation for their jobs, MUMs usually receive only a half-day of job-related training. MUMs also oversee the activity in, on average, eight units, meaning that they can’t spend adequate time each week visiting all of the sites in their purview. Of MUMs interviewed, 83 percent said their initial training was inadequate and 71 percent said that paperwork keeps them from peoplework. —Industry leaders interested in making more money need to better support their multi-unit managers, or MUMs, Jim Sullivan told attendees at the Multi-Unit Foodservice Operators conference held recently here.
“Today’s leaders in the middle are tomorrow’s leaders at the top,” Sullivan said. “It’s sad to ignore this leadership level when they influence so much.” —Industry leaders interested in making more money need to better support their multi-unit managers, or MUMs, Jim Sullivan told attendees at the Multi-Unit Foodservice Operators conference held recently here.
While GMs are doers and service drivers who work the plan, Sullivan said, MUMs should be delegators and servant leaders who build sales across a territory and plan the work. —Industry leaders interested in making more money need to better support their multi-unit managers, or MUMs, Jim Sullivan told attendees at the Multi-Unit Foodservice Operators conference held recently here.
Sullivan’s research found that there are seven growth stages, which become successively difficult, that high-performing MUMs go through in their development. —Industry leaders interested in making more money need to better support their multi-unit managers, or MUMs, Jim Sullivan told attendees at the Multi-Unit Foodservice Operators conference held recently here.
First, is the brand ambassador. Brand ambassadors do the right things right, Sullivan said. They give energy, rather than taking it away, and their goals are aligned with the company’s. —Industry leaders interested in making more money need to better support their multi-unit managers, or MUMs, Jim Sullivan told attendees at the Multi-Unit Foodservice Operators conference held recently here.
The next stage is the talent scout. The talent scout recruits to fill talent gaps within a restaurant’s ranks and meet financial goals. They hire slow and fire fast, with an eye on grooming their own replacement. Talent scouts recognize that “high performers hate to work with low performers,” Sullivan noted. —Industry leaders interested in making more money need to better support their multi-unit managers, or MUMs, Jim Sullivan told attendees at the Multi-Unit Foodservice Operators conference held recently here.
The third stage is the servant leader, who acknowledges that “my customer is anyone who is not me,” Sullivan said. Servant leaders are the ultimate team builders in that they think and say “we,” not “I,” he noted. —Industry leaders interested in making more money need to better support their multi-unit managers, or MUMs, Jim Sullivan told attendees at the Multi-Unit Foodservice Operators conference held recently here.
Next is the head coach. Head coaches teach team members how to think and then what to do. They are brilliant at the basics and focus on the why before the how, Sullivan said. They recognize training moments and coach with an eye on career paths, not merely tasks. —Industry leaders interested in making more money need to better support their multi-unit managers, or MUMs, Jim Sullivan told attendees at the Multi-Unit Foodservice Operators conference held recently here.
The fifth stage is the marketing guru. Marketing gurus understand that all marketing is local and connect with influential people in the community. They are aware of the strengths, weaknesses, opportunities and threats to each restaurant. They also have a marketing mindset and recognize four types of marketing: preventative, partnership, internal and external. —Industry leaders interested in making more money need to better support their multi-unit managers, or MUMs, Jim Sullivan told attendees at the Multi-Unit Foodservice Operators conference held recently here.
The sixth stage is the synergist. The synergist connects the company to the customer in the store. Synergists also connect the dots between the quarterly business plan, period goals, store visits and shift execution, Sullivan said. They spend 70 percent of their time in restaurants coaching their teams how to make money. —Industry leaders interested in making more money need to better support their multi-unit managers, or MUMs, Jim Sullivan told attendees at the Multi-Unit Foodservice Operators conference held recently here.
In his research, Sullivan discovered that low-performing MUMs visit their units about every three weeks and spend about 90 minutes in each unit. He referred to these as seagull visits, in which the MUM swoops, snoops, loops and makes public-service announcements. —Industry leaders interested in making more money need to better support their multi-unit managers, or MUMs, Jim Sullivan told attendees at the Multi-Unit Foodservice Operators conference held recently here.
High-performing MUMs, however, visit each store once a week and spend at least six hours in the units. “Up to four hours, teams can fake,” Sullivan said. They review the quarterly business plan, determine a focus for the visit and inform the GM, and spend one-on-one time with managers to assess progress and coach. —Industry leaders interested in making more money need to better support their multi-unit managers, or MUMs, Jim Sullivan told attendees at the Multi-Unit Foodservice Operators conference held recently here.
“The nature of all store visits should be developmental,” Sullivan said. “The goal is to develop performance, not direct it.” —Industry leaders interested in making more money need to better support their multi-unit managers, or MUMs, Jim Sullivan told attendees at the Multi-Unit Foodservice Operators conference held recently here.
The final stage is the goal getter. Goal getters possess passion, persistence and a “buck stops here” mentality, Sullivan said. They manage with the end goal in mind and realize that hope is not a strategy. They map out a mission and set exceedingly high standards. —Industry leaders interested in making more money need to better support their multi-unit managers, or MUMs, Jim Sullivan told attendees at the Multi-Unit Foodservice Operators conference held recently here.
Industry leaders who do not invest in their MUMs’ development should remember: IYAD WYAD, YAG WYAG, Sullivan said. In other words, “if you always do what you always did, you always get what you always got,” he said. —Industry leaders interested in making more money need to better support their multi-unit managers, or MUMs, Jim Sullivan told attendees at the Multi-Unit Foodservice Operators conference held recently here.
