Vulnerability-Based Trust and Employee Engagement: A Phenomenological Study of Chick-Fil-A Franchisees’ Leadership Qualities

Abstract

Over the past two decades, employee engagement in the U.S. has been dismally low, barely fluctuating 10 percentage points since 2000. Adding to this problem was the COVID-19 pandemic in 2020, which disrupted most businesses, with employee engagement levels continuing to decline, especially in industries such as quick-service restaurants (QSRs). One of the strongest factors influencing employee engagement is leadership from a direct manager. The purpose of this study is to explore the leadership qualities specific to vulnerability-based trust from the perspective of Chick-fil-A franchisees, one sector of QSRs. Using a phenomenological qualitative approach and a vulnerability-based trust framework to design the instrumentation for this study, twelve Chick-fil-A franchisees with three years or more experience were interviewed. The findings show that this group of franchisees see themselves as role models for others in five areas: (a) demonstrating behaviors they value and expect from others; (b) create an environment and culture in which people – employees and customers – feel included, known personally, and valued; (c) continually learning and developing themselves as leaders; they also devote focused time to developing other leaders and team members; (d) possess a blend of management abilities, including decision-making, problem-solving, setting expectations, ability, and business acumen; and (e) place an emphasis on building strong teams with team members who value and trust one another. Further, the findings suggest that in selecting leaders to operate the restaurants, Chick-fil-A prioritizes the specific leader qualities found in the themes of this study. To substantiate and generalize the findings of this study, further quantitative research is recommended. Descriptive and comparative research methodologies may explore franchisee recruitment and selection criteria in other QSRs as well as additional shared leader characteristics of a larger group of Chick-fil-A franchisees.