Improving Employee Skills, Performance, and Motivation at McDonald's

This report provides a comprehensive analysis of employee skills, performance, and motivational strategies within McDonald's. The report assumes the role of a core worker, outlining responsibilities, performance objectives, and recommendations for improvement. It evaluates the effectiveness of the core worker against defined objectives, highlighting areas such as customer service, employee supervision, quality control, and store cleanliness. Furthermore, the report explores various motivational techniques, including Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs, Herzberg’s Two-Factor Theory, flexible work practices, employee participation, and rewards and incentives. The second part of the report adopts the perspective of an HR Manager, addressing workplace problems through negotiation, incentives, and improved communication. It emphasizes the importance of interpersonal skills, communication styles, and teamwork in achieving organizational goals. The report offers a well-rounded view of employee management and leadership within the context of McDonald's.

Contents
INTRODUCTION
The employees who are engaged in the working of a particular organization are expected to have
certain skills which are beneficial for the growth of the company. In this particular assignment, a
focus has been made on the communication skills, collaborative skills and leadership skills of
managers and employees. It is the responsibility of the managers to motivate employees by
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providing them with rewards, incentives and trainings. McDonald’s, like several other firms,
make use of different time management strategies and other methods for enhancing productivity.
Considered to be one of the largest fast food chains all across the globe, McDonald’s Maurice
and Richard McDonald are the two brothers who are responsible for initiating the business in the
year 1940 by opening a restaurant in one of the streets of California. However, they hardly had
any plan to expand the business until and unless Ray Kroc stepped in and opened a restaurant as
a franchisee in 1955. He later became a partner in the firm’s business and expanded the business
worldwide.
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The company’s financial assets have been increasing in leaps and bounds. In the year 2015, the
company experienced an increase of 11% in its financial assets which is equal to $3.7 billion. It
provides a diverse compensation package for their employee that includes health and dental
insurances, sharing of profits with the employees, life insurance programs, incentives and other
reward programs. McDonald’s has around 3000 stores in the USA including that of its
franchisees that look after the demands of the customers (McDonald’s, 2016). Other than USA, it
is operational in over 100 countries at an international level. The company is known to keep in
mind the culture of a particular place before setting up a place for the consumers. It not only
provides full-time jobs but is also known for their part-time jobs and apprenticeship programs for
university students. The flexible workplace structure helps the company to retain the most able
employees for enhancement in productivity. However, recently the company has been in news
for legal issues, pay issues and discrimination problems in the workplace. The management
needs to takes measures for keeping the brand reputation intact. TASK 1
Develop a set of own responsibilities and performance objectives. (AC 1.1)
In this particular report, I have assumed my role to be that of a core worker. I have been assigned
certain responsibilities and performance objectives to meet the targets of the company.
Responsibility is the duty given to a particular person for successfully completing a particular
task. Both the employers and their employees need to be aware of their responsibilities for the
smooth running of the company (Kersley, Alpin, Forth, Bryson, Bewley, Dix and Oxenbridge,
2013). The types of responsibilities that are given to me as a core worker are as follows:
Job Responsibility: This includes the timely completion of the daily duties that are given to an
employee which enhances the productivity of the firm.
Self-Responsibility: It means that I have to take the responsibility for the errors that are found in
my work instead of putting the blame on someone else.
Mutual Responsibility: All the employees must cooperate and work with each other. They need
to see whether any rule is being violated or not.
Responsibility regarding Workplace Safety: As a core worker, it is my responsibility to see
whether all the safety regulations are being maintained in the firm or not (McCaughey,
DelliFraine, McGhan and Bruning, 2013).
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Performance objectives
Training and development
For maintain long term growth it is imprint to develop receive training and development
secession so I can ensure long term growth and helps to company for achieving their goals. In
McDonald’s manager used to monitor their workers and guide them for taking correct decisions.
Maintain relationship of employees
The turnover of McDonald’s is very high and they are continuous making new records.
So as core worker than I need to make proper coordination with my colleges and also I take
responsibility to complete my all tasks on time and ensures fulfill as per the organization
requirements.
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Evaluate own effectiveness against defined objectives. (AC 1.2)
Performance means the completion of any particular work as per the standards set by the
company like speed, cost, accuracy, etc. Performance objectives mean the desired output of an
employee that will help the company to meet its organizational goals. If I am able to meet all the
responsibilities that have been assigned to me then it will help me to fulfill my performance
objectives. This, in turn, is beneficial for the McDonald’s for meeting its organizational
objectives.
My effectiveness as a core worker against the desired objectives is given below:
 The foremost responsibility of a core employee is to provide customers with ultimate
satisfaction. When customer services are great, it helps the company to retain a lot of
consumers. Here, the performance objective of an employee to provide customers with
great services is in line with the objective of the firm.
 It is my responsibility to supervise the new employees who have joined the stores
because of my years of experience. Using my years of experience I will be able to guide
the employees who have recently joined the firm.
 Crew members need to look after the needs of the customers and must see to it that the
customers get whatever they want.
 The food that is served to the consumers must be up to the standards of McDonald’s.
Quality control is a very important tool for enhancing the reputation of the brand
(Cheng, Ioannou and Serafeim, 2014). I have to update myself with the latest
technology in order to deliver good quality food and services at the stipulated time. In
order to do this, I have to engage myself in trainings to learn the usage of advanced
methods and equipments.
 Maintain the cleanliness of the store is also an important objective of the core worker.
Any hygienic place is liked by the customers. Therefore, the performance objective of a
core employee of maintaining the hygiene of the place is helpful for meeting the future
goals of the company by retaining consumers. The cleanliness of the place needs to be
maintained by me and my co-workers.
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Make recommendations for improvement. (AC 1.3)
The management needs to take measures to improve the performance of the employees which
will in turn improve the sales of the company. Performance appraisal means that an engagement
between the managers and the employees which will help them to identify areas where they can
improve and how to make the necessary improvements.
Communication- One of the primary steps that can be taken to improve the services of the
employees is through the establishment of communication (Walker and Dyck, 2014). When the
line managers communicate well with the employees, and then will be able to tell the employees
about their desired output and the future goals of McDonald’s.
Compensation- Payment hikes are important at regular intervals for motivating the employees to
put in their best efforts.
Trainings- Adequate means of trainings need to be provided to the employees so that they can
improve themselves wherever required.
Placements- Both the core workers and part-time workers must be assigned places where it is
convenient for them to work. A long journey to the workplace is wastage of time and also
reduces productivity on the part of the workers.
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Review how motivational techniques can be used to improve quality of
performance. (AC 1.4)
Motivation means to encourage an employee so that he or she can achieve the goals as prescribed
by a company like McDonald’s. The techniques that can be used to improve the quality of
performances can be based on a few theories.
Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs Theory: Maslow in his theory identified different types of needs of
the employees which need to be taken care of by the managers for motivating them. These needs
include physiological needs like food and shelter, security needs like protection from
exploitation, social needs like acceptance, esteem needs like respect and self-fulfillment needs
(Tamborini, Bowman, Eden, Grizzard and Organ, 2010).
Herzberg’s Two Factor Theory: Internal and external factors like hygiene, pay, workplace
conditions, etc needs to be taken care of for motivating the employees.
Flexible work practices: The job sharing model helps the employees to move from one
department to another, giving them a fair knowledge about the workings of the different sections.
The timings of the company are flexible which allows the employees to work as per their will.
Participation of the employees: All the employees in McDonald’s must be involved in the
decision making process of the firms. They must have the liberty to share their opinions and
these suggestions can be taken into consideration before making any decision (Bakker and
Demerouti, 2014).
Rewards and incentives: The employees deserve a certain amount of recognition for the
services that they render to the organization. These are known as rewards which are given as per
the performances of the employee. Other perks and benefits are a part of motivational
techniques. This helps the company to retain the most able employees.
This task helps to understand the responsibilities that are given to the core employees of
McDonald’s. I have evaluated my own skills as an employee at McDonald’s and have found out
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ways that can improve my performance. The managers are expected to follow certain ways
which help them to motivate the workers.
TASK 2
Being the HR Manager of a company like McDonald’s, it will be my primary duty to recruit the
skilled people for the company and to provide them with an adequate means of training
(Armstrong and Taylor, 2014). In this task, I have taken the role of a line manager at the
management level and the role of a core worker at the staff level. This task deals with the
problems that are present in the workplace along with the strategies employed by the
management to sort these problems. The importance of team-work is also emphasized. A various
other ways have also been mentioned which are important for achieving team goals.
Develop solutions to work based problems. (AC 2.1)
The various ways of dealing with the work based problems as a HR Manager are as follows:
a) Negotiation is the most important way for solving a work related problem. In an
organization like McDonald’s, the HR Manager needs to act as a mediator for solving
problems between managers and employees. It consists of different methods (Wallace,
Lings, Cameron and Sheldon, 2014).
 While negotiating, the focus should be on the source of the problem and not on
the positions of people who are involved in it.
 The solution should be such that it is beneficial for both the parties who are
involved in the conflict.
b) Other than negotiation, I will be able to solve workplace problems by rewarding
employees. Monetary incentives also work as a means of solving problems.
c) A well developed communication system can help the company to avoid any type of
probable problems.
d) the Hr manager need to introduced cross border cultures in organization and
which help to McDonald’s for Maritain its cross function collaboration and lead
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to an increased exposure. This approach also helps to company 's employees for
improving their skills and provide then opportunities for free explore.
e) The Hr manager of McDonald’s need to develop different types of strategics and in
order to evolve a solution to problem . It is important for the managers to learn
past conflicts situations.
Communicate in a variety of styles and appropriate manner at various levels.(AC 2.2)
The skills which are needed for the purpose of communicating with one another are known as
interpersonal skills. I have employed different styles of skills for the purpose of communicating
with the staff and the managers. The three basic styles of communication are:
Aggressive: This kind of communication is not very beneficial for the growth of the company. In
this particular style there is a presence of a very poor listener who is unable to see past oneself
(Dainton and Zelley, 2014). If I use aggressive communication then both the line manager and
the core worker will not be able to express their opinions properly.
Passive: Here, the way of communication is indirect. The staff members are scared to a certain
extent for expressing their true feelings. This hesitant approach can avoid problems but is not a
solution for a prevailing one.
Assertive: It is considered to be the most ideal kind of communication. As the HR Manager of
McDonald’s, I will listen to both the managers and the workers without being judgmental about
their respective positions. This kind of communication helps in the development of a transparent
relationship as the objectives and expectations are mentioned clearly.
The Flow of communication is also important for the McDonald’s.
Upward flow: Getting information through feedback, suggestions and by making reports.
Downward flow: it means making commutation on daily activities.
Lateral movements: Inter-departmental communication, communication between people at same
levels assist in the work of coordination
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Structural effects: Communication may be also be dependent on the type of structure of an
organization. For instance, in the present times the organizational structure of companies are
very loose and informal
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Identify effective time-management strategies. (AC 2.3)
The appropriate allotment of time for the different types of activities is known as time
management. Several time management strategies have been proposed in a number
of theories.
Pareto Principle or 80-20 Theory: Vilfredo Pareto said in his theory that a few activities results in
huge outcomes. McDonald’s needs to lay stress on 20% activities which constitute the most
important part and generates maximum productivity (Goetsch and Davis, 2014).
Maslow’s Theory: Maslow in his theory focuses on the need to differentiate between activities as
per their requirements. This helps to allot the right amount of time to the right activity.
Stay organized: for utilizing for time it is important for stay organized so they maintain long term
growth.
Priorities: for effective time management it is important for make a list of priorities so they can
easily save time.
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Explain the roles people play in a team and how they can work together to achieve shared
goals. (AC 3.1)
The roles that are played by the different staffs at McDonald’s for achieving the shared goals can
be explained with the help of the Belbin Team Theory. The Belbin Team theory ascertains that
for the team at McDonald’s to be successful there is a requirement for it to access all of the nine
Belbin Team Roles. The nine Team Roles are explained as under,
 Resource Investigator – The resource investigators are using their probing nature for
finding ideas that are required to be brought back to the team. They are of outgoing and
enthusiastic nature, exploring scopes as well as developing contacts.
 Team-worker – They support the team in gelling, utilizing their resourcefulness for the
identification of the work that is needs to be done as well as completing it on the team’s
behalf. They are considered to provide cooperation, perception as well as diplomacy and
therefore, listening as well as averting friction. (Jenkins, 2011)
 Coordinator – They are required for focusing towards the goals that are associated with
the team, drawing out members of the team as well as delegating work in an appropriate
manner. The strong points that are associated with them are to be mature, have
confidence as well as identifying talents and also clarifying the objectives.
 Plant – These staffs are required having high creativity as well as efficiency to overcome
crisis scenarios in exceptional manners. These staffs are considered possessing creativity,
are imaginative, free-thinkers, generating ideas as well as solving challenging problems.
(Lind, 2014)
 Monitor Evaluator – These staffs are providing a rational outlook, providing unbiased
verdicts where there is the need as well as weighing up the options of the team in a
composed manner. These staffs possess a sober attitude that is considered planned as well
as perceptive and take into consideration every alternative as well as provides accurate
judgments.
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