- Multinationals -

At the end of the day though, it's really up to you: if you hate it, get out

In Reply to: In my time with Hungry Jacks posted by Dan Rose on December 30, 1999 at 11:16:40:

Anna and Dan, you both make some good points. The one which grabbed me the most though was Anna's comment about "rustic" restaurants, which I think is a pretty fair observation. Compare a lot of HJ's to other fast food outlets (at least here in Victoria anyway) and the difference is immediately noticable. Some of the first HJ's stores here were "Wendy's Hamburgers" before that company shipped out of Australia, and some of these stores, such as Sunshine, look much the same as they probably did when they first became HJ's (in the mid 80's I think...). The thing that surprised me at Sunshine was the fact that their drink dispenser had an outlet for "Mello Yello" (the forefather of "lift" from the 80's). A good example of how HJ's refuses to update its burger rooms even when it has the chance is the Oakleigh HJ's. The dining room was renovated in the 50's style, but the burger room left untouched. Another thing which bugged me when i worked at HJ's was the bun logo. Over half the HJ's restaurants here have the old style logo which "went out" around the early 90's, yet how many stores still need updating?? You don't drive around and see "Kentucky Fried Chicken" rather than "KFC" do you??? Burger King has recently tweaked its logo (yet again), so who knows when HJ's will catch up (anyone for the next millenium??) I think the reason that HJ's is this way is lack of profit/cash flow. I know someone who sold goods to HJ's and had to send the debt collectors in to get his money from them. One of my old RM's said to me about two years ago that HJ's really wasn't making a huge profit, although I think that situation has improved somewhat since then. Still the signs are everywhere- the 2 points I mentioned before, the fact that the franchise restaurants have the new uniforms, HJ owned restaurants don't (too expensive?), also, I believe, the fact that the voucher promotions never seem to end, and THOSE ADS- a new ad campaign anyone? (after how many years of the same crappy ads???)
Well, as for managers, you get good ones, and you get crap ones. I worked as a PTM and having been crew, i think i could empathise a bit better with the crew, and hopefully, I wasn't a "tyrant". Unfortunately management at HJ's is the kind of job where they'll take just about anyone, and hence, you have to put up with some pretty crappy, clueless managers who expect to get blood from a stone. What you have to remember is the pressure they are putting on the crew is purely because of the pressure to perform put on them by district, state managers and even by Malcolm Green at the top. At the end of the day though, it's really up to you: if you hate it, get out, i wish i had a lot earlier than i did!

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