McDonald's Manager

McDonald's Manager

MrSchroeder

Lombard, IL

Male, 33

I *was* an assistant manager for a McDonald's Franchisee in Tucson, AZ from 2007 to 2008, and was hired with the explicit intention of being management and not a standard crew member. I worked hard in learning the procedures and processes of the corporation, with a goal of a much longer career than I actually had. My every day life evolved while I was there, starting from the least desirable position to overall operations. I wrote a blog detailing my experiences as well.

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Last Answer on March 02, 2014

Best Rated

No Question--just observation from your blog writings, etc.:
Mr. Schroeder, you are an amazing writer. I can't wait to see the movie from the book you are going to write someday (or maybe writing now).

Asked by Sandy Waters over 11 years ago

Thanks :)

Best. Q and A. Ever.

My turn. What would a McDonalds employee say if asked, "What makes McDonalds better than Burger King?"

Asked by shogunn over 11 years ago

I'd say it's the consistency of production.  I actually do have a comparison, having worked at Burger King in my late teens, for about a year and a half as well (I was even low level management the whole time, there much like at McDonald's).  

The very thing that makes McDonald's so exceptional is the volume they put out - there are several quality effects that are overall positive with increased volume of service, not the least of which are the overall effect of the margin of error on customer service decreases significantly, and muscle memory develops much more swiftly. 

So, I'd say, overall, McDonald's just has a better, more developed, more intrinsic system to operations than does Burger King, and it's applied more consistently.

hi I am a manager at McDonalds I was recently hurt at work I have a right knee injury the doctor put me to do sedentary work only what would be the limits of my work

Asked by anonymous over 11 years ago

You have to discuss that with the store's manager or owner/operator.  In my case, I had an injury on the clock, at work, also to my right knee.  I was on 6 weeks sedentary/reduced duty - which kept me at the register or drive thru window.

i have a misdemeanor for possesion of marijauana that i got in 6/10 for a supervisor position at my mcdonalds they do a background check that goes back 3 years. will this disqualify me. i passed the background check to get hired 6/11

Asked by fred over 11 years ago

I can't answer this question for you - be honest and open with the highest ranking person who knows your good work ethic and see how that goes.  There are just a handful of outcomes.

Have you ever had to pay money back for drawer shortages/ safe shortages??? I don't think a manager should have to pay them back, if you suspect someone is stealing? Shouldn't you find that person and hold them responsible???? Thanks

Asked by Coley over 11 years ago

If you suspect someone is stealing, you should address that with the general manager of the store or the owner/operator.  Often, stores or franchises will require managers to pay back money that is not accounted for on their shift.  Cash control is a major part of the responsibility of the manager - however it may or may not be legal in your location.

Did you see a lot of racially-charged arguments between employees or employees and customers?

Asked by Mister Sledge over 11 years ago

I sat thinking about answering this for a while, and initially wasn't going to answer - mostly for what's in the tail end of this post. I decided to just answer it anyway. I'm going to make some generalizations that are probably not true in most cases, but are true in some. The some are the ones we're focused on for this conversation, but keep in mind that *most of the time*, there were not racially-charged incidences. I love people no matter who they are - I don't care about anything but content of character and willingness to work hard. My experience was in Tucson, which has about even mix of whites and hispanics, with about 20% of the population being black or native American. Between the general entitled "in charge" attitude of the Whites, and the general entitled "the US came to us" attitude of the Mexicans, there was great opportunity for racial discourse to take a negative turn. Every now and again, interactions became racially-charged. In one situation, I had to explain to a pair of upper-middle class white women that they and their 7 children were going to have to leave, because of the racist remarks they made about one of my employees while ordering. They got incredibly angry about this and started calling me a "beaner lover". Yes. That is what the women said. I responded with, "Why, yes I am. My wife is of Mexican descent. You're right! Now beat it and don't come back or you'll be trespassed". Another time, one excellent team member (who I wrote about in my blog without a name, his name was Chad), was working in the kitchen and doing a great job of holding his position. He spent about 20 minutes being messed with by the two Mexican women who were also working in the kitchen, taking in stride the remarks about how white people are so slow, and Chad is just like all white boys, no stamina - then made lewd comments comparing Mexican and white men in bed. At this point, I stopped the conversation and explained to the two that their racism wouldn't be accepted any longer and they should start making fun of the way he looks or smells instead of the color of his skin. The reason I left McDonald's was actually racially-charged actions. I was transferred to a store in which the Store Manager was incredibly poorly performing, but the entire staff was either related to her or had worked at the store (with her poor standards) for 5 years or more. The Owner/Operator moved me into the store specifically to identify problems and do what it takes to resolve them, so that I could eventually become Store Manager at the store. The staff was explained this - including the Store Manager I would be replacing in time. Also, I was one of two non-hispanic employees and I was tasked with basically identifying every single manager and staff members' short comings and assisting them in turning those opportunities into strengths. I was more than capable, but I received fierce anti-white sentiment day in and day out for a month. I reported it repeatedly, and the owner, who was of Mexican descent, flat out told me that "White people can't be harassed due to race". On my last day at that store, at that franchise, and at McDonald's, I was attacked by 5 women, including the store manager, with a variety of things: a 16 inch spatula, steel baking pans and even a glass coffee mug. It was all on camera, and the Operations Manager (a Director level position in the franchise) was in the store and did not do a single thing about it. They attacked me because I was trying to explain to them the "by the books" procedure for cooking breakfast sausages "to level" (the number prepared for maximum freshness/availability, I discussed this in depth in another post). Throughout this attack, they were screaming (literal screaming) profanities and racist remarks at me. I'm serious. I was trying to demonstrate to a group of employees how to properly adhere to procedure for cooking breakfast sausage, when I was physically assaulted and chased out of the store with them screaming racially motivated hatespeech at me. While that sounds hyperbolic, it was a terrible situation. I called the Owner/Operator and then the police. When the Owner/Operator refused to show up, and the Director of Operations explained that - somehow - none of the 12 cameras in the store were recording at that time, I knew it was futile. It was my word against 6 peoples' word that the incident happened (no customers hung around to speak to the police), and the police - while they believed my story - had nothing to indicate it occurred. I'm not legally allowed to explain what happened after that.

I like mcdonald's a lot, but one thing that drives me nuts: the smell. Every location has that that signature smell that sticks to your clothing for the rest of the day. Does McDonald's try and better ventilate their locations to minimize this?

Asked by stankonia over 11 years ago

Dat smell.  McDonald's all smell the same because of consistency.  What you should want is to avoid any McDonald's that does not smell the same as all the rest.  They are doing things wrong.