The Recruitment Method and Selection Procedures Applied at the McDonalds Corporation - Research Paper Example

TABLE OF CONTENTS. 1.0 INTRODUCTION. 2.0 OVERVIEW OF McDONALD’S CORPORATION. 3.0 THE VACANCY. 4.0 RECRUITMENT STRATEGIES. 5.0 JOB DESCRIPTION 6.0 CANDIDATE SPECIFICATION. 7.0 RECRUITMENT, SELECTION AND TRAINING. 8.0 BARRIERS TO EFFECTIVE RECRUITMENT AND SELECTION PROCEDURES. 9.0 RECOMMENDATIONS AND CONCLUSION. 10.0 REFERENCES. 1.0 INTRODUCTION. Recruitment and selection of high quality personnel is a key component in the attainment of the organizational objectives. The individuals must demonstrate personal and professional attributes that are consistent with the organization overall goals and culture. This ensures that the right person gets appointed to the right post. It is therefore imperative that an appropriate recruitment and selection programme is carefully organized, selected and implements with the underlying theme is to became an equal opportunity employer. This paper therefore seeks to assess the effectiveness and appropriateness of the recruitment method and selection procedures applied at the McDonald’s corporation. It will also address the use of the internet as a recruitment tool at McDonald’s. it is expected that proper recommendations for improvement will be presented after an evaluation of the strengths and weaknesses of the recruitment policies and procedures applied at McDonald’s. 2.0 OVERVIEW OF McDONALD’S CORPORATION. McDonald’s opened its door to the UK public in 1974 and as of the end of 2004, there were over 1330 McDonald’s UK restaurants, with 60 % being company owned, employing 43, 491 individuals and the rest being franchises, employing 25, 000 individuals. For each McDonald’s restaurant, its management is responsible of maintaining its own independent operations, accounting, inventory control, training and Human Recource functions. There are two groups of employees; the hourly-paid, also known as the crew members, and are charged with the task of carrying tasks that ensure a restaurant runs efficiently. The other groups are the salaried managers who manage operations and oversee the business and crew members’ performance. McDonald’s established that for the organization to register improved organizational outcomes, it is imperative that effective recruitment and selection practices are applied. This is because the end result is likely to produces highly satisfied employees who are consistent with the McDonald’s objectives. McDonald’s prides itself in being an equal opportunity employer that does not discriminate along gender, nationality, race, colour, marital status, age, religion, political affiliation or any other unjustified reason. In 1992, McDonald’s put in place the Equal Opportunities Group that was aimed at encouraging a workplace that was characterized by equality and diversity. Diversity is promoted at McDonald’s and no potential employee is exposed to unfair treatment or biased assessment based on pre-existing stereotypes. The same theme is held within the terms and conditions of service which are non discriminatory and therefore fostering conditions for a high level of work-life balance. This is the first step towards the promotion of excellent employee relations and the inculcation of a non discriminatory culture within McDonald’s. Paula Doherty, the General Manager of McDonald’s UK, professes of being exposed to different work experiences in different geographic location ever since she joined McDonald’s as a management trainee. This is a demonstration of McDonald’s commitment to the recruitment of the most qualified personnel who are then presented with the opportunity to progress professionally. This is irrespective of whether they joined the organization as A-level recruits, management trainees or as hourly-paid personnel (McDonald’s UK, 2008). During the recruitment process, several traits are emphasized. First, one must be ready to adopt a positive attitude towards themselves, workmates and most importantly, the customers at McDonald’s. They must have a natural inclination towards high hygiene standards and service delivery. However, for McDonald’s, the ability to comprehend and adapt to the customer-led culture that is synonymous with the McDonald’s organizational objectives is by far more important than any academic qualification (McDonald’s UK, 2008). It is well known fact that out of all the employees at McDonald’s, over 60% are usually below the age of 20. It has also been established that for most of the under 20 applicants, the job at McDonald’s is often their first working experience. It is believed that due to the immense possibility of professional and career development at McDonald’s, many young people are attracted to apply for entry level positions with the organization. The evidence is based on the act that half of the managers at McDonald’s were at one point or another, hourly-paid employees who worked hard to earn promotions. The other half is made up of graduates. McDonald’s is also an attractive employer to many a youth because of the McDonald’s USA National Employee Scholarship Program which is basically a reward and recognition mechanism for exemplary student-employees. These student-employees must be all rounded in terms of school work, community service and excellent customer service. 3.0 THE VACANCY. After a thorough assessment of the necessity to recruit new personnel, a vacancy is announced. During this assessment period, McDonald’s takes the opportunity to review the existing work practices that govern the given position. Not only does this save time but it also is a cost effective measure. It has often occurred that the same skills exist within the organization, thus warrant promotion, if not, some employees are asked to multitask and take on more responsibilities. The latter can be of help if the vacancy requires effort to recruit. This is also a good opportunity to establish the commitment and loyalty that the employees have towards the organization. There are several reasons that lead to the emergence of a vacancy. The most common reasons at McDonald’s are: The creation of a new post, mostly due to expansion of the organization. The exit of an employee due to personal reasons. Extended sick or maternity leave. The dismissal of an employee following a breach of the performance contract. 4.0 RECRUITMENT STRATEGIES. The McDonald’s recruitment policy stipulates the hourly-paid positions are filled by the individual restaurants. For the management of manager, the Management Recruitment Departments coordinates the process. With the emergence of increasing technological advancements, more and more organizations are resulting to the use of the internet as an advertising and recruitment medium. It is also common for organizations to use internal recruitment strategies such as employee referrals of their friends and internal job postings. According to the McDonald’s recruitment history, internal recruitment has proved to the most effective avenue for hiring quality personnel. They also have solicited the services of career fairs, local job centers and advertisements within the restaurants. Technological advancements have made applications for positions at McDonald’s online at www.mcdonalds.co.uk. Not only is this cost effective and fast but also available to a wider pool of candidates. While online, the applicants answer a psychometric test that gives a score by the end of the test. The successful applicant then attends a “On Job Experience”, which is basically a two day assessment in an actual restaurant. In the event that the website is inaccessible, applicants are advised to call the recruitment hotline or get a prepaid Business Reply Card from any McDonald’s restaurant (McDonald’s UK, 2008). 5.0 JOB DESCRIPTION The role of a job description during the recruitment process is to explicitly describe the duties and responsibilities a given position. It aims at ensuring that there is appropriate grading of the position serves as a performance management and evaluation tool and is an indication to prospective candidates of the extent of their relevance for the position. At McDonald’s, job descriptions are designed using clear and non ambiguous languages such that targeted and potential candidates easily understand it (McDonald’s UK, 2008). 6.0 PERSON SPECIFICATION. This is a specification of the minimum professional and academic skills, experience and personal traits required from a potential candidates. McDonald’s operate in such a way that the person specification is designed after the job description so that it is relevant. This enables potential candidates in the assessment of their suitability for the vacancy. For the McDonald’s corporation, the knowledge that it is the ambition and determination of an individual that is the binding force of their employees. For the most part, past working experience or formal educational qualifications do mot make up the most important determinants for employment at McDonald’s (McDonald’s UK, 2008). 7.0 RECRUITMENT, SELECTION AND TRAINING. As expected, any recruitment drive is bound to attract more applicants than the number of available positions. At McDonald’s, it is the duty of managers during this period is to select the most qualified candidates who will later be interviewed. The objective at a McDonald’s interview is to establish if a candidate is likely to be an excellent McDonald’s employee if successful at the interview. The organization’s interview scripts are designed to guide the interviewer in establishing the correlation between past bahaviour and future performance. The interview questions require answers that are actual events in the candidates past rather than having theoretical or even general answers. They also look for a fit in the positions requirements from the behavioral evidence presented by the candidate. It is thus an evidence based decision making process. The candidates are then rated based on the answers they gave and the candidate with the highest ratings is offered the position. It is part of the McDonald’s selection and recruitment procedure that not only is the successful candidate notified but also the unsuccessful candidates are notified in writing (McDonald’s UK, 2008). It is compulsory for new employees to attend the welcome meeting that is intended to give them an overview of McDonald’s. During this meeting, the new employees get information on their roles, food handling and safety procedures, general company policies and procedures, the management, their benefits and the training and development programs that await them. Once inducted, the new employees are expected to under go a three week probation period, during which they are under evaluation on their job performance which it the determining factor of their future at McDonald’s (McDonald’s UK, 2008). Since time immemorial, McDonald’s has placed a lot of emphasis on a comprehensive training ad development programs that would encourage the development of individual potential as a way of attaining high standards of service delivery. It is expected that after a series of training session, a productive employee would rise through the ranks according to a merited promotion process. The welcome meeting lay the ground work for a well structured development program that provides holistic training on the various areas of work at McDonalds. There is a lot of inclination towards “on the job” or floor based training that enables new employees to retain more knowledge. It is expected that the trainees will attain a reasonable level of expertise that will equip them to be autonomous in the operations in the restaurant. As expected, there is a provision for classroom centered training that exposes them to the hygiene and service delivery aspects of working at McDonald’s. Throughout this training period, the new employees are usually under observation by use of observation checklists that contribute towards the appraisal grading. The appraisal grading is a process under which new employees meet their immediate line managers with the aim of conferring and assessing their progress towards the attainment of set performance targets and lay the ground work for future expectations (McDonald’s UK, 2008). It is not unheard of that performing crew members are promoted to hourly-paid supervisory and management positions of certain shifts or in deed, restaurants. McDonald’s has designed a Management development Curriculum which paved the direction of new employees to traineeship to management. Notably, a traineeship opportunity is offered by McDonald’s. McDonald’s had been credited in being a quality training and development provider. The attraction of this traineeship program is that the potential to rise from crewmanship to management is high. Crew members often start with a certificate II in retail operation. This exposes the trainee to various aspects of effective workplace communication, customer service, hygiene and sanitation and stock handling. Alternatively, an individual can opt for the Certificate III in retail supervision, which provides basic training in supervision skills, multitasking at the workplace so as to assist shift managers. It is expected that by the end of the program the trainees will have developed a comprehension of the McDonald’s people policies and the minimum requirements for awards throughout the organization. These certifications are nationally recognized and are bound to impress potential employees in future. This is compounded by the fact that the trainees are exposed to a practical mix of theory and workplace application, providing them with a firm platform for future applications (McDonald’s Crews, 2008). 8.0 BARRIERS TO EFFECTIVE RECRUITMENT AND SELECTION PROCEDURES. The following are the major barriers to the recruitment process; Due to the stiff competition within the labour market, it is increasingly difficult for McDonald’s to identify, recruit and select suitable persons. Recurring changes are inevitable and this inevitability is costly as McDonald’s is constantly under pressure to adjust its recruitment and selection policies and procedures to be in sync with the changes. 9.0 RECOMMENDATIONS AND CONCLUSION. People are the greatest asset at that the McDonald’s Corporation possesses because there is no surer route to increased productivity and financial success. Customer satisfaction can only be achieved if the abilities and attitudes of the McDonald’s workforce are characterized by a committed effort toward the attainment of the organizational goals. McDonald’s is committed to the recruitment of only the best individuals that the industry can offer. To ensure that these individuals are in sync with McDonald’s objectives, the organization invests heavily in providing relevant training and development, with a promise to be transparent and fair in rewarding exemplary employees. It is therefore through effective selection and recruitment policies and procedures that the McDonald’s resolve be nothing but the best is achieved. REFERENCES. McDonald’s Crew (2008). Traineeships. Last retrieved from the World Wide Web on 14th August, 2008 from http://www.mcdonalds.com.au/careers/benefits/traineeships.asp McDonald’s UK (2008). Employment Policies. Last retrieved from the World Wide Web on 14th August, 2008 from http://www.mcdonalds.co.uk/pages/companyinfo/employmentpolicies.html. Read More