Stephanie Albert ENGL 1102 Hinnant March 31, 2014 Religion in the Workplace: Chik-Fil-A Chik-Fil-A may stand

out for having the best chicken sandwich, the most delicious ChikFil-A sauce, perfectly hand-spun milkshakes, and being the complete opposite of typical fast food restaurants. It could be their food, involvement with the community, or their impeccable customer service that sets them apart, but couldnt religion be the underlying cause for such a successful, yet controversial, cooperation? I wondered; if so, how is it all enforced? How do the employees make this such an enjoyable and different dining experience? After my observations, and not sure how it would all correlate, I had an interview with the manager, Joe, about his personal views, Chik-Fil-A as a whole regarding religion, and how it impacts his surroundings and employees. His answers lead me in a new direction that I did not consider at the beginning. Observations of Surroundings For three weeks, every Friday and Saturday for at least an hour, I sat in the closest seat to the kitchen that was available at Chik-Fil-A. Showing up at different times each day, I observed carefully in order to better my findings. When I first walked in, each time, I was greeted at the door with a cheerful Welcome to Chik-Fil-A! My first day, a late Friday afternoon, the first thing that stood out was that the front, including the cashiers and kitchen, were much farther apart from the dining area than most fast food restaurants I have been to. The cashiers, three women around ages twenty to thirty, stood at the front, tall and with big smiles on their faces.

They all looked very prestige for a fast food restaurant. It was busy this Friday afternoon but everything seemed to be running smoothly. There were lines coming in from each side entrance and the dining area was packed. When it was my turn to order, I was greeted at the register, was asked my name for the order, and was told my pleasure to every thank you I said. The restaurant was very clean and orderly, there was no trash on the tables, and not one piece of food on the floor, and the condiments table was perfectly organized and wiped down. I took into consideration that the dining area was set up differently compared to other fast food restaurants because of the more formal fast food dining they want to implement. It is a welcoming environment and religion is an aspect in the sense that they maintain their locations and customers with respect. There was a variety of people eating there of all ages, lines that were never ending, and a lot of noise was coming from the front. There was a lot communication between the cashiers in order to make the customer satisfied and as quickly as possible. An instrumental mix of music was playing, flowers were on every table, and an adequate amount of space was in-between each table. When asked about the music Joe commented, I am not sure why there are no words in the music. I am not going to speak for the entire company but because Christianity plays a big role in this industry, we are scrutinized by a lot of people. This led to more questions. If religion affects something as simple as the song choices, it must have an even bigger impact on other aspects as well. Personal Appearance Going into this, and having heard that there were strict rules about dress code, that was something I wanted to pay attention to. My observations would further of course, but I wanted to see how the face of this location was presented. The people that worked in the front consisted

of both males and females, and of different ethnicities, all had maroon colored shirts, black pants, black shoes, and black zip up jackets that were either zipped half-way or not at all. The girls, who had long hair, had it pulled up in a ponytail with either a headband or a hat. They did not have a lot of makeup, natural hair colors, and either clear or perfectly painted nails. Each girl put a spin on her look by changing up the headband style. There was, however, one girl working there on day three that had short hair, not long enough for a ponytail, and it was an orange color with maroon colored tips at the bottom. I was not sure how this fit with all the rest or why that was allowed. The male cashiers had the same colored clothing, trimmed hair, and no facial hair; they all seemed very clean cut. The men working in the back, preparing the food, also had maroon colored shirts and black pants. Some were wearing all black but they all had Chik-Fil-A name tags, a shaven face, and trimmed hair as well. When I asked Joe about the importance of appearance he answered, Personal appearance is a big concern here. We want to be clean, polished, and organized. The cashiers at the front have the most customer interaction so it is more enforced with them. Religion may impact this aspect due to the fact that self-appearance here is more prestige, clean-cut, and very well put together. In an industry that is speculated for its religious background, personal appearance should be a major concern As for other employees, one older woman, around age sixty, was in a white button up shirt and black pants who was wiping down tables (she was there each day). There were event coordinators there each day as well who would wear something different each time. One older gentleman was wearing a blue shirt, and the females even coordinators were wearing a shade of red/maroon and black. The manager wore a grey button up shirt and black pants. It seemed like there was a lot of order when it came to clothing if you never left the front, but if you had a

position that had more flexibility, the clothing seemed to vary. This was interesting because I would have figured everyone to be wearing the same thing. The higher up positions (comparing cashiering to event coordinator) seemed to present themselves at a higher level regardless if the shirt was maroon or red. It was noticeable that a social hierarchy was portrayed just by dress code/choices. Roles in the Workplace Just based off of the clothing, it is easy to tell that there are many roles at Chik-Fil-A. Cashiers, cooks, drive-thru, cleaning, and event coordinators are all basic roles that are there every day. It is easy to decipher which employee takes part in which role but as the observations continued, the roles seemed to blend. The first day I immediately separated them. There were cashiers that never left the front, one girl at the drive-thru window that never left and two or three people on the side gathering the food to make the trays for the customers. There was always one person cleaning and every so often there would be a gentleman that would refill the cups, ice, and lemonade. At first, the females seemed to be the face of the restaurant and that only males worked in the back and did more manual labor enforced things (such as ice and lemonade refills). There were cashiers that were males but they seemed to be younger, maybe high school students. I quickly came to realize that the people at the front moved around a lot. They went from cashiering, preparing trays, and cleaning. It seemed like there was always something that needed to be done and someone was always willing to change from their current position. It was clear that the employees showed just that. When Joe was asked about his employee work ethic and how the rules are enforced he responded, We work as a team here. I tell every employee to leave their ego at the door; it makes for a hostile work environment. Because customers are our

number one priority, we work hard at all times to keep that known. It is go go go here and everyone is expected to look out for each other in order to work better as a team. My favorite saying is, if you have time to lean, you have time to clean. It was easy to see that most of the heavy duty jobs, such as trashes, mopping, and sweeping up the parking lot outside, were done by males. At the beginning of my studies, I thought religion would have influenced the separation of the roles between men and women in this industry but it does not. Religion rather sets a foundation of teamwork and that the burden of one task does not rely solely on one person. It can also be concluded that perhaps religion enforces a hierarchical status pertaining to the men doing more of the labor enforced work than the women. Chik-Fil-A is closed on Sundays and it was not until after the interview those connections to the labor part of the job were made. Joe believes that Chik-Fil-A is closed on Sundays because it is the Sabbath. Working here is very difficult, a lot of manual labor and at a very fast pace. I think it is a day to recuperate after a long week and put thought into something other than work. His response about it being the Sabbath was a direct link to Christianity and how religion plays a role in this industry without me even referencing it. The Sabbath is meant for a day of worship and rest. This is exactly what he was steering towards. Employee Interaction Throughout my observations, one thing about employee interaction became very clear; there was not much of it. Due to the fact that it is always busy could have been an explanation but after talking with Joe, it was looked down upon. With religion comes order and high expectations whether you are at home or at work and this is definitely portrayed in the employee interaction. There is no time for games and side-bar conversations when there is something that can always be done. Constant personal conversations shows disrespect and that is not an

image Chik-Fil-A wants for their company. In any circumstance, there needs to be employee interaction to make a better working team, to get things done, and to satisfy the customers efficiently. It occurred to me very soon that this was the extent of it, there were no personal conversations and if there were, they lasted for a split thirty seconds at most. The days that Joe was there (manager), there was a different atmosphere. The split thirty second conversations only came about when Joe was not around. This was a direct correlation to management affecting the employees. It is clear that Joe commands higher expectations. Wanting to dig deeper into employee interaction, I asked about personal relationships. When Joe was asked about this, he said, Of course there are personal relationships here. I prefer there to not be any but it is a social hierarchy, it is bound to happen. True, but it is so disguised. It has to be. Leave your ego and drama at the door or it will just cause problems. That is not our focus here. The fact that this is stressed and there are consequences for letting your personal life interfere with work, led me to make conclusions about habits they may have while working. Religion plays a role in this in that fact that hard work ethic is expected. You pull your own weight here but at the same time you are looking out for your fellow employees as well. The employees are always smiling, very friendly to each other, and know how to communicate with one another. If an employees shift is over, everyone says bye and they all have smiles on their faces. This shows a very friendly environment. Due to the fact that not one person constantly stayed in the same spot, this shows interaction just through movement. There are always at least two people taking orders, some employees filling drinks for the other, communication with the cooks in the back, and juggling help with the in-store and drive through. The biggest reason for this is the employee interaction. The customer is the top priority

and the reason why customers feel that this is true, is because all attention is on them in that moment of ordering, getting their food, and sitting down. There are no pauses to take care of personal matters.

Employee/ Customer Interaction Customer interaction is a major aspect of any work place. So why does Chik-Fil-As stand above the rest when it comes to a fast food restaurant? At Chik-Fil-A, customers are guests, they dine in or carry out, and it is always a pleasure to serve them. Changing words and phrases when interacting with a customer can alter the entire experience. It is almost as if they want to disguise the fact that you are eating at a fast food restaurant. It is easy to see that customers are catered to. If there was a particular thing they wanted, the employee taking their order tried to alter a food item on the menu to cater to their likings. For example, one customer did not want an ice cream sundae with chocolate sauce and cookies, but rather strawberry sauce and sprinkles. You will never see this on the menu but it was made for her because that is what she preferred. Religion may impact this aspect because it is taught to always consider the best interest of others, put them before yourself, and respect those around you. It was clear to see that the customer left happy because her personal food preference was made an option for her. In the interview Joe said a numerous times that customers are our top priority. It is stressed there and that does not go unnoticed. Chik-Fil-A has an impeccable reputation and that is based off of personal experience and word of mouth. You can have an amazing staff but if the customers are not happy, there will be no business. At one point I hear a customer say, They cherish the ground you walk on here, it can almost be too much sometimes. This could be true

for some, but no matter how good the food is, if you are not welcomed there, it is most likely you will not return. Despite what sounded like such a negative comment, this show Chik-Fil-A is doing their job. My impression going into this, relating to employee/ customer interaction, was not swayed due to the fact that I have heard a lot about it and have experienced this myself. Findings/ Conclusion Stated in the beginning, my goal of this ethnographic research was to find out how religion impacted employee work ethic at Chik-Fil-A. I started off this research with only knowledge from past experiences and from friends who had worked there in the past. It can be very controversial and I felt as though it was something to look more into. Going into this, I thought that religion would result in very strict rules, absolutely no leniency, and that Chik-Fil-A would be very closed-off because of it. As I furthered my research, I was wrong. Religion does not make this restaurant a dictatorship full of rules and a fake show for the customers that walk in. It is a commitment to quality customer service. Religion here enforces that everyone works as a team. The fact that it is closed on Sundays is not because it is a day to go to church; it is a day to take a break from a long week at work and to spend time with others and to rest. Religion does not result in discrimination against employees during the hiring process. Personal appearance is not a by-product of this company. Like Joe said, Religion does not come up in the hiring process. How one decides to color their hair, for example, is up to them, it does not change their opportunity to work here. I believe that Christianity impacts the hiring process in the fact that we treat every employee equally and with respect and honor. Respect and honor are the two words that stuck out to me the most throughout this entire process. With religion there is scrutiny and judgment but also respect and honor. There is a level

of expectation that Chik-Fil-A is held to and it is met by the way the employees interact with one another and with customers. Chik-Fil-A incorporates all aspects of Christian values and does not separate work ethic from them. For other Chik-Fil-A restaurants, that may not be the case but at this particular location, it is clear to see that religion impacts the atmosphere in a positive way.

Works Cited Holden, Joe. Personal Interview. 11 February 2014.