On Monday, McDonalds announced that it is planning a “one-day hiring spree of 50,000 new workers on April 19th” for its US restaurants. These new jobs have been said to include both crew and management positions, both part-time and full-time jobs, and will expand its US workforce from 650,000 to 700,000.
The announcement came from Jan Fields, the president of McDonald’s USA who began her career at McDonald’s as a crew member behind the counter in 1978. Fields serves as a perfect example of just what McDonalds wants to promote in their next wave of employees and new hires — “Our national hiring event is an opportunity to invite more people across the country to join our team, and learn that a ‘McJob’ is one with career growth and endless possibilities...” Not something you’d necessarily associate with a job at McDonalds, right? Well, they’re making explicit efforts these days to rebrand the negative connotation of the "McJob." In fact, McDonalds’ leadership maintains that “50% of the company’s current owner-operators,’ or 1,300 people, are former restaurant employees; as are 40% of company staff and 30% of executives.”
National “hiring day” will have Fields, along with other senior managers from across the company appear at McDonalds restaurants to discuss their long careers with the company and the opportunities they’ve been provided to grow and develop. This is a direct effort to combat the "McJob" stigma, which has been popularized by the addition of the term in 2003 into the Merriam-Webster Dictionary, defined as “a low-paying job that requires little skill and provides little opportunity for advancement” — in other words, short-hand for dead-end work...
Given the 13 million Americans that are currently out of work, and the growth that McDonalds has enjoyed and expects to continue, the company is focusing on this “hiring day” as a way to get a fast and strong response to their recent hiring needs. However, in today’s tough job market, one company has become the “go-to” option for frustrated job-seekers: Starbucks. Will McDonalds be able to compete with a Starbucks for the same caliber of employees? Not until they truly give the “McJob” a newer, fresher, more positive image. In many ways, Starbucks provides the very opposite of the “McJob,” offering jobs with growth potential, solid benefits, and long-term career opportunities. However it looks as though McDonalds is on its way to conveying similar messaging.
But what does McDonald’s really need to do to rebrand the “McJob?” In my opinion, they’ll need to make some actual changes to the roles and to the career development plans, this certainly starts with hiring methods — but extends to strategic onboarding programs that work to engage employees right away in order build loyalty and commitment from the very beginning of their tenure with the organization. As OD professionals, we all understand the critical importance of nurturing top talent in order to retain it. In fact, at the 2011 Human Capital Summit, just a few short weeks ago, in Elaine Chao’s keynote, she discussed the fast food industry as being one of the few great remaining training grounds providing training on the fundamentals of efficient, productive work. This is just what McDonalds needs to continue to promote... What they cannot do, is just repackage the "McJob" into something new and different looking — which we all know they are great at doing!
Does this story sound familiar? How many of us are in organizations where we need to rebrand the employee experience? Reframe the career trajectory? Demonstrate the growth potential, learning opportunities, and leadership options for our talent? We all know that if we can make the transformation possible, the rewards are endless — especially with respect to attracting, engaging, and retaining top talent. Don’t miss HCI’s annual Engagement & Retention Conference coming to Chicago this July where we’ll hear more stories just like this!
Photo credit: Loop_oh
