McDonalds: Evil Corporate Empire?

“McDonald's is bad for your kids.” Thus decrees Amitai Etzioni, Ph.D (born Werner Falk, 04 January 1929, in Cologne, Germany) in an essay published in the Miami Herald in 1986. If he had been talking about the quality of their food, perhaps he would have more valid points about the damage that McDonald's can wreck upon young lives. Instead, he choses to dismiss and malign what any fast food company can offer a teen new to the workplace.

I totally disagree with the writer's claim that working for McDonald's is not educational or conducive to a good work habits. I have worked for McDonald's and during that time, I picked up very good work ethics that have served me well over the years. From my observations, one's first job is really what molds you for any other job that follows. I can assure you that I wouldn't be as hardworking as I am today if not for the training and guidance, support and skills, provided to me during my time with them.



One of the most essential things I learned from working for them is that proper training is an essential part of running a successful business. Any problem in business can be solved if one has a staff that is prepared and can anticipate the needs of the company, meeting the daily demands as they arise. To do this, McDonald's has created an elaborate management training system and manual, called “Hamburger University”, which they send all managers to for an extensive course of study. At the individual stores, they keep a book nicknamed the “McBible”, which details every procedure and process for running a restaurant to maximum efficiency. The particular store that I worked at placed great value in this system, and when the corporate McDonald's promised customers a 90 second wait for their order, customized or straight from the menu, the staff was able to deliver on that promise with a smile. So, with this in mind, I would say that McDonald's taught me the value of creating a sustainable and teachable system to manage operations of any business that I would work in the future, whether it be the restaurant business or hospitality, my chosen profession.

According to Professor Etzioni this kind of duplicatable teaching is a bane to creative thinking or problem solving, and is more for creating robots on an assembly line than his preferred method of teen employment-- the lemonade stand. Of course, what the good Professor fails to realize is that this is not those years he remembers in the 1940s or 1950s, where a child could plop a lemonade stand down anywhere, and no one would mind. In the 21st century, street vendors now need a license to operate a business on the sidewalk, regardless of their age. There's a good lesson in entrepaneurship for the unknowning teen to learn, getting a fine imposed upon him or her by violating local ordinances.

Not only did McDonald's system teach me how to manage the business, but it also showed me how to staff efficiently according to the needs of the moment. One reason McDonald's is so successful as a corporation is that they have learned how to be both flexible in their scheduling of employees, and flexible with the scheduling demands required to properly staff the establishment for maximum service at minimal cost. Employees are there only when needed, instead of wasting manpower in those times that are slow. Employees that were on the clock were trained to work like a well oiled machine. Communication and cooperation were key points in coordinating the kitchen with the front counter. Surely those skills have some value in business today?

Food preparation is also handled with the flow and ebb of demand in mind, preparing during slow periods by restocking essential supplies and to be ready for that next rush of customers. Waste in the store that I was employed at was minimal, and the standards for both food safety and preparation were the most enforced code of conduct. Simply put, the staff would not serve anything that they themselves would not eat or serve to a loved one. In this aspect, there was a sense of pride achieved at doing a good job well, knowing that when the day was done, we weren't just slinging burgers for a few bucks, but were serving something that we cared to make the best for our clients. That feeling of accomplishment is not so readily available in other businesses and with encouraging that in its employees, McDonald's taught me that people are willing to go above and beyond the call of duty when they feel valued and will remain loyal employees; an important part of a team. Is a sense of achievement and teamwork wrong for business?

Customer service skills and money handling procedures were also key points of McDonald's training regimen. Professor Etzioni seemed to simply feel that you were taught to operate the cash register, with no accountability or responsibility. To be pleasant, to be accurate, and to pay attention to the needs of your client-- this was adamantly taught to us by our management team. Our registers were counted before we were allowed to leave the premises, and any sort of error, either in the companies' favor or against it, was noted. If you were not within a small margin of error? It was recorded in your employee file. Do it a few times? You never saw another register, or you saw your pink slip, maybe even charges. Surely the next time you are in a line, and the rude cashier acts like you are stopping her or him from doing something far more important than their job, only to top it off with overcharging you for your purchase and handing you back the wrong change might you value the work ethic that the employee might have had if they were trained in the McDonald's I was working for.

Something that Professor Etzioni seems to be unaware of, as he praises the newspaper route, is that now they are run by driving routes instead of newsboys, which, when it was in practice, interfered with sleep before school just as much as any part time job held after school might. Instead of going into school tired from working late, you went in tired from working early. At least with McDonald's there was no exposure to the elements and no snowplows gunning you down in a three foot drift.

So far, I have covered only the things of value that McDonald's teaches you that you might take with you into other fields of work. Now I am going to cover what McDonald's will do for you while you work for them. McDonald's has an education program that has nothing to do with their needs as a business. By being an employee in good standing, you potentially qualify for scholarships that will fully pay for your college tuition or a grant program that will cover 20% of your educational needs. This may not seem like a lot to some people, but to lower income families, this could make a real difference and give someone who has the drive and ambition a real chance at success in any field they choose to pursue... even that of writing articles that condemn the corporation that helped make it possible.