Mcdonalds

When Professor Kurpis first assigned this assignment, I thought it was honestly ridiculous. I thought it would be a waste of time, and I wouldn’t learn anything from it. In hindsight I can now I say I was terribly wrong. This assignment was not only entertaining, but it also had vast academic substance.
I decided to go to the McDonalds around my house, on Kings Highway in Brooklyn. As I was walking up to the front door, I couldn’t help but laugh. I brought a friend with me and told her about the task at hand. So after finally getting our composure together we walked into the McDonalds. It has been about 7 years since I last walked into a McDonalds. Around the age of 14 in my first year in high school we watched a movie in health class called, “Super Size Me.” It was about a man who ate McDonalds for thirty days straight, and the health effects that it had on him. After watching that movie I vowed never to eat McDonalds again because I value my health and by eating there I wasn’t helping maintain that value.
As I was waiting in line I observed the McDonalds operation. All of the employees were female minorities: one Hispanic and one black at the counter taking orders, and 3 Hispanic cooks in the back preparing the food. As I patiently waited in line I couldn’t help but blush. With the thought of what I was about to request from them it was bound to be a funny experience. Finally, I walked up to the counter and Diane the counter girl yelled, “NEXT.”
I approached Diane, said “Hello,” and requested my order. Without any hesitation she said, “No problem.” Then I requested that the order on the receipt was printed exactly in the manner I said. She again said, “No problem.” I thought to myself, “That’s weird; I would think it would be more of a problem for them to do.” So just in case, I repeated that I needed the order, which was a cheeseburger with only five pickles, and well-done fries with a Big Mac sauce on the side, all printed on the receipt. Once I said it the second time, I got the look of perplexity that I was looking for from Diane. She looked at me with a small smile and said, “I can’t do that.” As the Professor instructed in the directions for the assignment, I persisted and said that it was indeed possible for her to print my request on the receipt. She then turned around, went over to closest cook by the counter, and told her that she needed exactly five pickles on my cheeseburger. The cook waived her away in a passive dismissive way and said, “Yeah, yeah.” Diane repeated to her again, “Listen, he needs exactly five pickles no more, no less.” The cook than raised her head to look at her, then looked at me with a puzzled look, shook her head, and said “Okay.”
Diane then proceeded to come back to the counter and again told me that it wasn’t possible to get this printed on the receipt. I asked her if there was anyone that could help to get this accomplished – a manager or something like it. Diane then called her manager, Jackie, over. Jackie came over to the counter and Diane informed her of the situation. Jackie told me that it wasn’t possible for my request to be done. She told me they didn’t have the capabilities to do it. I insisted that it could be done and that it must be done. Jackie looked at the computer and said she could have the receipt say five pickles and Big Mac sauce, but having the fries say well done was not going to be possible.
For the next 2 minutes I kept insisting and asking her to look somewhere else. Finally, she found a button that said WELL. I told her that it would be sufficient and thanked her. Jackie then printed me a copy of my receipt and I thanked her. As I was waiting for my order to come out, I overheard Jackie the manager telling the cooks in Spanish, “What does he think this is, some kind of restaurant or something? He must be crazy.” This made me really laugh out loud. Diane then called me over to tell me that my order was ready. I opened the burger at the counter as we were requested to do in the assignment and saw that the burger only had 3 pickles. I told Diane that this was unacceptable and I needed exactly 5 pickles. She took the burger back and then handed me the correct burger and told me I was handed the wrong burger. As Diane saw me put the receipt and the food in a photo ready position, she said, “You know, you’re mad!” I smirked at her and went about my business.
When I was done with my picture, I took the food and asked an impoverished looking man sitting in the restaurant if he would like the meal, which he gladly accepted. As I walked out of the McDonalds, both Diane and Jackie were at the counter looking at me. I said “Bye,” walked out, and they just stood there in confusion.
As McDonald’s management consultant, I would be very disappointed in the service I received from these employees. From the counter-girl’s initial reception, to their bewildered looks as I exited the building, I didn’t feel valued as a customer. There were many things wrong with their efficiency and order execution, the staff wasn’t ready to process my special order, their communication amongst themselves and with myself were mediocre at best.
Starting from my initial interaction with the counter-girl Diane, I encountered problematic issues. When I made my special request she only listened for key terms that she has been programmed to listen to, over time. Her inability to listen carefully to my complete request is what caused me to repeat my order more then once. This shows a flaw in the training process, or upkeep of company standards. Diane was either not taught to listen to an order properly, or management hasn’t maintained the standard of keeping employees alert to customer needs. In order to correct this problem, a change that could be implemented in the ordering process is for the order taker to repeat back the order to the customer. By repeating back the order, it reaffirms the accuracy of the order, while making the customer feel satisfied in their request is being fulfilled.
From my observation I saw the employees, including the manager, were not well trained in operating the McDonalds software. The software was capable of performing the task that I requested, but the employees weren’t trained well enough to process the task efficiently. To change this, during training, employees must be taught all of the capabilities of the software, not just enough to complete common daily orders. By going above in beyond the knowledge of the system, the employees will succeed in going above and beyond customer needs and wants, creating value for the company.
The communication amongst employees also wasn’t at a proper standard for efficiency and success. Even though the order on the screen that the cooks saw specifically said 5 pickles, the counter-girl still had to go and verbally ask for the burger to have only 5 pickles. When she asked for the special order, the cook also didn’t listen carefully, requiring the counter-girl to repeat her request again. This verbal communication slows down the process of the order, while correspondingly infringing the efficiency of completing other orders. A recommendation that might help solve this problem is to train the cooks to make the order exactly as states on their order screen.
The customer service and communication the manager and the employees had with me was also not acceptable. Understandably the special order I made was out of the ordinary, but there is no reason for the employees to make me feel unintelligent and crazy. Their looks of annoyance and displeasure would make anyone feel uncomfortable. The only reason that the order was completed was because I persisted and wouldn’t take no for an answer. If I was a special needs customer and I wasn’t as strong willed, I wouldn’t have received my order as I requested, and I probably would have had a negative perception of McDonalds that would cause me never to come back. An improvement definitely needs to be made in the courtesy and respect the employees have with customers. If a customer is in no way insulting or degrading the company, or anyone in the presence of the store, then the customer deserves to be treated with the utmost respect and courtesy.
Leadership was shown only by the mere title Jackie held. The fact that she was the manager required her to take the lead in this transaction because her subordinate was unable to complete the order. As a manager, no matter where you work, leadership is essential for there to be efficiency. True leadership qualities such as technical and conceptual skills were mostly absent. Jackie had some idea of how to use the system because she did eventually find the correct buttons to make it possible, she didn’t have enough conceptual skills to step outside the box, and stop arguing with me about getting it done.