The Need for Training at McDonalds - Research Paper Example

?Human Resources Management Q. 3 Part (a) Factors Imparting the Need for Training at McDonald’s Customization of workers’ skills The first and theforemost factor that imparts the need for the training and development at McDonald’s is the company’s trust and confidence in its workforce and the belief that its workforce is its most valuable resource. “We know that we can grow as a company, only if we enable our people to grow, contribute and feel proud to work for McDonald’s” (McDonald’s Singapore, 2008). McDonald’s possesses its workforce more than keeping it, which means that the company aspires to develop long-term association with each and every individual that forms part of its workforce, and is ready to extend any kind of help that the individual might need in order to optimize on his/her potential to take the company to the next level. This also includes the employees’ need for training and development so that they may be able to customize their skills as per the need of McDonald’s. 2. Advancement in technology MacDonald’s needs to train its workforce to not only update them on the latest technologies in the food manufacturing industry, but also inculcate the necessary skills in them to use those technologies in the best interest of the company. 3. Regulatory changes Change at McDonald’s is inevitable. Things have been constantly changing both within McDonald’s and in the external factors influencing McDonald’s since the company has been established. These factors include but are not limited to the laws and regulations, politics, economics, and the lifestyle of people in general. For example, the new laws may oblige McDonald’s to keep the calorie count in the kids’ meal below a certain threshold. In this case, the employees would need to be trained to follow the alternate menu with low calorie-count. 4. Organizational changes The need to training and develop of the workforce does not only arise from technological reasons. The environmental factors play a prime role in the ability of an organization to achieve the competitive advantage. One such factor is the organizational change. As McDonald’s is an international corporation, and the company feels the need to relocate its workers at different restaurants around the globe, there is a constant change happening in the organizational structure. The employees need to be trained in order to enable them to adjust to the organizational changes immediately without losing their efficiency because of such factors as change of the leader. Q. 3 Part (b) Comparison of the Responsibilities of Human Resource Specialists and Other Managers in the Administration of the Employees’ Compensations Responsibilities of human resource specialists Responsibilities of human resource specialists are: 1. The human resource specialists participate in the development of budget. So they may advise on the increase of compensation of a specific employee considering his/her exceptional performance. 2. The human resource specialists represent the official at the meetings, so they can openly discuss the compensation related issues of the employees in meetings. 3. The human resource specialists conduct interviews of the interested candidates, so they play a decisive role in the establishment of the employee’s salary. Responsibilities of other managers Other managers include but are not limited to the Finance Manager and the General Manager. Responsibilities of other managers are: 1. The responsibility of the Finance Manager is to make sure that all employees are paid on time. 2. Another responsibility of the Finance Manager is to keep a record of all payments made to a certain employee so that the record may be referred to in the hour of need. 3. The responsibility of the General Manager is to provide funds to the company to make the cash flow cycle going so that no compensation issues arise. Q. 4 Part (a) Implementation of Safety Management Program at McDonald’s Six elements that McDonald’s needs to ensure for an effective safety management program include organizational commitment and responsibility, safety policies and discipline, safety training and communications, inspection, accident investigation and research, and safety committees and evaluation of safety efforts. 1. Organizational commitment and responsibility Organizational commitment and responsibility is the prime element that McDonald’s needs to implement an effective safety management program. In any organization, programs meant for the welfare and well-being of the workforce cannot be made effective unless everybody in the organizational hierarchy from top to bottom is committed and is ready to play both the individualistic and collective role to make the program effective. For example, accidents commonly happen in construction projects because the entire responsibility of safety management is placed on the shoulders of such organizations as Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA). Unless the organization is personally committed and feels responsible for the safety of its workers, accidents cannot be avoided. 2. Safety policies and discipline The whole safety management program fundamentally depends upon the safety policies of the organization. In order to implement the safety management program effectively, it is imperative that McDonald’s has a manual that clearly lists the safety policies describing the individualistic and collective roles and responsibilities of each and every worker, and department. The policies should clearly demarcate the boundaries of responsibilities of individual workers and departments so that there are no overlapping areas, and thus no confusion. Discipline is also a pre-requisite for the implementation of the safety management program. McDonald’s needs to have its own code of ethics which also provides guidance regarding discipline for the workers. 3. Safety training and communications Like McDonald’s provides its workers with training in all kinds of areas, training in safety is equally important. The workers need to be trained on how to use different kinds of equipments and utensils in order to keep safe during work. An efficient system of communication is also necessary for the implementation of the safety management program. The workers need to be trained on who to contact during the time of emergency, should be provided with the resources to make timely communication, and should be trained to use them as well. 4. Inspection Inspection is a very important part of the process. McDonald’s needs to schedule inspections to make sure every individual and department is doing its bit to make the workplace safer for the workers. Inspections are needed to check factors that include but are not limited to the workers’ accessories, out-fits, checking the areas for the presence of rodents and insects, and checking the efficiency of communication system. Preferably, the inspections should be made by the senior management and should be unannounced so that the employees and departments may expect them any time and be always prepared to undergo the inspection. 5. Accident investigation and research To help the organization prepare better for accidents of the sort that have happened in the past, it is imperative that investigation of the past accidents is carried out right after the accident has taken place. Accident investigation makes the management aware of the potential causes of accidents, the factors that contribute to the occurrence of accidents, and the measures that if taken can help prevent such accidents from occurring in the future. A lot of studies have been conducted to date that have explored the causes of and ways to prevent the accidents. McDonald’s should consult such research works and take measures to eradicate the causal factors of accidents. 6. Safety committees and evaluation of safety efforts To make sure that the safety management program is implemented effectively, McDonald’s should form safety committees that should be assigned this responsibility. The safety committees should make sure that all communication channels are functional, workers are provided with safety equipment, workers are aware of the present and modified safety policies, conduct inspections, conduct accident investigation and make notes, and conduct safety meetings regularly. The safety committees should also periodically review the existing safety policies and make necessary amendments depending upon the findings of new research works and accident investigations. Q. 4 Part (b) Factors Causing Communication Problems at McDonald’s McDonald’s maintains a culturally diverse workplace. This causes certain communication problems to arise that are discussed below: 1. Language Barrier People from different cultures speak different languages. This may cause communication problems. Let’s suppose the case of two workers at McDonald’s; one of whom is American while the other is Indian. The Indian worker does not speak or understand fluent English, whereas the American worker does not know Hindi. When the two of them communicate, it may take very long for one to convey his/her point to the other. At least one of them or both may also be agitated because of the other’s lack of ability to speak and understand his/her language, which may lead to dysfunctional conflict between both. 2. Cultural Barrier People from different cultures meet each other differently. Some like to start the communication by shaking hands while others want to kiss before starting the communication. Let’s suppose there are two workers at McDonald’s; one is American and the other is Arabic. When the two greet each other, the American worker says “Hi” whereas the Arabic worker says “Hi” and goes on to kiss the American worker on the cheek. The American worker may find this offensive, and the two may break into an argument. Likewise, “The loop formed by tip of the thumb and index finger is a signal of agreement in North America but an obscenity in the Southern states” (Communication Theory, 2010). 3. Religious Barrier People following different religions have different limitations. Let’s suppose there is a Hindu male worker and a Muslim female worker starting a communication at McDonald’s. The Hindu male worker extends the hand to shake with the lady’s hand, but the lady just says “Hi” and does not shake hands with the male worker. The male worker may take this as offensive, whereas the lady did not mean to insult the worker. 4. Abusive Language Certain people use abusive language without meaning to abuse the person they are communicating with. Let’s suppose there are two workers communicating at McDonald’s. One says, “What a nice rainy day!” The other says, “Fuck, I forgot my book out in the garden. It must have been fucked by now.” The first worker may not like this abusive language, and thus may want to maintain distance from the second worker. This may make it difficult for the first worker to engage in communication with the second worker, which is against the engagement theory whose basic idea is that employees “must be meaningfully engaged in learning activities through interaction with others and worthwhile tasks” (Kearsley and Shneiderman, 1999). References: Communication Theory 2010, Cultural Barriers, [Online] Available at: . [Accessed: 25 July 2012]. Kearsley, G, and Shneiderman, B 1999, Engagement Theory: A framework for technology-based teaching and learning, [Online] Available at: . [Accessed: 25 July 2012]. McDonald’s Singapore 2008, Careers, [Online] Available at: . [Accessed: 25 July 2012]. Read More