McDonald’s Job Satisfaction
Hai Viet Le haile1505@gmail.com MGMT 591-Leadership and Organization Behaviors
Professor: Tad Hove

Introduction
McDonald’s is a one of biggest fast food company all around the world. They have more than 34,000 restaurants and serving around 69 million people over 119 countries each day. My position is with a team member as a crew of one of McDonald’s restaurant. Their main focus is improving performance by implementing changes to increase productivity. These changes can include improved validation rules for approving financial content to new software implementations to increase productivity. McDonald’s Corporation directly about 15% restaurant, they develop their business thought franchise agreement. By collection franchise fees and marketing fees help them have more chance to bring their restaurant go around the world. With some agreements in the contact, they make sure that the franchisee follow their rule that they have to build all of restaurant is exactly the same with the order.
McDonald’s Corporation a. Brief History
“Dick and Mac McDonald opened their eponymous burger stand in 1948 in San Bernardino, Calif. Under the guidance of Ray Kroc, a onetime milkshake-mixer salesman wowed by the restaurant's success, McDonald's franchises grew swiftly: by the end of the 1960s, there were more than 1,000 across the U.S. The first international franchise opened in 1967 in British Columbia” (James, 2009). On the other hand, with the creation of the first Big Mac in 1968and the Egg McGuffin was invented in 1973 was the turning point for McDonald to become one of biggest international franchise organization. b. Brief Information
McDonald's brand mission is to become one of favorite place and way to eat and drink those customers will choose. The McDonald’s worldwide operations are use a global strategy called “the Plan to win”, which based on a special customer’s experience such as People, Products, Place, Price and Promotion. McDonald always tries to continuously developing their operations and attractive their customers' experience.
McDonald’s joined into the international markets by using three ways is franchising, joint ventures and company owned restaurant. The popular way and the fast way that McDonald’s is use to develop their organization is franchise with around 73 percent of all restaurants all around the world.
Essential issues a. The treatment of workers
First of all, the first public debate topic that McDonald’s have that is the treatment of the employees. Because of the wages and the benefit that McDonald’s give for their employees is one of the problems bring them under the fire. I said that because based on the organizational behavior such as “You’ve probably noticed that pay comes up often when people discuss job satisfaction. For people who are poor or who live in poor countries, pay does correlate with job satisfaction and overall happiness.” (Robbins & Judge, 2012, p. 81). They show that the salary is one of the important issues that McDonald might have in poor countries. For example,
“Brazil is home to more McDonald’s than any other place in the Western Hemisphere, aside from the US. The federal police in Brazil recently announced that they have been investigating McDonald’s for the past several months over allegations that its workers have been laboring in “slave-like conditions.” The case was announced last week, in response to a 17-year-old girl’s complaint, filed in October that she had worked at a São Paulo McDonald’s for eight months without receiving any pay.
The girl testified that when she started at McDonald’s, she had been told to open a bank account to receive her salary via direct deposit. When she gave them her savings-account information, the manager told her to open a checking account. The girl opened the checking account but claims that management continued to make excuses not to pay her. Her mother, Maria das Graças Nonato, initially thought her daughter was lying to her about her earnings but eventually took her to meet with union representatives, who brought the allegations to the federal police.” (Mier, 2013)
Moreover, the other thing must be a serious problem is that even though 80% of McDonald's workers are part-time, the annual staff turnover is 60% (in the USA its 300 %). It's not unusual for their restaurant-workers to quit after just four or five weeks. That is the issues because with in the definition of job satisfied relate to organization behavior is “Reward Inducement System. Individuals develop expectations regarding their pay through negotiations, comparison to others, and promises made. Satisfaction is increased when these salary expectations are met. Likewise individuals develop an expected timetable for advancement. The extent to which these timetables are met also influences the individuals' cognitive evaluation. Pay has a pure instrumental meaning, that is, it is valued as means of purchasing necessary and desirable goods and services. Pay also has an expressive meaning in that it used by many as a major indicator of worth and status. The reward system impacts on an individual’s emotional attachment to the organization by the degree to which one's pay and organizational position validates his or her self-worth and status.” (Scholl, n.d.).

Workers in catering have a bad treatment such as pay and conditions. They are working long shifts in hot, smelly, noisy environments but the wages are low and chances of promotion minimal.
It's obvious that all profits the fast food restaurant can get are from the low salary on the labor of young people. McDonald's is no exception, for example, three-quarters of their workers are under 21 and the production-line system is anybody can grill a meat for the hamburger, and cleaning toilets or smiling at customer needs a bit on training. So there is no need to hiring chefs or qualified staff because those employees do not want to prepare to work for low wages.
As there is no legally-enforced minimum wage in Britain, McDonald's can pay what they like, helping to depress wage levels in the catering trade still further. They said that they are providing jobs for school-leavers and take them on regardless of sex or race but the truth is McDonald's using the advantage by recruiting cheap labor. b. Staff
“Surface-level diversity Differences in easily perceived characteristics, such as gender, race, ethnicity, age, or disability that do not necessarily reflect the ways people think or feel but that may activate certain stereotypes. Deep-level diversity Differences in values, personality, and work preferences that become progressively more important for determining similarity as people get to know one another better.” (Robbins & Judge, 2012, p. 42). In general diversity refers to ‘social differences’ which are created and sustained by individuals. These ‘social differences’ in turn influence individual’s identity and behavior creating different cultures and beliefs. Due to increased globalization diversity is becoming increasingly evident throughout the world, as McDonalds is situated all over the world it therefore greatly influenced by diversity.
Diversity in McDonald’s
McDonalds is not only situated in over 120 countries around the world and therefore it has a very diverse range of customers, but McDonalds also try to satisfy their customers. They must replicate this diversity in their own stores through their employees, suppliers and owner/operators. As a result of these numerous varying cultures and races, discrimination can quickly arise, causing many workplace problems.
Discrimination in the workplace is “the use of any selection procedure which has an adverse impact on the members of any racial, ethnic or sex group with respect to any employment decision...” (Krzystofiak & Newman 1978, p. 221). “Discrimination can arise from any constant form of racial unfairness including ‘racial prejudice’ that refers to attitudes towards race, ‘racial stereotypes’ which relates to racial beliefs and ‘racism’ that refers to certain races being seen as superior” (Pager & Shepherd, 2008). Discrimination can be exceptionally harmful for organization if we do not know how to manage that appropriately.
Impact discrimination has on McDonald’s
As McDonalds reiterates the diversity evident around the world, diversity issues for management, such as discrimination can easily arise leading to many organizational problems. Discrimination in the workplace causes a decreased organizational loyalty and job satisfaction. Discrimination that goes unnoticed in an organization could result in a very hostile and unproductive workplace. For example,
“PHILADELPHIA – Alstrun LLP, which used to own and operate a Philadelphia McDonald’s, will pay $90,000 and furnish significant equitable relief to settle a federal discrimination lawsuit on behalf of a worker with an intellectual disability, the U.S. Equal Employ­ment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) announced today.
The EEOC alleged in the suit that Timothy Artis, a lot and lobby worker at the McDonald’s at 7600 City Line Avenue, was unlawfully harassed based on his intellectual disability, in violation of the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA). Even though Artis successfully performed his job duties, his super­visors, other managers and co-workers repeatedly called him offensive and degrading names because of his disability. The harassment included physical shoving and threats, including one occasion when a co-worker threatened Artis with a box cutter, the EEOC charged in its lawsuit, filed in U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Pennsylvania, Civil Action No. 09-4347.
Artis’s mother complained repeatedly to store officials about the harassment, but the restaurant failed to take appropriate action to stop it. Artis was subsequently compelled to quit due to the unchecked verbal and physical abuse, according to the EEOC.” (McDonald’s Franchise to Pay $90,000, n.d.).
Solution
As a result, the manager must focus on how to improving their organizational diversity management in order to reduce discrimination. It is also essential that managers display openness to diversity as, if management advocates a diverse workforce, it ensures the employees will also ensure that diversity is welcomed throughout the organization. An organization that is able to display a strong commitment to promoting diversity and introducing the view that diversity is not an issue that must be solved but rather and opportunity, reduces the chances of discrimination among workers or between the crew and manager. It is proven that even perceived attempts by an organization to encourage diversity can decrease the effects of discrimination and promote organizational equality in employees. Moreover, the organizational diversity plans should not only look at just employing and welcoming minority groups into the workforce but they should be also prepare for a long-term approach of adapting the culture diversity in their organization to support and retain these diverse individuals. “Diversity exists when groups of people bring their own backgrounds and experiences to an organization or workplace. Managing diversity involves using these resources and experiences for the benefit of the organization. But knowing how to do this requires understanding your own background and how it affects your perspectives, behavior, decision-making and prejudices. A successful manager can build a culture of tolerance through education, training and conflict management strategies”. (Banton, n.d.) Firstly, the organization should pay more attention on their employee backgrounds, cultures and the benefits of diversity in the workforce. Although, diversity training will not contain the embedded stereotypes about different backgrounds, it will raise our sensitivity to equality and inspire us to stop incorrect direction. Moreover, manage diversity which is help to increasing important of relationship between all employees. This relates to a theory called contact hypothesis, which states that, “the more we interact with someone, the less we rely on stereotypes to understand that person” (McShane & Travaglione, 2007, p.77). Because of increasing the interactions between employees, it allows employees with different cultured to effectively work together, promoting diversity, communicate and therefore decreasing the chance of discrimination occurring. In order to decrease discrimination as a result of diversity is by ensuring the procedures of the organizations are standard, equal and includes all minorities, even in higher positions of the organization. Creating a strong sense of fairness in organizational, it can employees with different culture go over the barrel to achieve successful outcomes and become the productive employees. Additionally standard key performance indicators and review systems are proven to reduce racial bias when evaluating performance. A primary motivation for working in a McDonald’s restaurant
In order to improve productivity and success in an organization, managers must look at improving job specialization, to therefore increase the motivation levels of their employees. The best way to do this, while still reaping the benefits from job specialization that why McDonald’s train their crew with different section. Besides, the manager always keep the eyes on their employees and check perform specialized tasks with great care but will also be highly motivated their member so they can improve the productively to achieving the organizational goals. As a result, an important of motivation theory is the Hertzberg two-factor theory, which is a great tool to be used to motivation the crew and help them finish their job well. Especially for the second factor that is motivators or satisfiers. The employee motivation and arise are link together from intrinsic, or dependent, conditions of the job itself. Factors for satisfaction have some point that we need to follow such as responsibility, job satisfaction, recognition, achievement, opportunities for growth, and advancement. Moreover, it is the intrinsic motivators that you would be looking to improve in an individual, in order to increase their motivation and job satisfaction. An effective way to improve motivation would be the good evident to illustrate the Hertzberg’s intrinsic motivators. Because it is seem to ensuring the recognition of good performance in the organization which is one of recognition such as praise, awards and bonuses are great ways to show for the employee who was work hard and have more productivity. Feedback, which is the helpful tool to collect the information of the employee that relate to their job performance with in both positive and constructive, that is one of an essential element of recognition. By increasing an employee’s independence it enables employees to develop skills and knowledge relevant to their tasks and it also helps motivate employees to work on and complete new tasks as they are responsible. Developing employee’s skill and knowledge, through training, not only means they will be capable to perform their relevant tasks, they will also perform their tasks at a higher standard and feel as though they are valued members of the organization and it help to build the satisfy of the employee by create some solution such as help their employee with food stamp and healthcare. For example, Chicago McDonald's worker Nancy Salgado—a single mother, 10-year McDonald's employee making the state minimum wage of $8.25, and activist who has twice joined one-day strikes for higher wages can be taken as an example to show that McDonalds have some steps to help their employee
Conclusion
In conclusion, as McDonalds is a worldwide franchiser corporation, because of that reason McDonalds has a diverse workforce which is impeccable to its success in its global market. To ensure the diversity does not cause discrimination between workers and employer, they must be managed the diversity appropriately. McDonalds already has some diversity management processes set in place, such as, network groups for a diverse range of people like women, African-Americans, Asians etc. Some other recommendations that McDonalds could use to support the gap between cultures and minorities would be to hold a number of group activities such as a team games day to build employee not only inside cooperation but also they might need to have some event outside the organization to connect their employees. An additional way to promote diversity would be to hold an annual multicultural day with all employees, where they dress up in outfits and bring along food that represents their culture. Since McDonalds pay attention more on standardized quality in their products and services, the job specialization must be focus develop on that skill to achieve the new quality that they are set. McDonalds already has some motivation strategies in place such as awarding crew member of the month, quarter and year and they keep that not only in the original store but also make it work in all of their restaurant in around the world. A further recommendation that McDonalds could rewards for a high performing employee each shift to increase motivation the crew member have outstanding performance based reward system, so it can make the rewards more meaningful and give their member more motivation. Through implementing this recommendation employees would be more motivated to increase the productively as their efforts are linked specifically to the rewards. Moreover, it can make their employee believe more on their branch and always have good and happy felling when they go to work at McDonalds.
Reference
James, R. (2009, October 28). A Brief History of McDonald's Abroad. Retrieved from TIME website: http://content.time.com/time/world/article/ 0,8599,1932839,00.html
Robbins, S. P., & Judge, T. A. (2012). What Causes Job Satisfaction? [Job Satisfaction]. In Organizational Behavior (15th ed., p. 81).
Mier, B. (2013, March 4). McDonald's Is Violating Labor Laws in Brazil. Retrieved from Vice website: http://www.vice.com/read/ mcdonalds-is-violating-labor-laws-in-brazil
Scholl, R. W. (n.d.). Job Satisfaction. Retrieved from The University of Rhode Island website: http://www.uri.edu/research/lrc/scholl/webnotes/ Satisfaction.htm
Robbins, S. P., & Judge, T. A. (2012). Diversity [Diversity in Organizations]. In Organizational Behavior (15th ed., p. 42).
McShane, S. & Travaglione, T. (2007). Organisational Behaviour on the Pacific Rim (2nd ed. p. 77)
Pager, D. & Shepherd, H. (2008). The Sociology of discrimination: Racial discrimination in employment, housing, credit, and consumer markets. (vol. 34, p. 181-209).
Krzystofiak, F. & Newman, J. (1978). What is discrimination? An evaluation based on the word of God (i.e., OFCCP, EEOC). Academy of Management Proceedings. (p. 221-224).
McDonald’s Franchise to Pay $90,000 to Settle EEOC Disability Discrimination Lawsuit [White paper]. (n.d.). Retrieved from .S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission website: http://www.eeoc.gov/eeoc/newsroom/release/ 3-2-10.cfm
Banton, C. (n.d.). How to Manage Diversity in the Workplace [White paper]. Retrieved from Globalpost website: http://everydaylife.globalpost.com/ manage-diversity-workplace-1091.html