Fake doughnuts, fake store — but the training is real

The sprinkle doughnuts and chocolate Timbits look good enough to eat — until you get close and realize they're made of Styrofoam. 

But almost everything thing else in this mock-up Tim Hortons store is real including the coffee, the counter and the cash register. 

In a lot of the cases, the customer trained our staff, I'm sorry to say.— Danny Murphy

"It's good for me so I can learn how to do the stuff before I get into the regular restaurant," says 14-year-old John Sauve. "Then I'll know how to do most of the things without struggling."

Sauve is one of eight new employees wrapping up the 20-hour course at the company's training centre and head office in Charlottetown. This is his first real job.

Fellow trainee 23-year-old Amandeep Kaur had previously worked at another well-known fast-food chain.

"First day at the fast-food store, they just give us the onsite training, not like this one," said Kaur.

'Keep up with the competition'

But before the trainees train behind even a mock-up counter, they get behind desks in a classroom for instruction, then into a computer lab to watch company videos on things like handwashing, the art of making coffee and how to deal with cleaning supplies.

Instructor Bonny Massey leads the training courses every week and says they are always changing. 

"Every month there's something new to keep up with the competition," Massey said. 

When it's time to get behind the counter for role-playing, one of the students acts as a customer, one takes the orders and a third prepares them. 

The students switch roles, practising the routine over and over.

"Ask any questions, it's not a test," Massey said as she keeps a watchful eye for mistakes, such as forgetting to initial the coffee lids with its contents. 

Massey notices an almost-empty coffee pot.

"When you run out of a pot, rinse your pot out, put another one on," she instructs. 

'They'll come again'

Employees' closing lines are drilled into them repeatedly.

"Don't forget to say, 'Here's your order. Thank you, have a nice day.'" Massey said.

Student Navneet Kaur agrees customer satisfaction is important.

"If you're serving the guests with 100 per cent, they'll come again," she said. 

That philosophy is what the owner of the 18 Tim Hortons on P.E.I., Danny Murphy, has aimed for since he started selling coffee and doughnuts almost 40 years ago — training back then was sparse.

"We didn't have the training materials that are available today," Murphy said. "In a lot of the cases, the customer trained our staff, I'm sorry to say."

Back then, training took place in the back of the restaurant.

"It was a very confined space with a lot of interruptions, other people come walking by, very distracting," Murphy said.

'Always a dream of mine'

A few years ago, Murphy decided to enhance training at his Tim Hortons and Wendys franchises.

"This was always a dream of mine to have our own training centre off-site with the classroom and the computers and the equipment," he said. 

The replica restaurant allows the young students to practise in a relaxed atmosphere, he said..

"They've all cut grass, they've all babysat, but to get in front of someone older than them ... can be nerve-racking if they don't feel confident," Murphy said.

P.E.I.'s small size makes it ideal for a training centre like this, he said.

"Other brands don't have this luxury of having a lot of their restaurants in close proximity to each other," he said.

The employees are all paid during the training. 

As the final class draws to an end, Massey reviews the performances of her students.

"Navneet followed all the right standards by putting her sugar in, stirring and pouring at the same time," Massey said. "They did great. They smiled, giving eye contact."

'Make the guest's day — not break it'

Massey reminds students that sometimes their smiles won't always be returned by a customer who's having a bad day.

"We teach them that we want to make the guest's day — not break it."

"We don't know what's going on in their day," Massey said. "The guest could have something — a sick loved one in the hospital — so it's our goal to keep smiling and when they leave, hopefully we've made their day."

Before students leave, they receive graduation certificates.

"I'm feeling, like, awesome," a more-confident Amandeep said. "I'm feeling like 100 per cent now."

Massey has one last bit of advice for her students as they leave the centre.

"Take one guest at a time," she said. "It gets really busy — you might see them lining out the doorway, but the most important thing is to be friendly." 

"Put a little quickness into your step and smile," she added. "Good luck, you guys will do wonderful."

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