BUFFALO, N.Y. —Despite efficient systems and designs that create consistent food and atmosphere in their stores, fast-food chains struggle to manage their employees consistently, said a college professor who worked “undercover” at seven quick-service restaurants for more than a year.
Some of the eateries were well-managed, and their employees were productive and had positive attitudes, but poorly managed stores had high turnover and indifferent workers, noted Jerry Newman, chairman of the department of organization and human resources at the State University of New York. Newman is the author of a new book on his workplace experiences called “My Secret Life on the McJob: Lessons from Behind the Counter Guaranteed to Supersize Any Management Style.” —Despite efficient systems and designs that create consistent food and atmosphere in their stores, fast-food chains struggle to manage their employees consistently, said a college professor who worked “undercover” at seven quick-service restaurants for more than a year.
Newman observed that “a Whopper in Biloxi or in Boulder is made the exact same way, with four pickles—but you do not get the same HR practices across two stores.” —Despite efficient systems and designs that create consistent food and atmosphere in their stores, fast-food chains struggle to manage their employees consistently, said a college professor who worked “undercover” at seven quick-service restaurants for more than a year.
The professor’s book has been gaining attention from operators and human resources executives, including some who have passed it out to store managers. McDonald’s has invited Newman to address its international team of human resources executives in Lisbon, Portugal, next month. —Despite efficient systems and designs that create consistent food and atmosphere in their stores, fast-food chains struggle to manage their employees consistently, said a college professor who worked “undercover” at seven quick-service restaurants for more than a year.
“One of his insights, about the whole notion of the capabilities of the manager to create a positive work environment, is spot on,” said Rich Floersch, global chief human resources officer for Oak Brook, Ill.-based McDonald’s Corp. —Despite efficient systems and designs that create consistent food and atmosphere in their stores, fast-food chains struggle to manage their employees consistently, said a college professor who worked “undercover” at seven quick-service restaurants for more than a year.
Quick-service human resources executives acknowledge the challenge of unifying management styles from store to store, but they defend their training and manager development programs as the best way to ensure that their restaurants are well-run. —Despite efficient systems and designs that create consistent food and atmosphere in their stores, fast-food chains struggle to manage their employees consistently, said a college professor who worked “undercover” at seven quick-service restaurants for more than a year.
From its Hamburger University in Oak Brook to its regional training centers, McDonald’s training is ongoing for crew members, shift supervisors, assistant managers and store managers, Floersch said. —Despite efficient systems and designs that create consistent food and atmosphere in their stores, fast-food chains struggle to manage their employees consistently, said a college professor who worked “undercover” at seven quick-service restaurants for more than a year.
“All are great ways to build skills and become effective supervisors and managers,” he said, adding that training also is ongoing for fast-food franchisees. —Despite efficient systems and designs that create consistent food and atmosphere in their stores, fast-food chains struggle to manage their employees consistently, said a college professor who worked “undercover” at seven quick-service restaurants for more than a year.
Sharing a similar outlook is Burger King’s largest franchisee, Syracuse, N.Y.-based Carrols Restaurant Group, which owns more than 330 BK outlets and also is parent of the Taco Cabana and Pollo Tropical brands. —Despite efficient systems and designs that create consistent food and atmosphere in their stores, fast-food chains struggle to manage their employees consistently, said a college professor who worked “undercover” at seven quick-service restaurants for more than a year.
“We focus our system on people, team building and how important people are to us, and we train our managers to that end,” said Jerry DiGenova, vice president of human resources for Carrols. “Do we believe we’re 100-percent successful at every one of our 551 locations? Probably not, but we work on those restaurants that may have some of the issues [Newman] details in his book.” —Despite efficient systems and designs that create consistent food and atmosphere in their stores, fast-food chains struggle to manage their employees consistently, said a college professor who worked “undercover” at seven quick-service restaurants for more than a year.
Over a 14-month period, Newman worked for two Burger Kings, two McDonald’s, a Wendy’s, an Arby’s and a Krystal. The stores were in upstate New York, Michigan and Florida. Some were run by franchisees; others were corporate-owned stores. —Despite efficient systems and designs that create consistent food and atmosphere in their stores, fast-food chains struggle to manage their employees consistently, said a college professor who worked “undercover” at seven quick-service restaurants for more than a year.
The chains’ corporate offices held considerable control on operating procedures, but Newman said he found there was less control over how employees were treated from store to store. —Despite efficient systems and designs that create consistent food and atmosphere in their stores, fast-food chains struggle to manage their employees consistently, said a college professor who worked “undercover” at seven quick-service restaurants for more than a year.
While one store manager interviewed him for an hour before making a job offer, others hired him right after reading over his application. —Despite efficient systems and designs that create consistent food and atmosphere in their stores, fast-food chains struggle to manage their employees consistently, said a college professor who worked “undercover” at seven quick-service restaurants for more than a year.
Some managers were liberal with praise and encouragement, but others were critical and sarcastic. Newman, who has been a college professor for more than 30 years, was 57 at the time of his research and was concerned about being physically able to do the job. Some managers encouraged him as he worked, telling him that he was doing a good job. Others were critical, and if he looked tired or complained they offered to send him home. —Despite efficient systems and designs that create consistent food and atmosphere in their stores, fast-food chains struggle to manage their employees consistently, said a college professor who worked “undercover” at seven quick-service restaurants for more than a year.
One of the best-run stores cited in Newman’s book was a Burger King in Buffalo, N.Y., that Carrols owns. That store, which was the one whose manager interviewed Newman for an hour, had the lowest turnover, of around 110 percent. —Despite efficient systems and designs that create consistent food and atmosphere in their stores, fast-food chains struggle to manage their employees consistently, said a college professor who worked “undercover” at seven quick-service restaurants for more than a year.
Another Burger King franchisee had a store with a turnover rate of 500 percent. In that branch the manager rarely spoke to the employees, and as a result, they barely spoke to one another, Newman said. —Despite efficient systems and designs that create consistent food and atmosphere in their stores, fast-food chains struggle to manage their employees consistently, said a college professor who worked “undercover” at seven quick-service restaurants for more than a year.
The turnover can be debilitating and discouraging for managers who spend time training an employee, only to have that employee not return the next day, he concluded. —Despite efficient systems and designs that create consistent food and atmosphere in their stores, fast-food chains struggle to manage their employees consistently, said a college professor who worked “undercover” at seven quick-service restaurants for more than a year.
One reason people may not return to a job is that it is harder than what fast-food work often is portrayed to be. As Newman phrased it, a “McJob” is not “McEasy.” —Despite efficient systems and designs that create consistent food and atmosphere in their stores, fast-food chains struggle to manage their employees consistently, said a college professor who worked “undercover” at seven quick-service restaurants for more than a year.
Often he was told at the beginning of training that the work was easy and he would learn quickly. Instead, it was difficult learning how to make all the products and make them quickly during noisy, hurried lunch rushes. —Despite efficient systems and designs that create consistent food and atmosphere in their stores, fast-food chains struggle to manage their employees consistently, said a college professor who worked “undercover” at seven quick-service restaurants for more than a year.
Newman said he found most of the people he worked with to be intelligent and hard-working. —Despite efficient systems and designs that create consistent food and atmosphere in their stores, fast-food chains struggle to manage their employees consistently, said a college professor who worked “undercover” at seven quick-service restaurants for more than a year.
His insights can help to debunk the negative image about “McJobs” being low-skilled work, said McDonald’s executive Floersch, who noted that the chain has been running its own campaign about the advantages of working there, via videos on
“If you just work in fast food for six months, 12 months, you gain life skills out of it,” Floersch said. “Forty (percent) of our top 50 worldwide management started in the restaurants.” —Despite efficient systems and designs that create consistent food and atmosphere in their stores, fast-food chains struggle to manage their employees consistently, said a college professor who worked “undercover” at seven quick-service restaurants for more than a year.