Retrospective: Training Day 1

My first day I showed up at one of the 5 stores that the owner/operator I work for owns, which has an e-Learning computer. This is one of the most streamlined training processes I've ever encountered. McDonald's knows what they're doing, and have set up some awesome tools that, when used, create a solid training environment for new employees.

I started with "Foundation" training. The training was all on this computer, with sometimes overly-cutesy, sometimes overly-simplified slightly cartoon-y animations. There was a solid plot-line that the characters who were being trained in the animations followed. Some such about being time traveling teenagers with some agenda.

The important thing is, lots of important information was imparted in an efficient manner. There were internal verifications, such as multiple-choice tests and such, to ensure that the information was being comprehended by the trainee (it was). In fact, I took notes in a legal pad on everything I watched. I'm like that. I take notes, then refer to them until I can commit them to memory. I figured, if I'm a professional, then I must be a professional even working a job like McDonald's (which certainly does have some serious social stigma attached to it).

I then went through all the training programs under the heading of "Service", including Front Counter, Drive Thru, and more. All told, I spent 7 1/2 hours that first day watching training videos, taking notes, and making sure I had a firm grasp of the correct procedures, so that when I hit a store the next day, I could be sure to do everything right.

The information wasn't too terribly hard to process and commit to memory, although it was a bit of an information overflow, as the modules of training are designed to be done over the course of many shifts.

McDonald's has spent billions of dollars over the past few years analyzing and testing the processes and procedures for each and every small aspect of store operations, with the goal in mind of finding the most efficient and effective way for the approximately 2 million or so McDonald's employees to serve the 47 million or so McDonald's customers that visit the 33,000+ McDonald's stores daily.

Wow. Staggering numbers. There's no way that I, even though I'm incredibly confident in myself and at times a bit cocky, could be arrogant enough to believe my ideas about how to do things were more accurate than the world's best franchise and the fiscal and human resources that they've invested in designing operations.

I imagined that no one else would be that arrogant either. Boy was I wrong...