Managers of the Western Kentucky area Taco John’ s restaurants now have a third BMW automobile to shoot for in their annual “BMW: Best Manager Wins” program. But they need to be good—not just lucky—to drive or win the prestigious car.
HMC, Inc., the company that operates the six Taco John’s in Paducah, Benton, Murray, and Mayfield, recently added the third BMW in the series of cars they have awarded since 1999 to their top-performing managers. The managers compete in monthly contests for an opportunity to drive the car as an “ultimate traveling trophy, ” and enter their name for the final grand prize-permanent ownership of the BMW.
Performance criteria include sales increases and superior levels of store operations—doing the best to satisfy customers. According to Tammi Halvorson, HMC president, “The contest has generated a lot of enthusiasm in our company. Not only is it exciting to win the car, but the better a store operates, the more bonus money that it generates for the entire management team.”
In 2001, HMC was able to pay out over $115,000 in bonuses to its management personnel and restaurant team members. The program has been so successful, HMC has officially trademarked the program name “BMW: Best Manager Wins.” In addition to automobiles and cash bonuses, HMC has also rewarded superior employees with trips to Hawaii and Cancun, Mexico.
The Taco John’s chain of Mexican quick-service restaurants is based in Cheyenne, Wyoming. Taco John’s franchises more than four hundred restaurants in twenty-eight states.
