Pros

Flexibility, networking, and simple procedures make working at Sonic a nice in between job. I was given a raise as soon as the company policy allowed for one. It wasn't difficult to get days off when needed. The management was generally effective and promoted teamwork. Variety in chores, always something to do or be done. The management did nice things when demands were met. (e.g. an excellent secret shopper report equaled being publicly commended, or a pizza party, among others). The uppers did an excellent job of equally distributing favoritism amongst all employees. An end of the year White Elephant holiday party was a nice touch.

Cons

Fellow employees. Attendance, apathy, and lack of comprehension for basic procedure were hallmarks of the company. High turnover among lower ranking employees. Most shifts called for more employees than needed for the "rush" which was usually and hour to two hour part of said shift. After the "rush" had ended a few employees were sent home. If someone volunteered to go home early then this worked out. If no one wanted to leave then sometimes names were drawn from a hat, or employees were chosen based on how many hours they had worked in that pay period. For the people that needed the hours+tips it was always an upsetting thing to be sent home after a two hour work day.

Advice to Senior Management

To put more time and effort into finding intelligent employees. Obviously fast food doesn't require any of the lower ranking employees (e.g. cooks, carhops) to have a formal education. But, paying more and spending more time picking these people would result in less excess of people that have little comprehension of what's going on.