Making Training a Competition at Sonic

For more than 60 years, Sonic has been Americas Drive-In. With over 3500 locations, it is also the largest chain of drive-in restaurants in America. The fast food chain sells made-to-order classics and signature menu items delivered by friendly, roller-skating carhops. Sonic created the Dr. Pepper Sonic Games, an extensive nine-month training program, with a goal of ensuring that employees across all of those locations had the same training. The company also saw it as a way to motivate employees to learn and improve their performance. For over 20 years, employees across the chain have been given the opportunity to participate in this competition. A dozen crews participate in the final competition to become the Best Crew in the Country.

The training program includes location-based sessions, team challenges, quizzes, secret shoppers, and individual competitions. The training is relevant to the work that the crews do each day so transfer of training is readily apparent. One goal of the program is to ensure that employees understand every part of the drive-in so that they can provide exemplary service to the customers and have fun while doing so. The company has found that by incorporating a gamification feel employees get excited and energized about participating in the training. An online portal provides digital training modules that help employees move to the next level. The result, the importance of working together as a local team (crew) is reinforced.

The company believes the training program is successful and has data to support that belief. It has seen improvements in everything from food quality to overall employee performance. Employees have a chance to build their skills and the teams have motivation to work collectively for the good of the business. In the end, members of the 12 winning teams receive an all-expense paid trip to Washington, DC, for the final competition. That event marks the first time many of the participants will have been on an airplane and, for some, even the first time to leave their home state. Those are pretty good incentives to participate in the training program, making the experience a win-win for employee and company.

Questions

1. Visit the website for the Dr. Pepper Sonic Games (drpeppersonicgames.com) and review some of the information and videos posted in the Gallery on the website to learn more about Sonic and this training program. (A) Summarize and describe your interpretation of the training program. Use knowledge gained from your research. Provide enough information for a reader who doesnt know anything about the program . (B) Describe 3 things that you found to be motivational for employees and explain why the 3 things are motivational and the motivational theory that applies.

2. Compare the Sonic training program with one that you have experienced at a previous or current job. What are the strengths of the Sonic training program? Do you believe this type of training program would be beneficial for all businesses? Why or why not?

3. If a firm has a culture that values integrity and collaboration, explain the type of training program that will instill the two values in all employees. How would you measure success/failure of the training program?