The Impact of Staff Training on the Business of McDonald’s
The world’s leading chain of fast food restaurants, McDonald’s Corporation, serves
hamburgers, cheeseburgers, chicken products, French fries, breakfast items, soft
drinks, milk shakes, desserts, salads, wraps and fruit to almost 47 million customers
daily. It also offers a natural-style playground for children with lounge areas and
fireplaces and children-oriented advertising. Its restaurants are operated either by a
franchise, an affiliate or the corporation itself, with revenues coming from franchisees’
rent, royalties and fees and company restaurant sales. McDonald’s revenues rose 27%
to .8 billion over three years up to 2007, and grew 9% to .9 billion in terms of
operating income.[1]
McDonalds’s employees are comprised of restaurant workers, corporate staff and
franchise owners, with a typical restaurant employing between 50 and 65 workers.
The entry-level positions are made up mostly of crew members, three-fourths of which
are part-time workers who receive low wages. Shift managers are the first of their kind
in the hierarchy, but with only slightly higher wages than crew members. From Assistant
Managers up, staff are salaried, and for each McDonald’s restaurant, there is one
Restaurant Manager. Sixty-seven percent of restaurant managers started as crew and
50% of franchisees were once employed by the restaurant.[2]
The highly structured McDonald’s employee training is where staff are taught the skills
that they demonstrate at work. Training new staff starts with a one-hour company
orientation, with step-by-step manuals and video tapes that covers all details of the
operation. New employees will be trained systematically in each of the restaurant’s 25
workstations from the grill area to the front counter until each is learned. A crew person
learns to handle 3 stations in the first 30 days and continues progressively until all the
stations are mastered. This is a demonstration of McDonald’s staff training that starts
from the bottom and gradually moves up the ladder to give future managers and
franchisees first-hand knowledge of the fast food restaurant business.[3]
McDonald’s recognizes that customers should define the quality of customer service,
and that front-line workers are given the disposition to do what is needed to make the
customers’ happy and feel that they are getting good value for money spent. Staff
should always smile in the course of their quick service, which include maintaining
accurate orders, ensuring food is hot and fresh, maintaining hygiene in the setting
and handling customer complaints. A Quality Management system is in place at
McDonalds to ensure crew and management share and expand on their specialized
skills. Making judgment calls by role playing is taught to the crew and identification of
the services personnel favor in other stores are asked to orient them on the customer’s
perspective. The continuous improvement process aims to lead to a distinct and
tailored quality system for every store.[4]
These systematic training of staff addresses McDonald’s thrust of providing Quality,
Service and Cleanliness to its customers. The business believes that offering the
finest available products through prompt and courteous service in a clean and
spotless environment is the key to drawing customers to its restaurants. It places a
high value on an all smiling crew and management staff because this quality helps in
bringing customers back. McDonald’s emphasis on reminding its staff on treating
customers the way they would want to be treated themselves translates into 100%
customer satisfaction. McDonald’s believes that their success is founded on the quality
of their training, which is designed to allow the employees to achieve company goals
and increase profitability and market share. Regular training evaluation is done to make
the process up to date to business needs and rules and regulations are periodically
reviewed to ensure their correct implementation. The company’s policy of promotion
within the organization, the providing of private medical care and life assurance to
employees and their being awarded beneficial Loyalty points improve team-working
skills and lessen staff turnover.[5]
[1] “Staff Training in McDonalds”, OPPapers.com, 2011,
<http://www.oppapers.com/essays/Staff-TraInIng-In-Mcdonalds/217129> [accessed 30 May 2011]
[2] willie-ga’s description of the system employed at McDonald’s, Google Answers, 2002,
<http://answers.google.com/answers/threadview/id/75588.html> [accessed 30 May 2011]
[3] ibid
[4] ibid
[5] “Does McDonald’s Offer a Model Which Other Businesses Should Follow?”, WowEssays, 2004,
<http://www.wowessays.com/dbase/ab1/utv172.shtml> [accessed 30 May 2011]
Credit:ivythesis.typepad.com
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