[Reader-list] Fst food chains: McDonald'a..who's lovin it?

[Khalid]

Yeah...after having researching in Fast food chains for almost a year now,I have certainly learnt one thing, well enough, to share with you all. Here it is:

Life is Uncertain. Eat dessert first!!  

Well, keeping that in mind let me introduce the “ the Insights of McDonald’s” to you,today.Lets call it




Work,Work,Work!!!

The hours for which workers have to work is unfair-they are expected to work in shifts.Any shift.It may be all night from 4pm to 6-7 am the following morning.They are never paid extra for working those extra hours.Lunch breaks are always shortened on busy days which are Friday nights and weekends.Staff are only allowed to go out for a “quick fag” or “ coffee’,to keep them awake!!

They are expected to serve at speed.Customers would be expected to wait two minutes in line and only 1 minute after the order had been taken.On most occasions especially weekends this would be impossible.  But McDonald’s has ridiculous expectations of their staff for the amount of money that they actually earned.18 rupees per hour!!

All the Training Information used by McDonald’s came out of one book,the Training Manual,which is basically the McDonald’s bible of all rules and regulations.It is a very large book almost the size of our MTNL telephone directory !!McDonald’s managers are supposed to know everything that is in it.Copies of this manual is also very tightly guarded.   

This manual makes it very clear to all employees: We,the McDonald’a,are very closed to the press.As a general rule,no employee were to talk to the press unless authorized.

The work is bound to be greasy and high pressurebecause it is” fast food work”.Most people realize this when they first join McDonald’s.They realise, it is the  sort of job where there is no room for slackers.

The DiVinE TaRgeTs.

Every evening careful calculations were done in order to work out manning levels.This was done by the following method.The tills in the McDonald’s storecan print out,at any given moment  in time,the amount of money that has been taken during the day or since the last print out.It was therefore possible to get an analysis from each till of how much money was taken every hour.By knowing the number of staff that were employed every hour,it was possible to work out the takings per head per hour.This was an optimum figure for such takings per head per hour,which meant that the store was running with exactly the right number of staff for that particular hour.If the actual figure is highter than the optimum target figure ,then the store is understaffed and more stay ought to be taken on.If the level was below the optimum number, the store is overstaffed during that hour  and the levels have to be pruned.The effect of these calculations was that the manager would be able to predict,for each hour of the week,how many staff he would need and could therefore,trim very finely,his manning levels to suit profitability. I cannot figure out what the optimum figure was at Lajpat nagar McDonald’s in Delhi,when the store was operating at so-called optimum staffing level,the staff was generally pushed and the pressure was fairly high.

If the store was found to be running with staff costs which were too high,the store manager would get into trouble with the Area Manager and also his superior,the Area Supervisor.

Each store is given a target for running costs per week.If there  is no increase in this figure without the proportionate increase in takings ,then the manager will be in trouble.There was, therefore, a great deal of pressure on them to keep expenses within targets.There is a specific weekly target ratio relating to staff salaries as a proportion of takings.

Well, time to wipe your tears and quit feeling sorry for these managers.Only.
     
Infact, most of the crew in the store are made to feel as if they are fully expendable.According to the theory of McDonald’s manual,if the cwer member is noe doing what he or she should,then management is supposed to file a report,give a warning or discipline the member of staff.This process is meant ot be carried out in private,the crew member being taken off the floorinto the Manager’s office and the misdemeanor discussed with him/her away from rest of the crew.

But this rarely happened.(  ah..ah..hold your tears please..!!)
The reality was that an errant crew member( only Him) would just be given repeated toilet duty,he(and not she..) would be shouted out in front of the crew and humiliated publicly.Invaribly ,if a crew member answer back in these circumstances,he was sent home immidietly and was obviously not paid for the hours not worked!!         
 Some employees who were sent home this way just did not come back( especially freshers),although some did. I have’nt yet found anyone who was actually sacked in accordance with the proper disciplinary procedures, which are lengthy and provide for several stages of discipline before sacking.Most employees( again the freshers)generally get too fed up with this kind of treatment (often on their first day..!!) and leave.

Let me stress that the training theory of McDonald’s  Management is actually very good.It is indeed a useful training in itself.However,there is vast difference between the theory and the practice.

Nothing unusual for me.


Work until you are KNOCHED-OUT..come-on.. YOU are TRAINED to SWEAT!! 

Workers in catering do badly in terms of pay and conditions.They are at work in the evenings and at weekends,doing long shifts in hot,smelly,noisy environments.Wages are low,as usual,and the chances of promotion minimal.

Its obvious that all large chains-stores and fast food joints depend for their fat profitson the labour of young people.McDonald’s is no exception.Three quarters of its workers are under 21.The production-line system deskills the work itself: any one can grill the burger , cleaning toilets or smiling at customers,as I said before,needs no training.So there is no need to employ chefs or qualified staff-just any body prepared to work for low wages,will do.

As a matter of fact,what is wrong with McDonald’s is also wrong with all the junk-food chains like Pizza hut,Subway,Pizza Corneretc.All of them hide their ruthless exploitation of resourses and people behind the façade of colourful gimmicks and “ family fun”.The food itself is the same everywhere.Only the packaging changes.The logo changes.
McDonald has Golden Arches.Two parabolas!!

On Labor Costs

McDonald’s aims to keep labor costs within 15% of any outlet sales.”Its very tight”,says one store manager.” “If sales are down,labor costs must come down: You have to cut staff and make the remaining work harder!!”

“Labor is the big one we hear from head office” says another.” A really high volume store could run at 10% labour,because the bodies are always in motion.But in quiet store you still have to keep a foundation crew which is why labour slips up occassionaly to 16-16.5%.The pressure to keep labour costs dowm means having less bodies in the store,so we are running around all the day ,all night.Otherwise labour would be right through the ceiling”

To stick to the 15%-rule,high productivity is extracted from a “flexible” workforce of part time and temporary workers,mostly youth and women.They work for unsocial hours with no security for low pay.

An average store has 80 people on its payroll,although it varies from store to store,80% of McDonald’s staff are part timers.According to the company,an average cwer member works 25 hours a week.But many work more.

By employing part timers, many of whom effectively work full time,the store can cover unsocial hours without paying overtime and can adjust worker’s hours on weekly or even daily basis as sales and staff members fluctuate.

“ Only a ‘skelton’, staff is scheduled for each shifts as a matter of deliberate policy to keep costs  within the 15%  ceiling.We are always under-staffed”, whispers a friend manager.

Flexi hours: The Mystery Unravelled.

“Flexibility” amounts to an absense of job security.Workers taken on for seasonal peaks are laid off when the pace slackens.McDonald’s policies epitomize the “ flexi work force strategies employers are pursuing to reduce labour costs.In the cold language of employers,it means maintaining a “ core” of permanent workers supplemented by a 
“ periphery” of part-time and tempory workers.

This probably also explains McDonald’s lack of concern about its high staff turn over.With in a month,7 out 10 starters drop out. You are veteran,if you lasts 4 months!!

No one ever syays more than 6-9 months unless they want to get into management.”
It’s the pressure,heavy hours,awful pay –over all a degrading job, having to clean tables and scrub floors in front of all the customers- and always having to wear SMILE.”,says 18 year old Sandeep.    



“
..But Imlovin it!!”

McDonald’s promotes from within,encouraging crew members to work their way up.Here is one store manger with his version of McDonald’s:

“ I started on the shop floor with no intention of going into management.Today,I am Assistant Store Manager.And as far as I can see McDonald’s says it is an equal opportunities employer and I think it really is.For crew and for managers,the constant pressure is good if you can take take it. Yesterday morning I started work at 7,went home at two,came back at midnight to do a stock take and I have been here ever since-now its 1.30 in the afternoon.I ‘m falling asleep.I have doing 75-80 hours a week,and the salary for 40 hours.But I guess that’s  a deal: a given situation.I accept it because I like it.”


“
..But Imhatin it!!”

This is another manager:

“The constant pressure from head office is awful.You have to keep labour costs down,so in a quiet store,managers tie themselves to the stations and run around like a crew.Why this constant pressure to make as much profit as possible when we are losing more managers than anything else? You talk to other managers on courses,and out of 15,chances are, 5 will be on the verge of leaving”

On the Burgerline

“ 12 Big Macs down”.I push bun bases in the toaster,right?” Dress these regular please.”I’m sqirtin ketchep when the toaster start bleepin buns are done.” Where’s the regulars?”” Speed up!”” The guy on the grill is giving me the grief because is burn inand the main man is bawlinat him.Me legs are jelly,me throat dry and me head exploding under this stupid “M”.Why’s this cheese on crooked? “Give me Big Mac bases now!!” “Ooutta onion I run to the freezer” What’s goin on? “Why all this mess? “Clean it up”As I start wiping trays ,the timer flashes,meat needs turning ,the toaster’s buzzin and someone is yelling at me to get some ketchep.I want to swear at the other crew that I can’t   do everything at once but just slap crowns on the finished burgers shoting:”12 Big Macs up”.

And all this in 160 seconds!!

Hi-tech with no-tech jobs!!

McDonald’s pioneered the process of rationalizing the production and introducing hi-tech which has transformed catering into unskilled jobThey combined the standardized mass production of the assembly line with a flexible response to momentary fluctuations in demand.For the multinational chains,the system spelt higher productivity and lower wage bills.For workers,it spelt,a deterioration in the quality of their jobs.

Catering once depended on the trained chef and apprentices.In McDonald’s those skills have been replaced by computerized technology,standardized products and the precise planning of each subdivided task.The is no room for creative chefs in this factory.Workers all over the world perform exactly the same repetitive tasks to prepare the same Big Mac.

McDonald’s eliminated all demarcations and any career structure based training and skills.The chef,the assistant chef,waitress,and cleaner have been leveled down to the uniformed crew member.Everyone at McDonald’s cleans,goes on tills, on grill,on fries,on lobby.This enables the corporation to follow the “ flexible work force” strategy on which its profits rest.

Control over the work force and their productivity is achieved in a number of ways.Managerial supervision is increasingly is excercised by technology itself,with innovations to increase the worker’s speed constantly being installed.Computerized machinery regulates the pace of work at each station to the precise second.

The forced pace puts intense pressure on both managers and workers.In the heat of the moment ,tempers become frayed and each worker blames the other for holding up!!

Starry Affair

The corporation has fabricated an elaborate system of hierarchies and individual incentives which keep the workers “SMILING” at the customers but each other’s throat.Everyone is assigned to a team of workers at different levels.For the first 3 weeksyouare a Green badge; then progess to a Yellow badge and compete for the Gold stars awardedfor fry,grill,cleanliness ,servise and personal.Performance is reviewed every two months and pay every 4 months,star bringing financial rewards.If you win all five Stars,you wear white shirt,before joining the white badges in line for management You finally take off your tag when you become a store manager.

Workers in each grade are accountable to those above and control the workers below,chasing them to meet production targets.Otherwise they may not get their starsand pay rises at the next review.

The constant spot checks by higher grade employees increase competitiveness and the diligence with which workers harass their subordinates.”Its always everyone for themselves”, says one workers.”You get the feeling that none trusts the other”.

Whether you get the Stars or selected for the Management Training,does’nt always depend on merit but whether you are pally with the management.

And for all the talk of Team work,McDonald’s promotes a cult of individuality.”Some people wait for the future “ they say” Some people push it along”

“We don’nt have WAITERS” Pinned on the sore’s noticeboard is a list of crew who “DID exceptionally well last week”.

Another piece of paper says” Employee of the month”    

And yet another says” RISING STAR”


Further, control is exercised and dissatifaction diffused through periodic “Rap sessions” and “Bitch Sessions”.
Central management meet with workers to discuss their complains ,particularly against Store Manger.

But the word in the air is “ They are all friends”

So,I as a researcher,can conclude that McDonald’s, atleast those I have been visiting,is a terrible revenge on Delhi for all the American business being outsoursed in NCR!!!       

  

  




wishing you happiness and health.

Khalid
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