Coaching the wrong person
Emma Roth writes in Burger King will use AI to check if employees say ‘please’ and ‘thank you’:
Thibault Roux, Burger King’s chief digital officer, tells The Verge that the company compiled information from franchisees and guests on how to measure friendliness, resulting in the fast food chain training its AI system to recognize certain words and phrases, such as “welcome to Burger King,” “please,” and “thank you.” Managers can then ask the AI assistant how their location is performing on friendliness. “This is all meant to be a coaching tool,” Roux says, adding that the company is “iterating” on capturing the tone of conversations as well.
I do think saying “please” and “thank you” are useful indicators of friendliness. However, friendliness is a reflection of the work environment. Tools like this are effective when the manager’s manager uses them to coach their people - otherwise, it’s just micromanagement.
“The beatings will continue until morale improves.”