Service Crew at McDonalds - Essay Example

Job Assessment: Service Crew at McDonalds Introduction The 21st Century is an era of great technological development. It is an era of great change and multiple innovations. Great minds are always at work today. Life takes a busy course that there is no room for anyone or anything that is slow. Even in taking meals, more and more working sectors would rather eat in a place where foods are served fast; thus the business of fast-food emerged. The revolution in fast food production has dramatically transformed our eating and drinking habits. Among the top companies in this business are Burger King, Wendy’s and McDonalds. Among the three, McDonalds is the most famous brand and has branches all over the world; a total of 30,000 restaurants in 119 countries and still growing. Most of its branches are in the United States of America (Rodriguez, 1987). The success of the company was realized because of the hardwork and perseverance of its employees. Its all-time success story will not be achieved without its service crews; those smiling employees of McDonalds that are working as fast as they can to live up to the expectations of the customer. Over 7% of all Americans get their first job under a McDonald's cap (Rodriguez, 1987). They maybe the lowest in the hierarchy of power within the company but they are the one who sacrifice the most. The Service Crew To make sure that one person does his job properly, a company lay down job description for each employee that they have. Companies do this to make sure that there is no overlapping of jobs and that everything has been laid down for each worker. The level of asking by a company depends on what is the position of the employee and on the kind of business that the company is in. There are factors that need to be considered when one company tries to check if its service and manpower are able to meet the goals and objective set. In McDonalds, there is a uniform training program for newly-hired service crew members. An employee is reinforced in doing the right thing at the right time. The company uses combination of self-study modules, intensive class training and constant coaching as part of their training program (Benvenuti, et al. 2005). There are a lot of things that needs to be taught to ensure that productivity is being met by the team. Management develops their service crew members to meet the needs of the company. They make sure that each knows how to do their assigned task and that they are functioning as an asset to the company. An employee is reinforced in doing the right thing at the right time. Management determines specific teams and their role in the company are made aware as for them to know how they would properly function (Howardell, 2004). Management knows how important that the service crews handle customers efficiently because consumers will reward companies that satisfied them and that have given them the kind of service and products that they need. It is not only the loyalty of the consumer that is at stake but also having greater profit. The crews are the heart and the blood of the company; the human capital. Service crew work is not gender sensitive; positions are open to all sexes as long as they meet the necessary requirements. It is included in the vision of McDonalds to provide high value for its service crew members though most do not agree that they are able to live up to this standard that they have set. The Merriam Webster Collegiate Dictionary has given the meaning “low-paying, dead-end job for the term McJob (Benvenuti, et al. 2005). The standard set for employment varies. The company checks the labor codes and culture set on the specific country that they will invest in before presenting guidelines. It understands the complexity of different culture that is why flexibility in handling the members of the team especially service crew members is utilize. The flexible workforce that they utilize makes the company more profitable. Flexible workforce in the sense that a McDonald’s service crew member is trained for all positions; they have the basic knowledge on how to operate most of the equipments on the store. In formal restaurants, the success of the establishment will depend on the trained chef and apprentices. In McDonalds’, expertise in dining and cooking is not needed since computerized technology, standardized products and the precise planning of each subdivided task rules the each and every store (Rodriguez, 1987). A service crew member becomes an expert as the job requires them doing a repetitive task; doing the same tasks everyday makes them an expert in the field of fast-food service. A Service crew member uses a modern production process where he or she follows guidelines that have a universal application for all McDonald’s store. The most important quality for a service crew is his or her speed. Since McDonald’s is in the fast-food business, the company has their standard speed time that needs to be met by the service crew member when he or she is attending a customer or preparing the ordered foods. To enhance productivity, the management is constantly making innovations on how to increase the workers' speed and this is again with the aids of technological advancement. This modern standard of productivity leaves the company free to pursue a cheap labor policy which keeps costs down and enables it to hire and fire workers as demand fluctuates (Rodriguez, 1987). The base pay for each service crew member varies depending on the location of the store but it is always in accordance with the minimum wage salary of the country or sometimes a little bit smaller. This is what they call the base pay; service crew members are paid on an hourly rate. In many cases the hourly rate is dictated by government standards. In some instances when a basic hourly rate is not given, it is calculated base on weekly, monthly or annual rate, divided by the number of hours to be worked where these were available (Cox, 1994). And in McDonald’s case they have a standard number of hours to be worked. To generate enthusiasm from the service crew members, system of hierarchies and individual incentives are also offered to them. Financial rewards await those who will have positive marks as everyone’s performance is reviewed every 2 months. There is even a crew of the month incentive where a service crew member can get his faced pin on the billboard of the store and this is comes with a financial reward. The constant spot checks by higher grade employees increase competitiveness and the diligence among service crew members. All results have their corresponding actions or appraisal depending on their needs as dictated by the result. This makes service crew member smile as customers enter the store even if they are not feeling well as managers and superiors are constantly on the look and checking their performances. McDonald's promotes from within, encouraging crew members to work their way up. Though the service crew members are the lowest in the rank of employees, they are given the chance to voice out how they feel about their job and regarding their co-workers as well. Democracy is practice in a way; There are meetings held almost every month or so to discuss the concerns of the employees. Central management meets with workers to discuss their complaints, particularly against store managers (Rodriguez, 1987). All McDonald’s store around the word follows the Equal Opportunities Policy which is a list of do’s and don’ts’ for all employees including service crew members. This policy includes guidelines on what can be considered a sexual and/or racial harassment. Most of the service crews in McDonalds are part-time, casual or temporary workers. It is rarely that the company hires permanent workers or that employees wanted it as their lifetime job. As of 1994, the statistics of service crew members all over the world given by McDonald is 51.70% are male, 48.30% are female, 90.23% work 35 hours per week or less, 64.55% are aged 20 or under, 32.02% are aged between 21 and 39 inclusive, 8.93% are aged over 30 (McDonalds FactSheet). McDonald's has no specific figures available for the numbers of employees who belong in ethnic minorities but in hotel and catering as a whole people from ethnic minorities are twice as likely to be employed as white workers in this field of business. The majority of McDonald's service crews fall outside the scope of any employment protection because they are either temporary or part-time or under 21. Recently, the company also started hiring senior citizens as part of their McMasters program (Rodriguez, 1987). This gives an opportunity for those who have already retired form their job but would still continue working. As of now, the job is open to any able senior citizens within the United States of America; even grandfather and grandmother can be a service crew, serving foods to the customer with a smile on their face. The company believes they are no more demanding than young people and more efficient. The company does not base their hiring of service crews on color or nationality but more on the availability of the person seeking the job because everyone at McDonald's works flexible hours. The company believes they are no more demanding than young people and more efficient. The normal working hours for a service crew member is between six to eight hours but they may be ask to extend their working time or to reduce it as the situation calls for it. Within the working hours of six to eight, each employee is given only one unpaid break for them to rest and eat their meals. Managers are the one who set the shifts for the service crew members, there is no universal time shifts for all McDonalds outlet. They set the time and numbers of service crews needed in that shift. Store managers hold the discretion in giving the schedule and rest day of the service crew members. There are instances when a service crew needs to come even on his designated rest day because of the high demands for that day. There are seasons when service crews have no rest at all, this maybe times during opening of classes or special holidays, and there are some days when numbers of service crew getting work schedules are less. Being a service crew is a job that has no stability. It is not the kind of job for someone who values his knowledge and skills so much because tasks in here are routinely and aided by technology. Service crew members in McDonald are mostly either high school graduates or college students needing an extra income to make it through their education. There are only a few who stays and have it as a permanent job. Permanency will be evaluated after six months on the job that is why most service crew members only last until their six months before a new batch enters. The company is not bother by the number of staff turnover because their jobs do not require any expertise. The technology used by McDonalds can be learned by anyone. Being a service crew is not a job for someone who wants a job with stability because out of ten service crews only three gets regularized. In the fast-food business, service crew is treated as part of the capital that could be easily replaced. Part-time employees do not enjoy a number of benefits that the regular workers do. Though they have insurance and health benefits, most service crew members do not enjoy employment protection benefits because they are temporary or part-time or less than 21 years old. Fast food service crew members are among the worst paid or are among the lowest paid in any country. Most service crew members only earn a 100 second sale as compared to the personal fortune that is being acquired by the owners of the company like in McDonalds. . Conclusion The success of one company or institution depends greatly on its manpower like the service crew members of McDonalds. Their needs should be address properly and their skills should be enhanced to the fullest. Work related goals must be set and let the employees be aware of these and how it could be achieved. Being a service crew is not an easy tasks because of the great asking of the said work. They must have passion for their job to make sure that they are performing at their best. Each component contributes to the behavior of the system. No component has an independent effect on the system. The behavior of the system is changed if any component is removed or changed. Everyone has a life outside of the business or company. It would help if employees could be felt that superiors are aware of it and that are more than willing to do something about creating a balance between work and private life. Better productivity within a service crew’s work would be achieved if one make has less stress and that one is rejuvenated from time to time to make sure that the workforce will still be able to give the company what is being ask for from them. Culture set the behavior that surrounds an institution's code of conduct. Factors that are included are the way one comprehends the environment, use time and power, how one perceive space and structures. Also included is our perception of collective and individual task or relationships (McNamara, 1999). To better understand the lives of service crew members one needs to look at the culture that surrounds how the rules were made and the industry that they are working for. Attitudes perform some useful psychological functions for people (Mero and Tosi, 2003). Employees’ benefits, like health benefits, should be given on time and in accordance with the law to make them feel that they are being taken cared of and that they are important beings for the company and not treated as just mere workers. It must be understood that everyone has a life outside of the business or company. It would help if service crew members could feel that the superiors are aware of it and that are more than willing to do something about creating a balance between work and private life. Being a service crew is not an easy task but with the profit that McDonalds is getting, it would not hurt if they will share some of it to their employees especially the service crews. Creating a balance between financial, environmental and societal growth is a difficult task but is very critical if one company would like to make sure that they are to stay for a long time in the market. Reference: Benvenuti, Marco et. al. (2005). McDonald’s Corporation: A Case Study. The Center for Hospitality Research. Cornell University. Cox, G., "After the Safety Net: A Study of Pay Rates in Wages Council Sectors Post Abolition", Low Pay Network, August 1994. Howardell, Doug. (2004). Seven Skills of a Highly Productive Workforce. ACA Group. Viewed November 30, 2006. http://www.theacagroup.com/improveproductivity.htm McNamara, Carter. 1999. Basics of Conducting Performance Appraisals. LLC Library. Viewed November 30, 2006. http://www.managementhelp.org/emp_perf/perf_rvw/basics.htm McDonald's Fact Sheets. (n.d.). McDonald’s Fact Summary. Viewed November 30, 2006. http://www.mcdonalds.com/corp/about/factsheets.html Mero, Neal and Henry Tosi. (2003). The Fundamentals of Organizational Behavior. Blackwell. Viewed November 30, 2006. http://www.blackwellpublishing.com/fob/samples.htm Rodriguez, Marta. “McSTART”, Transnationals Information Centre London, September 1987. Calvert's Press. Read More