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Employer Branding at McDonald’s: Redefining McJobs

Paper Type: Free Essay Subject: Business
Wordcount: 5373 words Published: 2nd May 2017

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Employment in the QuickServe Restaurant (QSR) industry is categorized as low-benefit and no-future jobs that influenced many undergraduates and fresh graduates when deciding their career paths

Low quality of employees due to poor reputation of Mc Job

QSR industry is lacking recruitment of future management trainees will slow down global expansion, especially in China market where great opportunities are available

QSR is weak on employee satisfaction, which causes high employee turnover

Key Alternative Solutions

Advertise new changes to increase quality acknowledgement and public awareness for both parents and students about Mc Job

Add value to the QSR industry by hiring the right kind of employee

Hold an effective campaign (job fair) in colleges and universities to attract more undergraduates and fresh graduates to consider working as a management trainee in QSR industry as a future career with rooms to advance into higher position levels

Offer management trainees position with attractive benefits, training and development programs that interests Generation Y to gain trust and believe in

Recommendations

Marketing towards the Gen Y on cyber world will have greater effects

List job analysis and descriptions and to emphasis QSR industry recognizes employees are its biggest assets, therefore, better and stronger management training program will be offered to them

Provide internal support for its employees to advancement in higher positions

Cost

Recruitment process is a time consuming and labour intensive event

Individual perceptions cannot be changed overnight, therefore, follow up process is necessary

Table of Contents

Executive Summary 3

Key Problems 3

Key Alternative Solutions 3

Recommendations 3

Cost 4

Table of Contents 4

Issue Statement 5

Vision 5

Issue Statement 5

Method 5

Data Analysis of Quick Serve Restaurants 6

Presentation of Our Solutions 7

Main problems to overcome to attract large number of better quality recruits 7

Outline strategy 10

Aim of strategy 10

Performance Management System 14

Core Values of Quick Service Industry on McDonald’s example 14

Theme of strategy 15

Strategy presentation 15

Training and development 15

Motivation 16

Advertising 18

YouTube -Way of Recruiting 19

FaceBook – Recruitment Tool 20

Measures to assess the success of the campaign and justification 21

Conclusion 25

References 26

Issue Statement

Vision

The QuickServe Restaurants Industry (QSR) is foreseeing the needs of potential management trainees to be the Generation Y who are fresh graduates and undergraduates. Recruit this group segment for further management training can be prepared for future global expansion.

Issue Statement

Rebranding “Mc Job” as a career involves company’s appreciation, recognition and future promotion that break the ice of the old perception of “Mc Job” to create brand new work environment in the QSR industry.

Method

To resolve the issue, this assessment will provide with solutions to overcome the main problems in order to attract a large number of better quality recruit. As well, strategies will be included to affect the human resource management to recruit good quality graduates and final year undergraduates. Lastly, measurement will be used to determine whether the campaign is successful.

Data Analysis of Quick Serve Restaurants

QuickServe Restaurants (QSR) is an international company that has over 1,000 quick service restaurants / outlets in United Kingdom. Its labouring capacity is approximately 50,000 people, including both part time and full timers. QSR is expanding rapidly due to its high quality of production and successful publicity support. It is planning to open around 100 new restaurants a year that will create 5,000 jobs opportunity for people in the UK.

The rapid expansion program forces QSR to recruit a large amount of management trainee who is ready to enter the workforce in a short period. As a result, their target audience are fresh graduates and final year undergraduates who will be desperately looking for their first job opportunity.

Taking initiative and other related activities to rebrand the Mc Job involve a long period of time. However, it should begin now as we are hoping for a better future within the QSR industry. The management training system was a disaster due to several factors, extensive developed training offered to management trainee, former management trainers have left the company for better companies who valued the competencies that they developed, as well as high proportion of poor quality recruitments have caused poor working environment. Secondly, the company does not have a extensive training standard for management trainers as to what guidelines and lessons one has to deliver to the trainees. Therefore, storytelling was the most convenient and persuasive method to teach other lessons, which leads to bad influences and habits on the job performance.

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Last but not lease, the “Mc Job” reputation has formed a poor perception for people, especially the target audience assumed Mc Job as a job that consists of poor working environment where employees are treated unfair and limited requirements needed for the job. As a result, low qualities of employees were recruited because lack of seriousness and detailed job analysis was given. In order to rebrand “Mc Job” a completely new concept must be implement that a career at QSR is never like before.

Presentation of Our Solutions

Main problems to overcome to attract large number of better quality recruits

First, recruitment is to find a right person for the right place. If we recruited the wrong person, it will waste business time, money, as well as destroy team spirit. This is why HRM and appropriate designed recruitment campaign are so important. In order to be able to attract the better quality recruits we need to overcome with a precise plan, which can help us to face difficulties. Nowadays needs are changing fast and not only money can find and keep the great talent in the company. Employees can leave their position for example for: greater job appreciation, better working relationship with management, better geographic location to their family, better work environment, more flex-time, etc…We need to think what our potential employees’ basic needs are and how to attract them. (Hornberg, 2002)

Right recruitment it is a difficult process, we need to spend long time for planning our approach and strategy in order to achieve better recruitment decisions. Before even starting the recruitment process we need to know if all our vacancy need to be filled or maybe other people in the team can handle some new responsibilities, etc.. As well, we need to design exactly what we are looking for in our employees for each level to avoid problems with ‘mis-sold’ a job. This is because people often complaint about inappropriate and not detailed description as well we want to find only persons who really interest us with the skills and experience we are seeking, and we would be delighted to do not lose our time on inappropriate applicants. (Morrisey, 2006) Recruitment need to be “on-brand”. Most organisation use the same interviews process for hiring staff, even their brands may require very different interpersonal qualities. During the recruitment process, we should help our candidates to present their ability to bring their personalities to work. Example of Pret a Manger, UK sandwich chain which takes different approach in recruiting. Prospective employees are asked to work in a store for a day at the end of which the store’s employees are asked to vote on whether they should be hired or not. This unusual recruitment method was created because company believes that”one of the biggest responsibilities of management is to look after the corporate DNA” For a brand to mean something different to customers it must behave differently internally and that includes its processes. (Clifton & Simmons, 2003) The recruitment process is being tailored to identify the types of people who will have a natural affinity with the organisation’s brand values. The three major benefits of employer branding that can significantly contribute to overall business performance are: enhanced recruitment, retention and employee engagement/commitment. Internal and external agendas can be brought into closer alignment to clarify and resolve many of conflicts. (Barrow & Mosley, 2005)

Moreover choosing right recruitment method, to attract the appropriate number of suitable candidates at a reasonable cost is as well important. Company need to know how to focus more on attracting quality rather than quantity candidates. Advertising need to gain attention (headings, message, illustrations), inform about the position (develop applicant interest and to enable the application decision) and take right action (how and when to apply and what information to supply) (Pilbeam & Corbidge, 2002) In quick service restaurant sector we also need to redefine meaning of “McJob” in our campaign. Potential Candidates need to be ensured that the position they are applying is worth and challenging. We want our employees to be recruited at a junior-level and being promoted, trained and developed no matter for what level.

In all recruitment steps, our HR team should encourage and provide assistance. HR should work with the senior leadership team to define employer branding and involve line managers in the rollout of your employer brand. Organization should obtain feedback on how the employer brand might be achieved and implemented. Company should keep the promises to both existing and potential employees. This will ensure that employer branding and its links to total reward do not become an empty marketing campaign. HR can use the firm’s internal marketing and press department for ideas on how to sell the brand and engage individuals. (CIPD, 2010)

After preparing internal overview of what personality and specification we are really looking for to hire, it is time to promote the QSR. In such a competitive field on the market in hospitality sector it is not enough to rest on the reputation of our company to attract the larger number of better quality recruits. For our recruitment advertisement campaign, we need to prepare short overview of the company, department and product or service by which we want to attract them. It would be nice to consider including a contact name and telephone number or email address for people wanting further information. Problem can arise when more junior positions are being offered, the increasing amount of applicants will occur. For the period of our recruitment campaign, we should have interviewers dealing only with interviewing and answering the question. We need to remember that mailing it is easier way but speaking to potential candidates can give us a chance to get a feel for the quality of applicants. In order to turn our recruitment process into the company branding we should always take care about our reputation on the first place; like McDonald does with exploring and enhancing its brand by recruitment campaign. (Qumer, 2009)

Whole recruitment process is a part of company branding started from designing the strategy, aims and vacancies to fill in, choosing right timing and media to deliver and finishing with accepting and rejection the candidates. Sloppy recruitment admin will reflect badly on our reputation. Even rejected candidates should be told quickly when they have not been short listed or unsuccessful at interview as well if there is a delay with decision making process and if we have someone who was so near the top and to be hired, we should encourage him or her. Give them feedback and tell them that someone just beat them on some point. We would welcome them keeping in touch and encourage them for a future application. (Morrisey, 2006)

The great brand strategy is helping HR team with revolving around retention, loyalty and engagement. The messages and images during the right recruitment campaign can communicate on the market the culture and values of the company and strengthen them, enhance its image. Accurate employer branding becomes an issue in a tight talent market where prospective employees are aware of the range of options open to them. (Mason-Jones, 2005) It would be as well a good idea to establish an internal referral program that pay employees for referrals that result in a hire that can support HR practices and as well commitment to the company.

Commitment to the company can be as well supported by another option implemented in the strategy as “Stock Plans”. It is well known that the most loyal employee is the one with ownership in the firm. As well if we will give our employees a career plan and they will have clearly defined goals, as well as defined plans and schedules to achieve those goals. They will be more willing to develop cause they will understand where they are going, and why it makes sense to achieve those goals. (Hornberg, 2002)

Outline strategy

First of all, to set a strategy for Quick Service Restaurants (QSR), it is important to set objectives, because strategy is nothing else but means, by which company meets, or seek the ways hot to meet the objectives (Williams, 2002)

The strategy we suggest includes next points:

Provide existing training and development programs in quick service industry and come up with new additional training opportunities that would attract more new employees of young age;

Motivation and bonus system will be oriented to graduate/undergraduate target market, account their values and expectations of motivation system;

Recruiting is one of the most important processes when hiring new staff, especially in quick service industry.

Advertising will be oriented for the graduate/undergraduate market.

Furthermore, all steps of campaign will be presented. It will be explained, how strategy can be applied to attract younger specialist and motivate them to keep working and advance in the quick service industry.

Aim of strategy

The main aim of strategy is to attract more young specialist or final year undergraduates, motivate them to stay in the Quick Service Industry and enroll new ways of recruiting new personnel. As well it is important to keep the Quick Service Industry companies employers of choice.

To create a good strategy and attract people into the company is what companies are interested in. It is very important to decide, what kind of people company wants to attract as it influences what campaign and strategy should be created. According to our stated aims, our main objectives are: where and how to find new employees, ways of attracting them into the quick service industry and keep them and ways of recruiting personnel. Strategic plan as itself includes some actions that should be taken for a succeeded strategy. These actions are: strategic vision, objectives and strategy. Developed strategic vision and mission of the company, set objectives and craft a strategy are the basic actions that should be taken by the fast food service industry. To achieve effective business results company should state where the company is headed, set a targeted strategy (in our case it is good quality graduates and last year undergraduates), analyze financial outcomes, set competitive moves and internal actions (Arthur A. Thomson Jr., A.J. Strickland III, John E. Gamble, 2008)

Before creating a strategy company should analyze next points that will be important when recruiting new employees:

Alternatives to hiring. Company should analyze its present personnel and if it is necessary to hire new employees. In this action, company can review its personnel, what will help to promote some employees and there’s a possibility to find a suitable person in present staff instead of hiring a new employees.

Give job description. This point is very important for Quick service restaurants, as these usually attract employees that are looking for part time job or summer job. In this point employer should summarize what is he looking for from the employee, what mistakes were done by other employees, how employee will be trained, what opportunities company suggests to employee.

Job analysis. This point includes information about type of job that company advertises. In this point company should analyze why its hires or fires its employees, what differences should be done and what company is looking for from the future employee and analyze the ways the work should be done by employee.

Recruiting. This point includes the analyses of the ways company recruits its employees. Here should be also included the analysis of training program and motivation program.

Advertising. When company has decided what type of employees it is looking for, what kind of work it will suggest, than company should think about the ways it will bring this work advertisement to public.

If Quick Service Restaurant wants to attract more good quality graduates/final year undergraduates it is more likely to identify the strengths and weaknesses of existing strategies, than creating a new one (Stephen Pilbeam, 2002). The employer strategy in its theoretical context is relationship between organizational structure, culture in organization, job design, employee engagement, styles of leadership, system of development and reward, recruitment and empowerment (Lashley, 2004). As we can see all these factors are closely related to each other and it won’t be enough to develop one factor and keep the other. That is why very important to be to be the Employer of Choice, as it shows company’s ability to manage these factors. The main 6 core values of employer of choice are:

Caring about people. Organization must ensure that its employees feeling valued respected and appreciated. As a result, this engages both – heart and mind.

Honesty and fairness. These factors enrolled in everyday work become positive factors of employers, what earns trust and respect.

Open communication. In every company open communication appreciated by employees, what builds confidence, stimulates team and increases effectiveness.

Training and development. This part is very important in every business, especially in Quick Service. Training and development helps staff to understand real needs of customers. If brand once lost a touch with its customers or ignores new customers, it loses relevance. In some sources training and development are determined as engine of progress and intention to serve good.

Involving people in work related decision-making. As well as the other factors, this factor indicated how strongly company trusts its employees in addition to that it strengthens teams aspiration to maximum performance.

Ethical behaviour. This factor is one of the most important in every organization and should be practiced at all levels, strengthening a sense of meaning and belief for everyone in the company (Choice Comprises Six Core Values)

To describe what really influences corporate strategy, we can analyze with this figure:

Departmental Purpose Analysis

Performance Evaluation

PRP and Development

Individual Objectives Settings

Corporate Strategy

Figure 1. Corporate Strategy (Williams, Managing Employee Performance. Design and Implementation in Organizations, 2002).

As we can see from the figure, corporate strategy includes next actions: departmental purpose analysis, individual objectives settings, performance evaluation and PRP (performance-related pay) and development. Departmental purpose analysis (DPA) is process by which company applies the concept strategy in to practice. DPA is designed to ensure the company that activity and actions used by department add value. One of the uses of DPA is to identify staffing requirements, what is very important for company when attracting new good quality employees (Departmental Purpose Analysis). An individual objectives setting is another important factor. It is important to set clear individual objectives as these, as a result, leads to continuous improvement. Performance evaluation is a necessary process that includes a feedback of employees about effectiveness of work and guidance in career (Performance Evaluation).

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When setting the performance-related pay important to state how the performance will be measured, how payouts will be made and how large the payments will be. It is important to state the periods when exactly payouts will be made as it can influence persons understanding of its great performance, as during the time understanding and realizing of a high performance decreases. It is important to mention, that performance related pay includes different forms of performance. Most popular of these are: piecework (price that is paid for each unit of production), payment by results (includes value of performance for group), competence based pay (depend on knowledge, skills and competencies that person actually has), profit relayed pays (normally based on employees value and profit that employee made for organization per stated period of time) (Group, 2001)

Performance Management System

Performance management system is a carefully planned and analyzed system, that can’t be accepted and planned spontaneously. To create a good performance management system, or PMS, it should meet next points:

System should include a clear understanding of job expectations;

Regular feedback from employer to employee about his performance should be provided;

Advices and steps, how to improve performance to employee should be given;

Rewards for good and high performance should be accepted.

The aim of PMS is to improve employee’s performance what will influence employees understanding and acceptance of his job (Setting up a Performance Management System).

Core Values of Quick Service Industry on McDonald’s example

Core values of the company is very important factor when hiring new, especially, young staff. According to McDonald’s Fast Food Restaurant chain, it stated that main core value of it was employee’s satisfaction. This can be reached by company’s understanding where in the market it currently takes place and by presenting its vision to the employees in acceptable for them way. If employees understand the aims and vision of company, they feel valuable and important for the company. This, leads to employees satisfaction, what, as a result, influences the service quality.

Core value described through employees importance, especially important for the Quick Service Restaurants. Employees spend mostly time with the customers. Moreover, how customers will be served influences their perception of the restaurant.

Theme of strategy

In this paragraph will be explained why new strategy should be used. The answer for this question lies in the begging of the topic. Reason to create and enrol a new strategy for Quick Service Industry is based on McDonald’s experience, when it had a big employee’s exchange ratio and it couldn’t attract younger generation to work in this industry for the long time. As a result, low paid job in McDonald, as in quick service industry becomes identified as “an no stimulating, low-paid, low-status job, where workers employees were usually inexperienced, expendable and exploited by the employees. For this type of works a definition of McJobs later was created.

To change the perception of jobs in quick service restaurant effective strategy should be created. As it was mentioned earlier, strategy should include a “package” of suggestions that would attract new employees, like last year undergraduates or good quality graduates.

Strategy presentation

As mentioned earlier, a strategy suggested includes several steps of actions:

• Training and development;

• Motivation and bonus system;

• Recruitment

Training and development

To attract new employees to the quick service industry, companies should provide employees with the right skills, knowledge and competence to maximize performance (Stephen Pilbeam, 2002). As a good example, of training and development program, example of McDonald quick service restaurant chain could be used.

First of all, it is important to remember, that staff in quick service restaurant is different aged. But as our strategy is created to attract graduates/undergraduates, our training and development system should be oriented on this market of employees. Firstly, we should estimate skills and knowledge future employees have. According to this, training program should be developed. As one of already existing training programs that such companies as McDonald provides to its employees. To train and develop its employees, McDonald organized an online training program for those employees, who would like to procure their qualifications.

Our strategy is oriented to attract young specialists in the quick service. We suggest adding for already existing programs some additional steps. Firstly, QSR should create a training that includes use of new technologies like iPad. This will make training more interesting for young specialists and the most succeeded in training employee could be awarded by one of the iPad products. In addition, the program of relocation should be included in development of employees. By this we assume, that training for employees, based on management, organizational culture and other required skills should be organized. This would help and stimulate young specialist to be relocated in the other preferred areas of work. In this case, person, who is more likely to work in European, could be trained to fit for culture in chosen European country. Training should also include promotion and possibility to be relocated in the other country, as this would include travel opportunity, meeting different culture. Training should also include promotion and possibility to be relocated in the other country, as this would include travel opportunity, meeting different culture. As young generation is looking for companies that promise good career opportunities, possibility to be promoted and relocated will attract younger specialist.

Motivation

Strong and flexible motivation system is another factor that can be used to attract new specialists in Quick Service Industry. As it was mentioned earlier, training and development should be used. But motivation system should be strong enough, as this influences how long employees will stay in the company. Motivation is one of the reasons, why people work in the companies for the long period. Motivation system should include not only monetary motivation, but this should also include different types of bonuses and benefits for employees. It is also important to use empowerment in the motivation. In service organizations it is expected, that empowerment will be reflected in service quality, as employees will show the possibility to meet customer’s needs. This will also attract more loyal employees who will “pay-back” the training costs by remaining with the company. Empowerment as motivational construct should be analyzed as understanding of empowerment by meeting individuals needs for power and control. Here we would like to underline, that employees appreciates the possibility to take personal decisions and deal effectively with situation and problems they really face during their work (Lashley, 2004).

Many firms offer their employees bonus plans that take into account personal performance, team performance (or project performance) and firm profitability that is distributed over 3 to 5 years. Payment on commission has been common on the sales end for years. But the industry is now seeing more operations employees earning the bulk of their compensation through bonuses and or commissions.

Benefits to a compensation program do not have to cost a great deal of money. And the message they send to the employee can mean increased loyalty and reduced turnover. Many rewards now focus on helping the worker succeed as both an employee and as an individual. Common incentives include reimbursement for tuition on qualified programs, retirement plans, child-care subsidies, and flexible schedules to attract working parents.

Additional benefits may include:

Trips and weekend excursions

Leased cars

Awards, certificates, plaques, honours

Memberships in professional organizations

Subscriptions

Computers/laptops

Cellular phones

Tickets to sporting events, movies, theatre, restaurants

Software

Additional paid days off

Birthdays as a floating individual holiday

Gifts of all sorts

Health club memberships

Improving the work environment

Most people spend more time with their co-workers than they do with their families. In fact, for many workers, the workplace functions as a surrogate family, with the worker looking for support encouragement and appreciation. The extent to which employers can provide this type of atmosphere can be a good determinate of how successful they are in reducing turnover.

The Center for Creative Leadership in San Diego commented in a recent survey that firms which offered employee development, good communication, ethics and other positive human factors enjoyed better retention rates and 20% higher profits. Here are some non-financial tools some employers are using to help boost retention rates.

Advertising

Understanding of what target market company is going to attract influences the advertising campaign that will be used in the future to attract needed employees in quick service industry.

As our strategy includes modification in training and development, strong motivation system it should be mentioned and underlined in advertising campaign. Once again, as our aim of strategy to attract and motivate to stay graduates and undergraduates specific advertising program should be used. We decided that earlier used advertising methods, like articles and advertisement in the journals, periodicals should be chosen carefully.

Generation “Y”, that industry is going to attract is no longer interested in journals and magazines as elder generations. At the moment alternative sources of advertising, including social networks are used. Our campaign includes advertising via social networks like Facebook, Twitter, YouTube and others.

Using advertising methods in journals and articles company should analyze, what headlines, pictures attract more attention (Caples, 1997). As advertising in this method won’t be used during all advertising campaign, we would like to concentrate on alternative ways of advertising.

As one of advertising ways our campaign includes and job fairs, presentations and company introduction of its campaign and future vacancies, opportunities company suggest and training and development program in schools, universities and colleges. This is very important, as these establishments has future employees of the quick service industry. It is very important to point and underline all the advantages of working in quick service industry. A lot of attention should

 

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