MrSchroeder
Lombard, IL
Male, 33
I *was* an assistant manager for a McDonald's Franchisee in Tucson, AZ from 2007 to 2008, and was hired with the explicit intention of being management and not a standard crew member. I worked hard in learning the procedures and processes of the corporation, with a goal of a much longer career than I actually had. My every day life evolved while I was there, starting from the least desirable position to overall operations. I wrote a blog detailing my experiences as well.
Menu is not dictated entirely. Some stores don't participate in sales/specials/promotions/seasonal items. Right now McRib is back - some stores aren't carrying it. Some stores have found they don't sell salads as well, so maybe they price those higher or don't carry the same variety.
Pricing is definitely up to the Owner/Operator, and depends on market. Most of the stores don't have a "Dollar Menu" anymore, or if they do it's very limited. They have a "Value Menu" where items are $1.19-$1.59.
However, franchisees can't "add" items that are not part of the McDonald's menu to their menu and cannot serve food "off menu" as a rule (like a Land-Sea-Air burger (Big Mac with a Fish Filet and a McChicken on the burger patties).
As far as decoration goes, there is a ton of leeway allowed. In Tucson, one of the stores was decorated like an expensive, rich guy's library. Shelves and books, dark floor, the vinyl seats were faux leather, a couple of large lounging armchairs and ottomans... A very impressive design. In Chicagoland, there are several theme restaurants, including a 1950s pastel diner look. However, I do believe that they must predominantly have the familiar Gold and Red in some way and all deviations are probably required to be approved by McDonald's Corp. but I'm not certain.
Here's a couple links with the more unique McDonald's restaurants including one that's a freaking AIRPLANE! http://www.sortrature.com/unique-mcdonalds-restaurants/ http://www.flickr.com/photos/mckroes/galleries/72157622406186208/
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It was relatively rare that anyone would even get minor injuries working in the kitchen. Usually the only times people would get injured were due to not paying attention, foolish mistakes or not wearing appropriate shoes. No one ever really got hurt very seriously and even somewhat serious injuries were very rare. Most injuries were slip-and-falls (which can be serious, but thankfully weren't too bad, too often - see below), cutting oneself on the very sharp knives used for prep work, scalds from the very hot water used to wash dishes, or rare small burns from grease splashing.
I had my own injury from not wearing non-slip shoes. Long and the short of it was, I was moving more quickly than I should have been, on a wet floor without the right non-slip shoes on (right about a month into working at McDonald's). I slipped mid-step, and because I'm a very big guy had a lot of momentum. My following foot kept going with enough force that my whole body ended up fully parallel to the ground at my shoulder height (call it five and a half feet off the ground), then slammed downward, jarring my wrist and elbow on a stainless steel counter next to me. My injuries included a heavily bruised wrist and elbow, a bruise on the back of my head with no concussion, and a hyper-extended knee that required a support for a month or so. Mostly all my fault, and possibly the most serious slip and fall that I witnessed. After this incident, the Owner/Operator (who witnessed it) gave me a week off with pay and bought me some really nice, $175 executive style non-slip work shoes. I'm sure he would not have done this for most other people, to be frank.
The knee took so long to heal because I was ridiculous stupid as a youth and did dangerous things all the time - jumped off buildings, rode bikes off buildings, surfed on top of cars, fell out of trees, and less likely, but equally stupid accidents like when I was 14 I smashed the hell out of my knee in a bicycle accident that resulted in permanent water on the knee. Three years later I was competitively lifting weight in high school and overdid it by about 250 lbs on a horizontal leg press machine (ending my weight lifting career and taking almost 2 years to fully heal).
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No matter how well it’s designed, it’s still a speaker and microphone system, often with an LCD or LED screen, which is exposed to sun, wind, rain, snow, and everything that comes with those 24/7/365. Not to mention that it consists of electronic devices that are running continuously, which causes it’s own wear and tear, as well as it being activated and in use nearly constantly in most moderately busy stores. Next take into effect the equipment inside the store. It’s worn literally constantly, which means from 19 to 24 hours a day. The equipment usually consists of either simply a headset which is connected to the 2-way receiver/transceiver wirelessly or a headset connected by wires to a belt pack which houses the battery, talk and channel buttons, and connects to the 2-way receiver/transceiver. While each type is constantly in use - again 19 to 24 hours a day - each type also encounters its own issues. The headset only style might fall off the head of the wearer constantly, striking the ground *every time* the wearer bends their head forward more than 15 or 20 degrees. If the wearer is really swift, they may catch it 4 out of 5 falls. But fall it will. Part of the reason for this is that all of the communications devices and batteries are stored in the headset. It’s heavy and by nature has imperfect balance. The device is in motion endlessly and the electronics fail due to constant use. There are generally several headsets as they’re also used by management to hear orders and used to communicate with kitchen teams as well. In some stores, everyone wears a headset. They may have a rated lifespan of about 2 years, a functional lifespan of 1 year, and get used for 3 years. The belt-style headset systems are awesome and terrible. On the one hand, they’re not a stupid headset falling off you every time you, because even though they consist of a headset as well - it can be lighter weight and better balanced because it doesn’t need to house receiver/transceiver and batteries. Those are on a belt at your waist. The problem these types have is that they’re constantly smacking into things, generally the sharp corners of brushed aluminum prep tables and the counters. I’m sure you can understand what this might due to sensitive electronic parts? Also, they face the same issue of constantly being in use 19to24/7/365. These have a rated lifespan of about 4 years, a functional lifespan of about 2 years and are used for a long, long time. I’ve seen some as old as 8 and I’m sure there are 10 year old sets still in use. Last, two huge, brief factors of the inside-the-store equipment. First, grease. Grease is in the air everywhere in a McDonald’s. It gets into the electronics, even though they’re usually mounted away from the kitchen area and they’re housed in reduced-airflow systems. Second, idiots and jerks. I’ve already discussed how many McDonald’s employees are not the creme de la creme. Many of them are disgruntled, or immature, or simply jerkfaces who don’t give a whit about life. They’re the sort who like to destroy stuff for fun’s sake. Idiots and sensitive electronics leads to those electronics not working optimally.
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McDonald's menu is often changing. They spend a large amount of money on product development and improvement, and I really don't think there's anything they *don't* have that I would like to see again.
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In short, none. There really aren't any fast food restaurants that can take over McDonald's position as #1 in volume. Not only is McDonald's historically successful in nearly every market they enter, they have momentum of growth. There are many, many new restaurants opening every year, worldwide. McDonald's is something of a symbol of Americanism throughout the world as well - a food-related space that no other brand other than Coca-cola holds. Also, the McDonald's franchise system works remarkably well, putting a large amount of risk on the shoulders of franchisees and minimizing exposure to loss on McDonald's part (they generally own the property - and can always sell it in during a seller's market). While I don't think there are many restaurants that will overtake McDonald's for volume either domestically or internationally, several brands are growing and have many locations around the world. "Worth" of brands per statista.com, 2012. Subway - 27,000+ locations, worth $15B KFC - 11,000 locations, $10B Pizza Hut - 12,500 locations, $5.4B Wendy's - 10,000 locations, $4B You could also include Starbucks in that listing, although it's not quite "fast food", they have 21,000 locations and a brand value of $17B. Now, compare that to McDonalds - 34,000 locations and a brand value of just short of $100B.
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Mon-Fri 11:20 AM
Breakfast is over, Store Manager is probably there (80% likelihood or better, considering usually they take a single weekday and a weekend day off), and lunch has not gotten full swing yet.
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During the hiring process, there are generally cues that potential employees will give to the content of their character and their interest in doing well. Sometimes, people would shine that they were management material. Other times, someone who I thought would be a 3 month-turnover employee who had to be coached constantly would turn out to be a shining star. So, sometimes but that initial impression is generally not very reliable.
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