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One man's life and journey as a McDonald's manager.
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I have to tell you this blog brought back some great memories. At 15 years old I was working my summers in the corn fields of southern Wisconsin really hoping that when I turned 16 my town would get a McDonalds and work would get easier. Sure enough, 1978 we get McDonalds in SP. Everyone applied and I eventually got a job. Even years later we had 10 applications for every 1 open spot. I know, current mgrs can't find employees! From crew person, crew trainer, crew chief, swing, 2nd line, 1st line and then store manager it was one of the best experiences of my life. The sense of independence and teaming is beyond anything I've experienced with Fortune 50 companies later in life. We worked hard, really hard. If a swing manager put in less than 50-55 hours per week I'd be surprised. On a heart monitor in the Dr office my cardio was so good I was at 45 beats per minute! Who needs a health club? The training was great. I went to BOC, then AOC and eventually Hamburger U. Wow. All were taught by people that actually knew what they were talking about and educated us on info that was relevant day to day. I'm with one of the world's largest I/T companies today and I can tell you that in the last 10 years they are half the company McDonalds was in terms of training,empowering and supporting their employees. The standards, as part of the culture, were always high. Made you feel like the bar was high but great about stretching for it. I learned from the bottom up...closing twice a week as a teenager, doing truck, inside porter, outside porter...the managers that were my mentors were all great coaches! Much like my high school and college sports coaches. Later on I remember working the "gautlets" coming back from college to earn money over the weekend as a swing manager. Friday 4-1am, Sat 8am-6pm, Sunday 5am-3pm. Yeah it was hard work but no one bitched....we were just happy to get hours, work with people we liked and get through it together. Just to let folks know the US corporate world is nothing like the maturity of McDonalds systems. NO training, sink or swim by yourself, no support and politics are more important than results. When I was a manager we calculated numbers every hour (labor %, food costs, waste % etc)you had data to tell you exactly how your shift was doing. No politics. Very refreshing. My McDonalds career (always at corporate stores) went from 16 - 27 years old and I consider the high standards I learned, including how to manage people, my formative years. It was almost military challenges and pride. During graduate school I worked a few part time mgmt shifts and way later in life, to earn a few extra bucks, I found a local McDs that needed someone to run their PM calendar. I calculated that I had worked with over 1500 crew people and trained over 150 swing managers. One job they can't outsource to India!
For those of you that are swings or 2nd line figuring out if the job is right for you or not.....the best feeling is having your own high standards and inspriing a team to reach for them...you will effect more than customer's while you motivate crew people to reach beyond their grasp. Your job is tough now, but when you look back it will end up being one of the most rewarding experiences you will have. Period.
Bill S - wstein99@gmail.com
Hello all. I am curentley working on a operation management project and i need the help of a mcdonalds manager. My professor would like us to contact actual managers in order to figure out problems that a manager faces with operations. If you would like to help just paste a comment and i will send you my email. Thanks.
I tried to get on McDonald's Crew as a result of unemployment last year. The salaried manager interviewed me. I'm a regular, patient customer. I don't complain much when the orders are wrong, and if the coffee tastes strong I just doctor it when I get home. Anyway, I went in the store from time to time to check on my application as I kept seeing new faces EVERY time I went in the store. Literally, months went by. Then he tells me I should apply for management as he knew I had a degree, so he gives me this small strip of paper to fill out. This was a management promotion wherein he would receive money if I was hired. I heard nothing. Months go by again, and I go to the store in pursuit of the elusive job. I get told that applications are taken through mcstate.com. First, I fill out one for Hourly Shift Manager, and I start taking the assessment. Halfway through the site sends me back an error message. I called Oakbrook. They told me to either try again or just go to the local restaurant. I tried mcstate again. This time I got through 35 questions before it errored on me. I waited a couple days: this time filling out a new application for salaried management, as I have a 2 year degree. Got another error message. Waited a few more days, got all the way through the test. Then my local restaurant had scheduled an Open House for July 29, yesterday, for potential management. I went to it. There, the HR representative hands me an application and the 60 question assessment, which I mention I had taken online at mcstate. She asks me for my name, birthdate, and last 4 of my social. She finds NO record that I ever filled out the application or took the assessment. I sat down and filled out both the application, and took the assessment, AGAIN. On the way home I notice a friend of mine is sitting out in front of his house. Not having seen him for a while, I stopped. We used to hang out at McDonald's after we both got off work, and drank coffee and/or ate a light meal. He asks me how my job hunt is going. I tell him I JUST came out of a open house at McDonald's. He then tells me, "You remember when me and Dave both asked Bart why they hadn't hired you yet?" I said I did. He said, "Well, just as soon as you left the building, Bart said 'He's just not McDonald's material'" This, in front of my friends -- all three of us customers, and Bart a supposed good acquaintance, with nothing but good vibes between us. Bart would often come sit down by us when I brought my wife and 7 year old daughter in to eat, just to shoot the bull. Well, to wrap it up, Bart has left McDonald's for another supervisory gig at a dairy concern. I suppose he's the one that 'wasn't McDonald's material'. I figure it this way. I'm unemployed and sick of staying around the house. I do have a degree but don't want to work it. We spend so much time at McDonald's, what with my 7 year old. I might as well work somewhere I know. Thoughts, opinions? -- perplexed in Western Kentucky
I'm a swing manager for McD in the Houston area as well as a recent college grad (BSBA-Auburn University). I hired on with McD due to the recession immediately after graduation Aug. 9. I am interested in starting a similar forum to talk shop with my peers in the industry, as well as to have a place to vent if necessary. I have yet to find such a forum, which leads me to believe that there is a need. If I am correct in thinking this way please let me know and I will carry forward with this plan. Thank you, Randall C.
I have started the aforementioned forum...
http://mcdonaldsforum.blogspot.com
Hey @RC Thanks for the post! I fully support folks checking out that blog forum!
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