The reputation of any business ultimately depends on the quality of its products. High quality products need high quality people to create, design, produce and deliver them. So if a business is to maintain its reputation it needs to do well at recruiting high quality employees. For any business offering a large element of personal service, an ability to recruit, train and retain high quality staff is particularly vital. This Case Study looks at how McDonald's, the world's largest and fastest growing global restaurant chain; uses recruitment and training policies with practices that are designed to attract, identify, develop and retain the high calibre of staff its line of business requires.
McDonald's opened its first UK restaurant October 1974. In December 2004, there were over 1330 McDonald's restaurants operating in the UK. Around 60% of these are owned and operated by the company. The remainder are operated by franchisees.
McDonald's is a large scale employer. In September 2004 in the UK the company-owned restaurants employed 43,491 people: 40,699 hourly-paid restaurant employees, 2,292 restaurant management, and 500 office staff. McDonald's franchisees employed a further 25,000 people.
A typical McDonald's restaurant employs about 60 people. Most employees are paid by the hour and are referred to as 'crew members'. Their primary responsibility is to prepare the food, serve customers and carry out tasks for the efficient running of the restaurants.
Other hourly-paid employees who work alongside them include Training Squad Members, Dining Area Host/esses, Party Entertainers, Administrative Assistants, Security Co-ordinators, Maintenance Staff, Night Closers, Floor Managers and Shift Running Floor Managers. These employees carry out more specific job functions. Their overall role, however, is to ensure the restaurant runs efficiently.
The remaining restaurant-based employees are salaried managers. It is their