Introduction
The current case study is based on a major American food chain corporation performing in the fast-food sector. Daily, 68 million customers are receiving meals at McDonald’s at 38000 locations all over the world (McDonald’s, 2017-2019a). One of the greatest assets of the corporation is staff, and the company spends a special amount of time and investments to educate and train the employees. Apart from proposing to the staff various benefits, the corporation motivates the employees by opportunities to upgrade their skills at Hamburger University, issues monthly awards, and spends a substantial amount of time and costs on the training of the personnel. Since 1940 and the first fast-food restaurant in California, the corporation has come a long way to become a multinational firm with clients worldwide, leading its workers to better leadership skills and careers. In this assignment, the employee benefits and programs in the modern McDonald’s company will be investigated.
Company Analysis
Orientation
McDonald’s has orientation programs for new employees that are held after the job interview. The program aims to familiarize the new workers with their responsibilities, with the company, its policies, and with colleagues. During the orientation, the employee receives the uniform and can start the working shifts straight after it. Such an introduction program usually takes up to four hours and allows the beginner to get to know the working environment better. The new employee is also paid by the company for the orientation hourly.
Motivation
The inspiration and ongoing rewards of the company’s employees are essential for McDonald’s as it is in their goal to provide high-quality customer service via the interest and involvement of workers. The workers perceive career success with the help of internal motivational initiators such as recognition, self-esteem, satisfaction from work, and involvement in the process. The full use of human resources, proposals of financial and non-financial benefits to the workers allows the company to stay highly efficient in the world market. McDonald’s perceives employees as the key to productivity and quality of service, that is why the corporation has developed an effective motivational strategy for its staff (Hunt, 2022). The company elaborates and implements various motivation theories for each of the departments, asks the employees to set simply formulated, achievable, and clear goals. It is also essential to change goals from time to time. For instance, managers at McDonald’s should set one aim for six months, and afterward, it has to be changed (Hunt, 2022). Benefits proposed to the staff motivates them to stay devoted to their working places.
McDonald’s proposes to its staff attracting benefits that create a positive competitive working environment, safe, and comfortable life. The company has a three-week vacation, short shifts on Fridays during the summer, various recognition programs, medical benefits including dental, vision, and life insurance issues (McDonald’s, 2017-2019b). The corporation tries innovative long-term proposals to the new employees to balance the current labor shortage after the COVID-19 pandemics. Some of the solutions stated by McDonald’s are tuition reimbursement, paid time off, and child and elderly care (Willmott, 2021). The details of new benefits are yet not clear, but the firm stated it was working hard on changing the perception of the working process and general experiences of their staff.
Thus, according to various motivation theories, McDonald’s is using various approaches to keep its staff interested, involved, and highly efficient. The company targets low and top levels of Maslow’s hierarchy of needs: psychological and self-esteem needs proposing them constant career growth, motivating them to set up goals, and monitoring their performance issuing monetary rewards. According to the motivation theory by Douglas McGregor, the company targets individuals that belong to theory Y, are interested in the job, develop their human potential, and can take responsibility for their schedule management.
Performance Management
McDonald’s has an efficient performance management system with clear and manageable objectives. The company shares its major goals with employees and stakeholders on its official site, where all the aims and their outcomes are presented. McDonald’s has developed a plan of achieving various goals in animal health and welfare, climate action, community support in the U.S., Italy, Malaysia, conserving forests, and several goals in diversity, equity, and inclusion (McDonald’s, 2017-2019b). The corporation also is actively against food waste, controls the stranded food, and gives it to low-income communities and people in need in the U.S., South Korea, Canada, and Latin America (McDonald’s, 2017-2019b). The company aims to make all the packages from renewable, recycled, and certified resources by the year or 2025 (McDonald’s, 2017-2019b). The company aims not only to reach success and development but also to make its performance environment-friendly and supportive to people in need.
These strategies are shared with all the members of the firm’s team and promoted during performance feedback and career development conversations. McDonald’s also aims to make recruitment for young individuals easier due to the circumstances after the global COVID-19 pandemics when many young individuals lost their jobs (McDonald’s, 2017-2019c). In 2019, the company provided extra financial support to its employees and paid for the sick leave if they were infected with COVID-19 (Carouthers, 2021). During the interview, Fairhurst, a corporate executive vice president, chief people officer at McDonald’s, claimed that in 2019 the corporation reinvented the performance management model that led the company to clearer goal setting, better communication with company’s partnerships, and brought in the strategic partnership between the top and middle managers, and employees (McIlvaine, 2019). Thus, the company tries to monitor the effectiveness of performance management and bring in innovative changes to the model.
Career Progression
It is in the best interest of the company to support the personnel in constant learning and growth. The employees of McDonald’s are required to develop their skills in teamwork, customer service, time management, and responsibility. Since 2015, McFamily members have had access to Archways to Opportunity, an educational program allowing the workers to get a high school diploma, college degree, and understand their future path in their career (McDonald’s, 2020). Apart from Archways to Opportunity, the corporation allows to take an English language course for employees from other countries called English under the Arches (McDonald’s, 2020). To further develop the professional career, the restaurant workers can apply for Hamburger University where they can upgrade their leadership skills, go through a training program to become a manager, and get to know the company’s culture better (McDonald’s, 2020). It is one of the central McDonald’s goals to foster incredible careers and initiate the will of its employees to develop skills, grow as a highly efficient workers. Smart targeting on human resources allows the firm to stay successful and close to its customers.
Recommendation and Implementation Plan
Estimating the up-to-date data on McDonald’s employee programs, it is essential to state that the company has a decent approach to its staff. The company has a short but efficient orientation for the new workers introducing the working environment, giving the uniform, and paying for the first hours the employee spent at future work. Prolongation of orientation is not recommended for the company as it will increase costs and will not lead to better performance of the employees. It is essential to increase the attention of a supervisor, develop strategies for how the new worker can be supported and helped by the more experienced colleague. The more time supervisor can spend on the new worker, the more protected and secure the latter can feel. This can reduce stress levels and shorten the time of familiarization with the new working environment.
Motivation strategies are targeting mostly top parts of Maslow’s hierarchy of needs; however, some employees might need psychological support and safety guarantees especially if the company is located in other countries and regions, in communities with high levels of crime or poverty. Some strategies should target motivation in foreign locations and basic parts of the human hierarchy of needs. Due to the current political and economic crisis after the actions of the Russian state, McDonald’s maximized its capacities by providing medical and humanitarian help to Ukrainian refugees on the Polish-Ukrainian border (McDonald’s, 2022). Regarding the company’s employees in Russia, McDonald’s stated that salary continuation was guaranteed to each member of the team despite the paused operations inside the country (McDonald’s, 2022). Such actions show the company is flexible for the various economic and political changes and is responsible for its employees and clients all over the world.
Performance management can be further developed by the company by increasing the number of career-development conversations. This approach could help each of the employees feel involved in the working process and considered. Career progression opportunities are variable and attractive to the staff allowing them to study during the working process. The implementation of proposed recommendations is light and beneficial in costs. Increasing the supervisor’s attention to the new employees and the number of their performance conversations could enhance the internal motivation of the staff and lead to better efficiency of the personnel.
References
Carouthers P. (2021). How McDonald’s supported employees during the COVID-19 pandemic. Web.
Hunt, O. (2022). Performance and motivation in McDonald’s. Web.
McDonald’s. (2017-2019a). Home. Web.
McDonald’s. (2017-2019b). Performance & reporting. Web.
McDonald’s. (2017-2019c). Skills and education. Web.
McDonald’s. (2020). Lifelong learning, career growth, and professional achievement served here at McDonald’s. Web.
McDonald’s. (2022). McDonald’s to temporarily close restaurants & pause operations in Russia. Web.
McIlvaine, A. R. (2019). Why HR is at the heart of McDonald’s new golden age. Web.
Willmott, T. (2021). McDonald’s announces wide-ranging worker benefits to attract new employees. Web.