All turnover is not created equal. Consider the case of Daniel at my favorite Burger King. Daniel was the top sandwich assembler. He was in his mid-twenties, an engineering graduate trying to decide what life means. It turned out Daniel was the glue that held our group together.

He was personable and had a wide range of interests that meshed with other crew members. Interested in Hacky Sack? He’d join in when there was a lull in the work flow (and the manager wasn’t looking!). Like video games? He could talk expertly about strategies to move to new levels. Even I connected with him. Finding out that I’m a university professor, he started probing about schools and career options. I liked Daniel. Others did too. He made going to work fun, and that might help explain our low 111 percent turnover rate.

Flash forward several months. I drop in to talk to Kris, one of my favorite managers. Almost immediately she launches into tales of disappointment: “It’s not like it used to be, Jerry. You were here during the Golden Years. My turnover is up, and I just can’t get the place moving faster.” She mentions in passing that Daniel is gone but doesn’t link this to her problems.

 I remember the way she treated Daniel while I was there. Even though Daniel was very good at his job, and Kris showed signs of appreciating this, she was still not very attuned to what made Daniel tick. He wasn’t here for a permanent job, and he disliked working extra hours. But because he was so good, Kris made him her go-to guy.

Staff shortages? Kris would ask Daniel to work extra hours—saying yes was painful, but saying no was pressure that Daniel didn’t want. I don’t know for sure this is why he left, but it certainly didn’t help.

What’s wrong here? Poor talent management. I think most quick-serves do a good job of talent management at the top. McDonald’s knows who its top 200 are and it works hard to build skills so, when the time comes, the right person is ready for the job. Ask most brands what they’re doing for talent management at the store level, though, and the answer is much less satisfying.

It’s a simple truth: Lose a Daniel and that is far more devastating than losing the typical crew member who is just killing time until the right career choice becomes available. I suspect few people enter fast-food jobs expecting to make it a career. Talent-management programs at the store level can and should focus on changing a few minds—showing that a career in fast food can be a viable option. This is particularly important when you have future stars in your crew. Losing them, like losing Daniel, is very high-cost turnover.

So what can we do? First, I recommend looking at your key employee turnover statistics...

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