Introduction
Workforce management may be defined as an organizational process that enhances staff competency and performance levels. It provides a substantial range of practices and software to support executive management, store managers, front-line supervisors, and common employees across the company’s manufacturing, distribution, and retail operations. Workforce management includes such activities as human resource management, field service management, training management, recruitment, budgeting, scheduling, forecasting, and analytics. Human resource management is frequently regarded as a key element to the organization’s success as a substantial number of companies pay close attention to their employees. Moreover, the importance of training practices and the development of recruited employees for business growth cannot be denied. Effective training that develops professional skills, knowledge, and behavior requires well-defined schemes and a set of goals. This work examines and evaluates the efficacy of workforce management, especially the practices of recruitment, training, and development of McDonald’s corporation. Data was collected through the reliable works of scholars and the company’s official reports. The suggestions of the weak points’ improvement are provided as well.
Brief History
McDonald’s is a leading and valuable fast food corporation of international renown. This global foodservice retailer has approximately 34,000 restaurants in 119 countries and serves more than 69 million people every day (Mahajan 404). McDonald’s is one of the most distinguished international brands that “has spread its presence over the last 52 years” (Mahajan 404). Almost 80% of all McDonald’s restaurants in the world are open under the terms and conditions of franchising; they are owned and controlled by local individuals (Mahajan 404).
The company was founded in 1955 from the opening of its first restaurant by Roy Croc in Des Plaines (Mahajan 404). At the present day, its headquarters and training facility named Hamburger University is located in Illinois (Mahajan 404). McDonald’s currently holds a leading share in the global segment of fast-food restaurants and the local market of almost every country where it conducts business. McDonald’s is traditionally recognized for its experienced management, advanced operational systems, unique global infrastructure, staff hospitality, and high-quality food. The company’s well-defined management systems, structure, corporate culture, vision, goals, values, and missions provide its absolute leadership in the industry of fast food and foodservice.
Company’s Workforce Values
Concerning workforce management, the company is committed to inclusive workplace culture, equal opportunities for all employees, and their diversity. These fundamental standards are embedded in McDonald’s policies and practices. However, the maintenance of the fast-food branch’s commitment inevitably requires further development of these policies and practices as well. That is why the company provides significant transparency regarding its approach to specific contractual arrangements with its employees worldwide. As a condition of employment, the corporation does not require “mandatory arbitration of harassment and discrimination claims,” however, all claims related to discrimination or harassment either from an employee or former employee get appropriate feedback from the company’s Board of Directors (Global Diversity, Inclusion & Community Engagement). Moreover, employees are not forced to sign non-competition covenants that prohibit them from working in any rival company, except for a limited number of workers who have unique knowledge or skills and access to confidential trade secrets, intellectual property, and customer information.
The company is proud to offer its employees comprehensive, high-quality education and learning opportunities. McDonald’s has a wide range of training programs for the company’s competitiveness in the future – from the “long legacy of preparing restaurant managers at Hamburger University” to the international projects of leadership development (Global Diversity, Inclusion & Community Engagement). The McDonald’s Global Diversity, Inclusion & Community Engagement department elaborated and presented an education portfolio titled “Food for Thought,” Beyond Bias” (Global Diversity, Inclusion & Community Engagement). Its main objective is to provide an educational experience to all employees to realize their potential required for the business growth and awareness of their special ability to establish good relationships with customers and colleagues. This concept is firmly connected with the company’s belief that unconscious bias “can negatively impact the potential feel-good moments between employees and customers” (Global Diversity, Inclusion & Community Engagement). As these negative and positive subconscious stereotypes substantially affect the behavior, they should be rejected.
Strategy of Recruitment
Alongside traditional recruiting, McDonald’s substantively relies on its inner resources, especially in the case of employee responsible events. For instance, during the London Olympics, the company was chosen by the International Olympic Committee as an official restaurant service provider (Rees and Smith 140). The company’s UK department was required to establish several restaurants at various Games’ venues both for athletes and ordinary customers, with a total of 1,900 employees (Rees and Smith 140). Managers chose the strategy of internal recruitment rather than an external one and organized a competition for staff in all restaurants of the brand across the UK.
An opportunity to be employed during the Olympics was presented as a reward as the company, being the official sponsor, provided the selected staff with tickets, mobile phones, and accommodation in a luxurious London hotel for the Games’ duration (Rees and Smith 140). Employees were required to have excellent customer service and team cooperation skills and the ability to do a job in short order. From 6,800 employees across the country, 1,900 workers were subsequently chosen (Rees and Smith 140). This strategy of McDonald’s management was immeasurably successful as highly qualified and experienced staff provided outstanding work according to the company’s standards of quality.
Steps of Training in McDonald’s
The success of the McDonald’s company is provided by the highest standards of service and quality delivered to customers in every restaurant of this branch on a global basis. Well-trained and experienced employees and managers of the fast-food corporation are regarded as highly substantial elements for the achievement of these standards. According to its policy, McDonald’s provides its employees with career opportunities that empower them to realize their full potential (Mahajan 407). These options include broad-based and accurate training programs for staff and operation management and the internal recruitment policy that allows a newcomer to “progress through to a senior management position through merit-based promotions” (Mahajan 408). There are several stages of the company’s training, and the initial training stage at McDonald’s is oriented on all members of the fast-food empire that are divided into crew members and employees (Mahajan 408). The difference between these two positions is in their performance schedule – the work of crew members is organized on an hourly basis or shifts while the organization’s employees work regularly.
The initial stage of training may be defined as the welcome meetings that present the company’s expectations, standards, and guidelines. These meetings are followed by a comprehensive program of workforce development that provides training for all the McDonald’s employees in all areas of performance. Crew members work in close cooperation with trainers to obtain necessary skills and learn the operation circle, “from the front counter to the grill area,” required for all workstations in every restaurant (Mahajan 408). The prevalent number of training in McDonald’s is combined with practice as people store new information more successfully if they have a chance to apply their knowledge while learning.
During the period of initial training, both crew members and employees obtain the necessary knowledge concerning the basis of work and develop their professional skills to be competent in all areas within a restaurant. The time scale of the training period directly depends on the work schedule. All members of staff attend classroom-based training sessions as well to complete workbooks for service, quality, and cleanliness (Mahajan 408). The next step after initial training practice is ongoing training.
This procedure is conducted using observation checklists for all working stations and an appraisal grading system that forms the rating of every employee. In all restaurants, there is a common practice to promote crew members to the positions of hourly-paid managers who are responsible for the area’s accountability and schedule accuracy. In addition to the courses of development and training conducted within restaurants, workers attend regular development days (Mahajan 408). Crew members who want to be promoted should primarily pass the management entrance exam. After its successful completion, recruits attend training courses organized at the regional office by the training department (Mahajan 408). According to the development curriculum of the company, the managers’ training is combined with practice in a working place and implicates the learning of development modules through seminars and courses at McDonald’s National and Regional Training Centre (Mahajan 409). Only after this procedure do they receive a management position and return to restaurants.
The company’s management development curriculum offers prospects for future development in the sphere of restaurant management through intensive, elaborated, and structured training programs. The corporation offers this education for individuals aged 21 and older, either graduate or with previous management experience (Mahajan 409). The curriculum includes four main programs – shift management, systems management, restaurant leadership, and business leadership (Mahajan 409). Shift management provides employees with the development of essential skills and techniques that are required for effective operational control over working shifts. System management focuses on second assistant managers and first assistant managers who have been recently promoted. This program encourages the development of personal management techniques and increases the business knowledge of managers by covering all areas of the company’s systems.
Restaurant leadership introduces managers to team-building, communication with staff, decision-making, and other fundamental skills that are required for efficient restaurant management. Business leadership is defined as a program that targets restaurant and general managers and focuses them “on the need to develop a business strategy that encompasses both internal and external factors” (Mahajan 409). Experienced restaurant managers subsequently have an opportunity to get probation in the departments of regional offices. During this training, they learn new skills, see the business from different perspectives, and experience how the strategies of every department affect the achievement of the company’s goals.
Analysis of the Company’s Management
McDonald’s organizational culture addresses the development and efficiency of its human resources. The company’s workforce management supports its business growth in the fast-food market worldwide. According to the corporation’s prioritization, its organizational culture obtains specific characteristics – organizational learning, diversity and inclusion, the rewarding of excellent performance, people-centricity, and individual learning. The corporation defines people’s support and the employees’ development and needs as its priority. Management encourages staff to participate in the company’s improvement procedures and processes to enhance the quality of service.
The company’s organizational culture emphasizes the significance of in-depth and continuous learning as well. McDonald’s believes that individual learning encourages business effectiveness, quality of work, and productivity. It offers development opportunities and various training programs through the internship, Hamburger University, leadership courses, and global mobility to motivate the employees’ learning. Moreover, the corporation supports organizational training to achieve corporate goals. McDonald’s performs this organizational culture’s feature through policies, meetings, and collective training programs that encourage the employees’ knowledge-sharing. In addition, the official management policy of McDonald’s company defines inclusion and diversity as the fundamental factors of its corporate culture that optimize the capabilities of the HR department to deal with a highly diverse market.
However, despite immeasurably elaborated training programs and close attention to the qualification of the company’s employees and management, some of the McDonald’s workforce management practices need improvement. While the corporation emphasizes the importance of teamwork and collective training according to strict standards, the employees’ creativity is not encouraged. From a personal perspective, the company may organize regular meetings for employees and managers in every restaurant to discuss the potential solutions of specific problems. The aim of these meetings should be not only in decision-making but identification of creative workers to reward them as well. Moreover, corporate management should pay appropriate attention to the crew members’ conditions of work and salaries as long hours of work with constant deadlines and demanding customers should be properly appreciated in financial terms.
Conclusion
McDonald’s is a leading global foodservice retailer that has thousands of restaurants in the majority of countries worldwide. It currently holds a leading share in the global segment of fast-food restaurants and the local market of almost every country where it conducts business. The company is traditionally recognized by its experienced management, advanced operational systems, unique global infrastructure, and staff hospitality. McDonald’s organizational culture addresses the development and efficiency of its human resources. According to the corporation’s prioritization, its organizational culture obtains specific characteristics – organizational learning, diversity and inclusion, the rewarding of excellent performance, people-centricity, and individual learning.
According to its policy, McDonald’s provides its employees with career opportunities that empower them to realize their full potential through comprehensive and accurate training programs. There are several stages of the company’s training, and the initial training stage at McDonald’s that includes welcome meetings and practical exercises is oriented on all members of the fast-food empire. The next step after initial training practice is ongoing training conducted with the use of observation checklists for all working stations and an appraisal grading system that forms the rating of every employee. In general, the corporation offers four training programs – shift management, systems management, restaurant leadership, and business leadership.
Nevertheless, despite highly elaborated training programs and close attention to the qualification of the company’s employees and management, some of McDonald’s workforce management practices need improvement. The employees’ creativity is frequently not encouraged and rewarded in comparison with team work. That is why the company may organize regular meetings for employees and managers in every restaurant to discuss the potential solutions of specific problems to identify creative workers. Moreover, corporate management should pay appropriate attention to the crew members’ conditions of work and salaries as long hours of work with constant deadlines and demanding customers should be properly appreciated in financial terms. Unfortunately, the same issues are not unique for the McDonald’s corporation and may be observed in other fast food branches where the executive management should consider them as well to improve workforce practices.
Works Cited
“Global Diversity, Inclusion & Community Engagement.” McDonald’s, n.d., corporate.mcdonalds.com/corpmcd/about-us/diversity-and-inclusion.html. Accessed 10 Dec. 2019.
Mahajan, Supriya. “Competitive Advantage Through Training and Development in McDonald’s: A Case Study.” International Journal of Management, IT and Engineering, vol. 4, no. 10, 2014, pp. 403-417.
Rees, Gary, and Paul E. Smith. Strategic Human Resources Management: An International Perspective. SAGE Publications, 2014.