It is exactly as you say - I have been, I am and will be an employee of the McDonald´s organisation. I am currently working at mid-managment level - I am proud to be working in a organisation that, you will probably not believe it, makes people grow. I am proud to be working in a organisation that is constantly in change and striving to improve guest conditions, worker conditions and profit. Profit is probably a "naughty" word to you, but i realise that without profit - no jobs. Without profit - no raised wages etc etc etc. You might arguee, that this is a capitalist way of seeing things, and if so - then I am a capitalist.Before I answer your questions, I would like to, once again, put a question to you. You seem to be focusing on the different levels of pay that you can have at McDonald´s. I asked you how a company could work if you did not reward good efforts and raised wages in accordance to responsibilities. I do not know of any company, that does not pay more when people have gained experience, seniority and more responsibilities. In this sense, it is of no "interest", besides to make a cheap point perhaps, what I make each month. What is interesting, is how you feel that a company should reward employees?
I believe that one way of rewarding people, is to raise their wages. If you accept a "higher" office, then you should get more money, whether or not that is in McDonald´s, Swedish government or British Gas. It is noble to believe in an equal society, and you should get equal money if you do the same job and regardless of sex, but I fail to see how a company can get people to accept more responsibilities if they do not recieve more money? So I repeat the question - explain how a company should work, if it is not allowed to pay more to reward good performance, more responsibilities and an an effort to be a "good employee"?
You stated initially that the views of crew, by the way an abolished word in Sweden, differs to that of a senior manager. I am sure that you will find people which have a totally different view of things. One point though, I worked as a "crew" for close to 3 years. There were things I did not like, but I took them to my store manager and discussed them. I feel that this is the way to work - from within.
Your questions:
1. Already answered
2. The goal for turnover was 15%. Why not 0% you might wonder? Because we are a company that have a considerable amount of people working part-time, after school and so on. Whenever this is the case, then you know that somewhere down the line, someone will quit, because they have a different goal in life. Also, McDonald´s is not for everybody. You have to have a genuine love, I repeat love, for serving other people and working in a team. Some people are not cut out for this kind of job - they should be in a cubicle behind a computer (Do not get me wrong, I have nothing against working in a cubicle behind a computer!).
My last year as a store manager, we had a turnover rate, for all three stores, of 12%. In order to make sure that we found out why they quit, we had a meeting after they had quit. During this meeting, we went through how they had been treated and other related issues. If there was something that needed attending to, then we did it. You might argue that in such a situation, people will not dare to speak their opinion. For some, this is probably true. What we did, was to give them their references, i e a statement on their performance, beforehand.
So, the goal was 15%, and the result 12%
3. It would be imprudent of mee to recommend any other country how to run their business, since I do not know all the facts and do not know the "culture" of that country. I will say two things though: First, The way to successfully run a McDonald´s is to have satisfied customers. The way to satisfied customers, is to have satisfied employees. Second, as I stated before, trade unions in Sweden are today not a controversial issue. If someone would like to join a union, let them! Remeber, as I said before, that in Sweden today, the union is more of an obstacle than a support. We have to find a middleway, with which everybody is "happy"
4. Once again, I can only talk for Sweden. If I were to guess, it would probably have something to do with the culture, business climate and the political history of that country. I would guess that the union movement in the UK is still recovering from the wounds and repercussions of a certain Mr Scargill.
5. Wages are always individual, and can not in a general sense be compared to other fields of activity. I only gave you the other figure as something to hold on to. When you start working in the restaurant business in Sweden, you are guaranteed a minimun wage, as set by the union and their counterparts. We paid above minimum wage and the wage got higher all the time. I, for one, see nothing wrong in giving a new employee lower wage than one that has been working for a year(example). It is like this in all branches of the swedish society.
You say that people start unskilled in industry as well. That is in a sense true, but in most cases, at least in Sweden, you need some sort of education, welding for instance. With a skill, you get more money.
The average for people working in industry, is also a bit false from another point of view. McDonald´s in Sweden has been around for 25 years. That means that the most senoir employee by McDonald´s in Sweden has been working for 25 years. In industry, many people have been working for perhaps 45- 50 years. That means that they will earn more, due to the simple fact that thay have seniority. I do not doubt that we will be comparable, when you have comparable figures.
6. I do not know what a "5-star member" is. I suppose it means that you are a good employee? As i stated before, wages are individual and I feel, frankly, no reason to get into a debate in theese matters. In all companies, executives are paid more. I see nothing wrong in this. If we had 40 people doing the same job, with the same amount of responsibilities - then they should earn the same amount of money.
How are you going to get people to accept, here I go again, more responsibilities if it is not shown on their paycheck?
I can though, give you the minimum wages. A new emplyee, above 20 years of age and working full time, has roughly 11500-12000 SEK a month. A new store manager has 18000 SEK. If you take into consideration, that the manager has been with the company for at least 3 years, has a lot of more reponsibilities and has earned a "skill", then I do not feel that a difference of 37% is that much - do you?
Until next time!
