McDonalds

Introduction

McDonalds recruit staff at all levels, from junior employees to management trainees at A–level or graduate standard. The company value people with a positive attitude towards customers, themselves and other employees and who strive to deliver high standards of quality. Equal opportunities are at the heart of the organisation, so much so that in 1992 McDonalds set up an equal opportunity group to help foster a diverse workplace and highlight equal opportunity as part of the companies’ ethos. They pride themselves on ‘Being able to offer all employees the knowledge that opportunities are as great as the individual’s ambitions and abilities allow’.

The Challenge

McDonalds did their Investors In People consultation in July and wanted to push the boundaries and measure all aspects of the business. They were determined to get the most out of the review to ensure their practices were to the highest standard,  looking specifically at:

• Comparisons with other profile users
• People’s perceptions
• Areas of strength
• Potential areas for development

During the IIP assessment, it was essential to interview a good cross–section of employees at all levels, from shop floor to management. This was problematic due to size of the organisation and it was imperative that the right people were targeted to extract the key information.

The Solution

With the help of their Training Consultant, Linda Winter, the processes of the face to face assessments were thorough and efficient. As with all the processes at McDonalds, everything is organised and run like clockwork from training to product launches and is cascaded throughout the business.

What was even more striking is the commitment by staff who even volunteered to come in on days off to do the one to ones. To gain the most stretching information they went for the most challenging questions which would guarantee the most in depth knowledge about the company. McDonalds has a very honest open view and therefore wanted to face the results good or bad. With the information gained their aim was to make improvements relating to them for the better of the company and more importantly their staff.

The Result

McDonald’s values are at the heart of the company and their work ethic and this is clearly demonstrated in the fact 79% of employees felt this was the case. Other strong percentages were;

• 82% felt that their training was directly linked to the business objective
• 80% of new recruits believe they get the training they need.
• 80% of staff understand and believe that they are being trained well and helped with their career paths.
• 100% of employees felt that any feedback they gave was listened to and used to make improvements within the company

There were many areas of notable strength, but one of the most outstanding was engaging with people across a vast cross–section of employees. There were also very strong results demonstrating that staff had the best coaching available and felt their managers were strong and inspiring leaders. From school leavers to graduates, McDonalds offers clear and outstanding career paths which channels individuals talent, to both their benefit and the company's. There was also a non–hierarchical culture with values embedded in the respect you have for colleagues. It was outstanding the amount of positive things staff had to say about working for McDonalds. Furthermore there was a very positive attitude to supporting women to achieve, older employees to join and really anyone irrespective of their background as long as they showed commitment and drive.

Another exceptional element was the strong social stance at McDonalds how they pride themselves on contributing back to the community which is reflected in the fact that many of their employees believe the company takes seriously their impact on the environment. This is demonstrated in the way McDonalds supports local community projects at a grass roots level which are usually family focussed reflecting the company values. Wellbeing was also a significant factor for staff and at McDonalds they felt that working there gave them a good work/life balance which is demonstrable in any organisation. 78% of staff said they were proud to work for McDonalds.

Areas that had dramatically improved included;

• Talent management
• People were able to identify inspirational leaders at all levels within the business.
• Use of people metrics to identify the impact of people strategies
• An improvement in people’s view as to how they are managed and developed.