Burger King reworks manager role to support guest experience

The chain is redefining its restaurant manager role with a new, more distinct uniform and new responsibilities to better address guest concerns.

• Burger King is shifting the responsibilities and visibility of its restaurant managers by renaming the role “Your Way Champion,” in a bid to improve the guest experience, according to an emailed press release.

Manager role changes

• The new role will “serve as a dedicated point person, clearly identifiable in a Your Way Champion uniform, who welcomes Guests, ensures orders are prepared the way they are requested, and is available to make things right whenever needed.”

• The change builds on Burger King’s turnaround efforts, like tweaks to its Whopper recipe, and its guest-engagement focused marketing, like when the chain allowed guests to directly contact its U.S. President Tom Curtis earlier this year, according to the press release.

Burger King will invest in more training for restaurant-level workers and provide more resources to support the shift toward the Your Way Champion model.

The new managers will be tasked with creating a welcoming store environment, double checking orders, focusing on order customization, and serving as points of contact for customer problems.

Guest feedback impact

The brand said these changes were based on guest feedback.

“We're not going to get everything right every single time, but we're committed to listening intently and improving every day,” Curtis said in a statement. “When Guests choose us, they expect high-quality food, orders made the way they asked, and a team that's there when they need us. That's what these changes are about.”

Whopper guarantee

In addition to the new managerial role, Burger King is adding a “Whopper Guarantee.” Consumers dissatisfied with a Whopper can request it be remade and will be offered a complimentary Whopper to be redeemed on their next visit.

This pledge reflects the centrality of the Whopper and burger customization to the chain’s identity. Earlier this year, Burger King redesigned its Whopper packaging and added a more premium bun and reformulated mayonnaise to the burger.

Those changes are part of a multi-year brand turnaround that began with significant remodels and marketing spend and came to encompass culinary changes, marketing shifts — the King mascot was dethroned — and, eventually, a push to hire 60,000 workers as sales growth accelerated.

Other major chains have also redefined positions or launched major hiring campaigns recently. Last year, Starbucks created a new assistant store manager role for which it will eventually hire or promote thousands of candidates. McDonald’s added a new in-store labor position this year to support the deployment of its dirty sodas and other premium beverages. Such changes reflect the dynamism of the major QSR brands at a moment when overall restaurant employment is effectively stagnant.