mcdonalds hr case study

McDonalds Human Resources: What You Need to Know

Whats Inside?

The position of human resources in mcdonalds structure, mcdonalds human resources philosophy , learning and development programs, recruitment and selection, application review, video or phone interviews, onsite visit, pre-employment screening, notification, competitive pay and benefits, resources to get the job done.

In 2021, McDonalds was recognized as the world's largest fast-food chain. Statistically, it served 69 million customers in more than 100 countries . The human resources division at McDonalds played a critical role in that success. 

Commentators attribute the success of McDonalds to several factors . These include its innovative business strategy, focus on client satisfaction, and capacity for growth. However, one of the most critical components of McDonalds success is its workforce; for this reason, it is necessary to examine McDonalds human resources practices .

A Glassdoor review found a 3.5-star overall rating on a scale of 5 for McDonalds human resources practices. Additionally, 6 in 10 employees said they would suggest McDonalds as a place to work. These numbers imply that McDonalds workers are satisfied with their jobs. Perhaps one of the main factors contributing to McDonalds great success.

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McDonalds human resources plans, implements, and develops strategies for hiring, training , assessing, and rewarding employees. The primary objective is to provide the company with a competitive edge.

McDonalds human resources is one of the most recognized in its industry. Its responsibility is to ensure that the right people are in the right places with the right abilities. It also involves connecting the right persons with the correct positions at the right time and cost.

Global McDonald's operations are developed and aligned with its plan-to-win operational strategy. McDonalds human resources also function to feed into this overall strategy. The core tenet of this strategy is the requirement to deliver an outstanding client experience.

The plan-to-win strategy focuses on products, people, place, price, and promotion ( 5Ps ). With the combination of these 5Ps, McDonalds believes that it can achieve its mission of continuous improvement of customer experience. McDonald's human resource strategy comprises preparation, selection, education, performance, remuneration, and staff maintenance.

Related:  Human Resources Courses for Working Professionals ​

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The corporate strategy of McDonalds aligns with its human resources management. This aligns with the organization's adaptable and dynamic structure, especially the role of human resources within the McDonalds structure. McDonalds organizational structure is functional and focuses on different business components and functions as the basis for determining the relationships and reporting lines between these distinct components.

A snippet from McDonald's executive team organizational chart , which shows the role of human resources, is shown below.

Heidi Capozzi is the Executive Vice President and Global Chief People Officer of McDonalds, responsible for managing the company's global human resources operations. According to a recent analysis of the HR reporting structure, 13% of HR directors at different organizations report directly to the CEO . This is the case for McDonalds human resources. The findings probably demonstrate how much employers value human resources in today's fast-paced workplace.

At McDonalds, human resources practices are given more prominence and significance. Studies have indicated that when HR reports directly to the CEO, the CEO values HR's contribution to the firm and sees it as a strategic function. As a result, HR might become more prominent and essential within the organization. 

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‘We're not just a hamburger company serving people; we're a people company serving hamburgers.’- McDonalds . 

McDonald’s human resources philosophy promotes a positive work environment, prioritizes employee satisfaction, and offers competitive wages and benefits . The company’s approach to human resources has been vital in maintaining a satisfied workforce that delivers both quality and quantity of work. McDonalds human resources vision is to be the best employer in each community around the world. Being the best means opportunities, training development , satisfaction, rewards, and recognition.

The company has constantly reminded its employees that it is committed to their well-being. A common people promise at McDonalds is that - To all our present and future employees, we'd like you to know that we are committed. “We Value You, Your Growth, and Your Contributions."

To address internal and external variables, HRM practitioners at McDonald's have used a variety of solutions at both the operational and strategic levels. These include recruitment and onboarding techniques , employee engagement programs, e-enabling HR processes, ethical sourcing policies, and global HR strategies. 

The company's HR technology trends include staff involvement and connection through mobile applications and social media platforms and training and assessment using digital technologies like VR and analytics.

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‘Teach skills and values that last for a lifetime.’

McDonald's provides a range of training and development opportunities. These aim to improve staff members' abilities and expertise and support their professional development and the business's success. McDonald’s human resources uses a blended learning approach to apply training programs. These methods include the following:

McTalent Development Program is a fast-track development program for externally hired talents to join the Store Management Team. It provides tailor-made training for participants to advance to restaurant general managers and mid-managers rapidly.

The Star Competition is an iconic employee event with training, learning, and fun. It is a platform for participants to show their consistent training results and team spirit with rewards and recognition for top performers.

Classroom training is an interactive event with clear learning objectives. The training is held in or out of the restaurant and guided by professional trainers for effective knowledge transfer. Activities include webinar broadcast, capstone course, restaurant experience , case study, visits and tours, online assessment, etc.

On-the-job coaching and digital learning . The approach enables participants to begin their self-learning journey and work independently to acquire critical operational knowledge and standards while providing the participant with the chance to work shoulder-to-shoulder with a coach. This builds practical restaurant skills and demonstrates how the concepts work in a working environment.

Hamburger University is a critical component of McDonalds training and development program. It instructs high-potential restaurant managers, mid-managers, and owner-operators in restaurant management. Hamburger University students take courses about restaurant operations, leadership skills , customer service, operations, and procedures. The skills learned from the university are a lifetime gain for employees. 

The foundation of the McDonald’s training system is providing training when and where it is needed. Team members at McDonald's can become proficient and focused on the particular procedures and policies of the system through practical training. A portion of the staff will continue to work at the restaurant as vital parts of the team, while others may choose to go into management. Whether in an entry-level position or throughout a career, McDonald's training offers life skills that may be applied to various scenarios.

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McDonalds follows a specific recruitment process for most of its locations. However, some places might have their own unique hiring process. Generally, the recruitment and selection at McDonalds follows the process explained in this section, adapted from the McDonalds website . 

For the majority of positions, basic eligibility requirements apply. These include being at least 15 years old, having the ability to multitask, excellent communication skills, attentiveness, and a collaborative attitude. But, depending on the position, specific requirements could change; therefore, reading and comprehending the job description is critical before applying. Usually taking an hour or so, the application procedure requires applicants to submit their availability, employment history, and contact information. A 'personality' test is also given to evaluate attributes necessary for the position.

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Once submitted, the applications undergo a review process by hiring managers . This assessment includes an examination of the answers to the personality test. Candidates whose qualifications and personalities align with the company's needs are then scheduled for an interview, either online, via phone, or in person.

Regardless of the interview format, meticulous preparation is crucial. Video interview tips are beneficial for those scheduled for online interviews. In contrast, phone interview preparation closely mirrors video interviews, with the main distinction being the absence of a webcam setup.

Candidates invited for in-person interviews should arrive punctually and well-prepared, bringing essential documents such as identification and social security cards, along with a resume. Though some documents may not be needed during the interview, their presence demonstrates organizational skills and quick thinking.

McDonald's conducts criminal and educational background checks and standard procedures for potential hires. Although pre-employment drug and alcohol testing is not routine, the company retains the right to administer them under specific circumstances, such as suspicion of impairment, leading to potential disciplinary action.

McDonalds gives job offers to those who complete the interview process and pre-employment screening. During the initial phone call, discussions about availability and scheduling an official reporting date occur. Depending on the candidate's experience level, the initial weeks may involve training.

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‘Pay Competitively’

To draw and keep talent across the board, McDonalds offers competitive pay that is appropriate for the role held by a Company employee. The company assesses competitive wage data and market trends to establish acceptable wage ranges and guarantee compliance with all relevant wage and hour legislation.

According to review aggregator Glassdoor , the robust benefits package at McDonald's includes insurance, health and wellness coverage, vacation and time off, and financial and retirement benefits. Overall, the pay and benefits were rated 3-star by US employees via Glassdoor. 

Competitive - Pay opportunities are designed to attract, engage, and motivate personnel by matching the external worth of a position. McDonalds routinely assesses pay rates' competitiveness in comparison to peer organizations that match the company size, scale, performance requirements, and talent pool.

Non-Discriminatory - Company employees are compensated at a level commensurate with their role, responsibility, impact, location, experience, knowledge, skills and performance, irrespective of gender, race, ethnicity or any other similar protected personal characteristics. This is backed by the company’s Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion (DEI) policy .

The McDonalds compensation philosophy goes beyond mere payment. It is designed to ignite exceptional performance, celebrate achievements, and shape behaviours that embody company values. McDonalds believes in clear communication so that pay programs are transparently explained through regular updates and a focus on simplicity. This ensures that every employee understands the link between their efforts and rewards. Furthermore, the company operates with the utmost integrity, adhering to all relevant legal and regulatory guidelines to build trust and foster a responsible work environment.

‘Employees need fundamental resources to serve customers’

McDonald's empowers its employees to shine with the tools and support they need to excel. From well-equipped kitchens and training programs to flexible work schedules, McDonald’s human resources fosters a work environment prioritizing productivity and well-being. This recipe for success ensures happy employees and, ultimately, satisfied customers.

McDonald's human resources fuels crew success with ample resources: strategically staffed restaurants, well-equipped kitchens, comprehensive training, and flexible scheduling. This empowered workforce tackles every order confidently, crafting consistent meals and radiating positive vibes, ultimately resulting in satisfied customers and a thriving environment for all.

It can be concluded that McDonalds human resources has implemented several initiatives to improve the performance of the employees, the organizational culture, and the engagement of the employees with the organization. Drawing lessons from the McDonalds HR framework for improved organizational outcomes is crucial.

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Training Industry

Case study: how mcdonald’s integrates learning into the employee experience.

Striving to be the “best first job,” McDonald’s knows many of its employees are at the beginning of their career path. Some, still in high school, may not have the resources to attend college and are beginning to wonder, “What happens next?” Some may be working to finish high school or college to gain the skills and education requirements needed to take the next step in their careers. Still others may be looking to sharpen their English skills to communicate better with customers and open more doors in the future.

With an estimated 1.9 million employees dispersed across the globe, supporting employees’ unique personal and professional goals would call for an innovative, comprehensive, solution — which is why McDonald’s launched Archways to Opportunity ® in 2015.

The Archways to Opportunity program helps McDonald’s employees across the globe improve their English skills, earn a high school diploma, work toward a college degree, and create an education and career plan with the help of career advisors. With the recently launched Archways to Careers app, McDonald’s employees can now access many of these professional development opportunities — and new ones — at their fingertips. Rob Lauber, chief learning officer at McDonald’s, says the app helps employees “find and unlock” their passions, identify related career opportunities, and make a plan to achieve them.

Let’s examine how McDonald’s has integrated professional development into the employee experience to set its workforce up for success not only at the Golden Arches but in life.

Archways to Opportunity: A Brief Overview

Since its launch in 2015, Archways to Opportunity has :

• Awarded high school and college tuition assistance to over 35,000 employees, totaling over $90 million.
• Had over 750 employees graduate from its career online high school program and over 7,250 employees graduate from English Under the Arches (launched in 2007).
• Increased access to education for over 50,000 people through its various programs.

While these initiatives undoubtedly benefit employees, they’re also good for business. For example, McDonald’s believes English Under the Arches has helped retain employees. Through a blended learning approach, the initiative seeks to teach employees the “English skills that restaurant employees need most,” such as common words and phrases they will encounter on the job.

McDonald’s education benefits are another way it attracts and retain employees in an industry currently facing a major labor shortage . Its employees are eligible for tuition assistance after working at least 15 hours per week for 90 days. Crew workers are eligible to receive $2,500 per year, and managers are eligible to receive $3,000 per year.

As John Colborn, director of the Aspen Institute’s Skills for America’s Future initiative, explains , “When companies like McDonald’s provide these kinds of programs, they not only enhance life opportunities for their workers, they also gain a more engaged and talented workforce.”

With the benefits the Archways to Opportunity program has brought to both employees and the company, Lauber says it “made perfect sense” to take the next step in supporting employees’ professional growth: launching a career development app.

Archways to Careers: Vision, Strategy and Measurement

McDonald’s launched its career development app, Archways to Careers, to supplement the Archways to Opportunity program with “personalized, one-on-one” professional guidance, Lauber says. By providing learning on demand, the app also aims to help reduce common barriers (e.g. transportation, costs and scheduling conflicts) for employees looking to advance their careers.

Unlike an in-person course or workshop, Lauber says, an app proved the best way to “touch as many people as possible.” For busy restaurant workers, it’s critical that they can access everything from career coaching to English courses on the bus ride to work, between the breakfast and lunch rush, or in the comfort of their own home.

With help from an existing partner and a coaching company, the app took roughly 10 months to build. A key part of the process was seeking and implementing feedback on the app’s progress to ensure the finished product would meet employees’ needs and deliver the value it was expected to, Lauber says. As the app is largely targeted toward learners who are just entering the workforce, McDonald’s decided to “support employees more directly” through one-on-one career coaching sessions with objective, third-party career advisers, Lauber says. According to the press release , the credentialed advisors will help restaurant employees “chart a path to achieve the future job or career they desire.”

Employees can also view education requirements and salaries for roles and industries that, based on conversations with employees, McDonald’s found to be of high interest, such as health care, technology and finance.

Measurement

McDonald’s will measure the app’s success in several ways, including monitoring downloads and tracking user engagement with career advisers on the platform. Of course, Lauber says, “Like any app, it’s only as good as its current version … we’ll be looking for ways to improve the app going forward with future releases.”

A Learning Experience

The Archways to Careers app expands the reach of McDonald’s career development opportunities. However, employees also gain numerous opportunities for personal and professional development on the job, whether it’s learning to communicate with co-workers of different backgrounds or using soft skills like empathy to understand customers’ points of view and provide stellar customer service. Lauber says, “The experiences people in our restaurants get, just from working there, set [them] up with excellent life skills.”

McDonald’s goal is to engrain professional development into the employee experience. As a result, even if employees don’t take advantage of the career development opportunities they’re offered, they still benefit from a “host of development opportunities while working in the restaurant,” Lauber says. They are constantly learning new skills, and refining old ones, on the job.

Although McDonald’s employees are each unique in their career aspirations, backgrounds and personal interests, they have one thing in common: an employee experience shaped by learning and development.

• #Archyways to Opportunity
• #employee experience
• #learning application
• #mobile learning
• #professional development
• #training application
• #Workforce Development

Sarah Gallo

Sarah Gallo is the associate editor at Training Industry, Inc. and the co-host of The Business of Learning, the Training Industry podcast .

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Audrey Chin, HR director for McDonald’s Restaurants, speaks to Sabrina Zolkifi about how word of mouth has helped the company recruit some of the best and brightest talent.

“We offer our crew incentives to spread the word, and many of our new hires come from referrals,” Audrey Chin, HR director for McDonald’s Restaurants, says.

Chin is particularly proud of McDonald’s commitment to building fair recruitment practices and a highly diverse workforce.

“We were a pioneer in the hiring of mature workers here in Singapore and our employees come from all ages, races and walks of life.

“This has helped us create a fun and dynamic environment in the workplace and gives us a greater pool of talent to draw on,” she says.

On top of actively building a heterogeneous workforce, Chin says the company also keeps in mind candidates’ potential to be developed into future leaders during the interview process.

The company offers both full-time and part-time opportunities for candidates so “there is something for him or her at McDonald’s”.

But Chin admits it’s a challenge to hire because of stiff market competition.

Therefore, she says McDonald’s was forced to think creatively when structuring its recruitment strategies so it could maintain the inflow of talent.

We are looking to deepen our relationship with the community and offer even more job opportunities to the locals.

“McDonald’s has a fun and caring environment for our staff and we always look to train and develop leaders from within and propel them ahead. Our restaurants can be found in every corner of Singapore and this proximity to work lace also attracts a lot of our employees,” Chin says.

She adds it’s important for leaders to identify those who are aspiring for a long-term career future in McDonald’s to join the company with a business mindset, excellent service mentality and leadership qualities.

“We recruit and offer them a series of training and development opportunities to develop them into the next generation of leaders. It is always important to look for and hire people who are able to succeed current leadership team so that the leaders can move on to their desired career progression.”

It is also important that senior leaders are involved in the entire talent development process, starting with recruitment.

“They also help out during National Hiring Days which happens twice a year. They are out in the streets, together with the restaurant managers and office staff. Other than team-bonding, it also gives them the opportunity to better understand the needs and challenges at the ground-level and hence develop solutions that work even better for our restaurants.”

Having a strong foundation in recruitment not only ensures a steady flow of talent into the company, but it is also important because having “the right hires provide good and efficient service to our customers in our restaurants to achieve the business goals”.

McDonald’s also goes a step further when developing its recruitment strategy by having all senior management and general and administration teams undergo up to four weeks of training in the restaurants before they embark on their respective roles.

“This is an excellent programme for them to develop strategies that are based on the restaurant operation needs, customers and business goals in mind,” Chin says.

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CASE STUDY: McDonald’s UK measures benefits of implementing employee centric HR technology

Hr technology to improve the experience of front-line teams and deliver business efficiencies, agility and innovation.

McDonald’s is one of the world’s largest fast-food chains, serving over 69 million customers daily in over 100 countries. They are one of the UK’s biggest employers with over 136,000 people working in its network of over 1,300 franchisee and company owned restaurants.

McDonald’s UK were using an outdated version of a tier 1 HR system, based on on-premise technology. With upgrade costs mirroring those of an overhaul and significant frustration in the business, the time was right to go to market. The incumbent system offered a poor user experience by modern standards, particularly on mobile, and there were significant limitations in functionality. Most challenging was the ongoing and unpredictable cost of change which was unpalatable in a Franchising environment. Excessive management time was being wasted and staff were frustrated with poor user experience.

We knew we had a legacy system that was no longer fit for our business. Our people were becoming increasingly frustrated as the system wasn’t easy to use – which meant lots of additional training and support. Additionally, we had to put some costly workarounds in place, plus the ongoing cost of change had become prohibitive and caused the halt of too many great initiatives. HR System Project Lead at McDonald’s

elementsuite solution

As part of their wider strategy to embrace the power of digital technology, McDonald’s UK needed to replace this legacy HR system. They needed a solution that was:

• Mobile first, intuitive and easy to use
• Self-service, automating process and eliminating paper records
• All inclusive, with ability to access all information in one place
• Flexible enough to accommodate the differing needs of Franchisee organisations
• Provide real time alerts, dashboards and analytics to target action and deliver insight
• Nestle at the heart of a sophisticated people technology landscape

After an extensive review of the HR software market, McDonald’s UK selected element suite as their partner for delivering a new digital HR platform named ‘MyStuff2.0’. The main criteria for selecting elementsuite was that it needed to be intuitive, easy to use and mobile friendly.  element suite was able to offer choice and flexibility, to replace the legacy HR system, integrate with 3 rd party Workforce Management, provide Payroll outputs for all Franchisees, automate paper based Performance Reviews and provide structured orientation training.

In addition, the system was highly branded according to McDonald’s requirements – featuring a responsive design for use on all mobile devices, and including federated authentication and single sign on (where users can sign on with their social media accounts) and integration to other systems via a flexible landing / navigation page.

Big Bang implementation

Modules implemented:

element suite delivered on time, to budget due to the power of its inbuilt delivery methodology, and the strong partnership between the McDonald’s and element suite project teams. Go-live was achieved pre-COVID-19 with an overnight “Big Bang” deployment across all 1,300 restaurants and 200+ Franchisee operations following a pilot in 50 sites.  End users rapidly adopted the system with over 30,000 unique log-ins achieved on peak days.  This high level of usage was enabled by the intuitive user experience with in built Help and Support including ‘how to’ guides and videos.

Significant process improvements, cost savings and staff engagement have been achieved since implementation.

Some of the other business benefits associated with the project included:

• Reduction in total license and service costs
• Reduction in 90-day turnover of staff
• Only one username and password required for People Systems (single password technology)
• 90% of surveyed employees described they user experience as “Good” or better
• All areas of the system accessible by mobile device
• Improved handling of sick leave
• A wider range of responsibilities within the system can be securely delegated to others
• Significant reduction in the number to support calls
• Improved method of delivery for payroll files reducing time, costs and errors

COVID-19 and legislative changes

Since deployment, the COVID-19 crisis meant that system changes had to be rapidly implemented to accommodate changes in UK legislation, and to support the furloughing of a large proportion McDonald’s workforce, along with the reporting of the necessary absence and payroll changes. Owing to the agility and flexibility of the elementsuite platform, these changes were seamlessly designed, built, tested and deployed in rapid and continuous release cycles to support the changing profile of the workforce.

elementsuite has enabled McDonald’s to deliver a modern, digital people platform for all their staff that could easily be accessed through mobile devices. I’m delighted that we’ve also been able to demonstrate the agility required for McDonald’s to respond to the challenges of COVID-19 alongside other ongoing McDonald’s policy changes and roadmap enhancements. Steve Elcock, CEO, elementsuite.

Key Benefits

• Reduction in costs
• Everything accessible by mobile device
• Reduced time, costs and errors in payroll

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Please note you do not have access to teaching notes, mcdonald’s serves up hr success … in 91 countries around the world.

Management Development Review

ISSN : 0962-2519

Article publication date: 1 February 1997

What is the McDonald’s recipe for international success? Describes how the company translates its winning human resource practices into many different cultural settings.

• Fast‐food industry
• International trade

(1997), "McDonald’s serves up HR success … in 91 countries around the world", Management Development Review , Vol. 10 No. 1, pp. 42-43. https://doi.org/10.1108/EUM0000000004355

Copyright © 1997, MCB UP Limited

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Case Study: McDonald’s Responds to the COVID-19 Crisis

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The special report by Aon focuses on the impact of the COVID-19 crisis on society and the economy, and outlines methods for reintroducing fundamental aspects of working, traveling, and convening.

Key takeaways, the need for organizations to prioritize risk management strategies in the wake of covid-19., how companies can better manage their human capital in a post-covid world., how companies can pursue growth and innovation opportunities while still managing risk..

In Aon’s special report, Helping Organizations Chart a Course to The New Better, Aon reveals exclusive research on the issues rising from the COVID-19 crisis and methods of re-introducing fundamental aspects of society and the economy: working, traveling and convening. As part of this new report, leading global businesses and innovative thinkers reveal their strategies and action plans as they make their way to a New Better. Here’s McDonald’s story. McDonald’s Corporation operates in nearly 120 countries around the world. As a large global restaurant chain founded in 1955, it has extensive experience in adjusting to changing business conditions. While a potential pandemic was already in the organization’s risk preparation program, COVID-19 has impacted every community in ways no one could have fully forecast, and its rapid acceleration pushed the company to move quickly. McDonald’s level of risk preparedness, experience in managing health and safety concerns, and supply chain planning all came into play. “Covid-19 became part of everyone’s job,” said Bill Garrett, senior vice president and head of the U.S. Covid-19 response team at McDonald’s. “We pushed ourselves to think differently about many things including menu, operating procedures, and how to serve our customers and employees (in both restaurants and corporate offices) in new and different ways that prioritized their safety.”

Mobilizing Leadership Teams to Enable Agility to Make Better Decisions

As part of its response to the pandemic, McDonald’s developed an agile model and team structure that supported integrated decision making. A COVID-19 leadership team led the charge, reporting to McDonald’s U.S. senior leadership, which initially met three times daily to address quickly changing information and evolving recommendations. Subgroups, focused on a specific area of the business, brought their own solutions—for example, a team focused on enhancing more than 50 processes in U.S. restaurants as part of the swiftest operational transformation in the company’s history; another team focused solely on engaging with third party experts to provide ongoing counsel and expertise on emerging science in infection prevention and control and share best practices to mitigate the spread of COVID-19. Employee resources and support were also critically important, with sub teams focused on office re-openings or dedicated to employee health and wellness. This structure allowed the company to address the pandemic on multiple levels in a targeted way—and agility was crucial. “We have empowered our functional leaders to make necessary decisions to help protect people and our business, but we also wanted to provide consistency in our approach to the pandemic to ensure we emerged stronger than ever from this crisis – having common principles supported this approach,” Garrett said.

Using Data and Feedback to Build Trust and Confidence in Operating Restaurants and Offices

Integrated decision making was at the heart of driving safety focused procedures for McDonald’s crew and corporate employees. McDonald’s opened a new state-of-the-art headquarters in downtown Chicago in 2018, but its open concept required a cross-functional team of HR, legal, global safety, and others to create an office toolkit that addressed multiple dimensions of working in an open-concept design during Covid-19.  The goal is to help ensure that employees are safe and feel confident—and the collaborative approach is successful. “People were surprised at how safe they felt when they walked into the office, so we were very proud of the team that worked together to make that happen,” says Sheri Malec, Senior Director of Workplace Solutions at McDonald’s. “In reflecting on lessons learned during this time, one of my key takeaways is agility. The situation is changing so rapidly so you have to be ready to respond as new data comes out or new scientific recommendations are released.”

Accelerating Employee Support Pre- and Post-Pandemic

Along with many other organizations, the pandemic has meant McDonald’s is now re-examining its thinking about the corporate workforce post-pandemic. The flexibility the company had already put in place before COVID-19 struck laid a strong foundation for changing working conditions and best supporting employees. “We already had a system to support our people’s personal needs during the workday,” said Malec. “The flexibility and working models we had before the pandemic really set us up well to adapt to workforce changes.” General support around health and wellness was key at McDonald’s along with supporting managers so they could help their people. “We gave them the tools to understand how different employees would be affected and make sure they’re adjusting accordingly,” said Malec.   This case study originally appeared with the special report, Helping Organizations Chart a Course to The New Better. Check out the full report for defining moments of the pandemic, case studies of leading companies navigating change, key insights, and more.

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How Can Case Studies Help You Crack HR Interviews?

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• A case study is intended to help you put yourself in the shoes of a manager and think like one.
• It gives a precise idea of the HR concepts when you practice them through case studies.
• Solving them will allow you to test your analytical, reasoning, leadership, and decision-making abilities.

Above all, it helps you understand how the HR role works in organizations. Hence, a case study should be an integral part of your learning in order to complete such tasks. 

So, What's The Gist Of Any HR Case Study?

A case study cannot be solved in a single way. When you begin working on an HR case study, you will develop your own perspective on it. However, the following are general steps that, for the most part, remain consistent and effective in solving it.

1. Identifying the problem: 

• Determine the subject of your analysis and what it relates to. 
• Identify the key problems and issues in the case study.

2. Conducting research & providing background information:

• Lay the groundwork with background information, key facts, and the most immediate concerns.
• Demonstrate that you did your homework on the issues related to the problem of the case study.

3. Propose solutions: 

• Outline & evaluate the different aspects of the case study and provide a specific and feasible solution(s).
• Explain why you chose it & support it with the evidence you gathered.

4. Consider Alternatives :

When solving a problem or conducting a case study, there are many alternative processes to adopt to achieve the solution to it.

• It is always vital to analyze the root of the cause: What is the main problem in the context of your topic, questions that are suitable for the analysis, or tools to be used.
• Conduct interviews & surveys.
• The Secret Route : SWOT Analysis - study the history of the company, and highlight strengths & weaknesses that are appropriate for the problem.

The structure is as important as the substance in an HR case study: Start with the introduction, and provide background information, alternatives & recommendations. Finally, follow up with a solution that has backup analysis and is supported by theoretical concepts and a conclusion.

Master Contemporary HR Management & Analytics Practices With HR Case Studies From HUL & UNICEF HR Leaders & Apply Your Learnings In A Capstone Project.

How did mcdonald’s cope during the pandemic - an hr case study.

As an iconic brand, McDonald’s boasts over 36,000 restaurants across the world, operating in 175 countries. McDonald’s, however, sees itself as more than just cooked potatoes & burger patties. It is not only responsible for its fast-food extravaganza, but also for its employees.

The Problem:

Though this fast-food chain appears unassailable, it bore the brunt of the immediate & game-changing effects of the pandemic like any other corporation. Simply put, McDonald’s is a franchise business and these small business owners are subject to their own discretion & country’s legislation to follow. Offering global solutions with uniformity, standardization, and cohesiveness to such a landscape is undoubtedly complex.

In 2021, McDonald's HR department's core concern became the lack of timely and effective communication. During an interview with Key Media, Burchfield, McDonald's Director of People Strategy, stated that they were stumped as to how to interact with frontline staff who didn't have email addresses and how to reassure them that they are and will be there for them throughout the process. This became the starting point for them when it came to resolving their business issues.

Research & Background Information:

According to Gallup, 74% of employees believe they are missing out on internal news because their communications department isn't up to the standard. Furthermore, 33% of employees believe that a lack of open communication leads to a drop in employee morale.

Good communication always leads to the nourishment of employees, involvement of employees, and to have a better understanding of their jobs. Nevertheless, McDonald’s faced communication barriers for a certain time due to mixed messages, different backgrounds, language barriers, fear of higher management, and employees’ lack of interpersonal relations.

The Solution:

Implementing technology that allows for streamlined and effective communication became the overarching goal for McDonald's. There's no denying the fact that technology has revolutionalized HR leaders' lives in the last year and digitalization helped companies pivot towards remote management.

It was the same case with McDonald’s as well. At the beginning of the year 2022, they adopted bots & AI for enhancing their recruitment strategy and reshaping the employee lifecycle. Besides, they collaborated with Amazon Alexa to enable people to apply for jobs using voice commands and are trying to create a stronger alumni network to improve the employee experience and lifecycle.

Read: The Comprehensive Guide to HR Management Salaries in India

The bottom line of this hr case study.

Is the solution always guaranteed to work? No, keep in mind that we live in a Dynamic World. Today's strategy could spell disaster tomorrow. You must keep up with current developments and contribute your own unique perspective.

Sometimes the circumstances or root cause can be the same within a corporation. But the solution can differ based on external factors like location, salaries, etc. Considering the above example: The above solution for the recruitment crisis of adopting technology might have been solved in various locations for McDonald’s. But not in Medford, Oregon. 

During the pandemic, they turned to a bizarre solution of seeking 14 to 15-year-olds to apply for jobs, which complies with US labor laws to battle its shortage of workers. BBC confirmed its success in its reports that McDonald’s has seen a spike in applications since making the offer. 

McDonald's isn't the first fast-food chain to turn to younger employees to fill open positions. Burger King and Wendy's branches are employing similar strategies. Thus, it is not about one parameter but focusing on every other factor that involves in the problem statement is crucial. 

The gist of any HR case study: Ask the right questions, analyze the past data, back it up with facts & figures, try alternatives and conclude.

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Ambitious goals, locally delivered: McDonald's UK & Ireland

Case study on how McDonald's achieved ambitious goals with a focus on local delivery

Those golden arches are recognised the world over. With more than 38,000 locations globally (1,400 in the UK and Ireland), fast food chain McDonald’s is uniquely placed to give something back to the many communities it serves. Through its global independent non-profit Ronald McDonald House Charities, it supports families with sick and injured children, helping them stay together near hospitals and healthcare facilities. Its franchise model is a real strength when it comes to connecting with the community, says James Thorne, Senior Director, People Lead, Europe. ‘If you go all the way back, the reason for franchising our business is so that you can back local businesspeople in the communities they live and work in. We want our franchisees to be entrepreneurs within their local communities and to focus on what matters to their communities.’

Organisation : McDonald’s UK & Ireland

Sector : Hospitality

Size : 130,000 people

Connecting with community

McDonald’s UK & Ireland’s sustainability plan, Plan for Change, contains community and people-related commitments under four key pillars: Planet Positive, Great Food, Great Restaurants and People Positive. One commitment states: ‘We will help our communities gain new skills and open doors through training, work experience and equal employment opportunities.’ This means having a youth worker in every restaurant by 2024, supporting 3,000 apprentices by 2025, and helping 1 million people gain new skills and access jobs by 2030. ‘It’s about leveraging our strengths, and one has always been around giving people opportunities,’ says Thorne.

To help deliver its goal of a youth worker in every restaurant by 2024, McDonald’s has partnered with Children in Need. ‘The aspiration is to leverage our system to help communities,’ says Thorne, adding that the youth workers and other partners will work with franchisees on the issues that are most important to the community.

While Plan for Change is full of ambitious goals, Thorne emphasises the importance of not forgetting the other things that customers care about – for example, litter. ‘People care about seeing a McDonald’s fries wrapper on their local high street,’ he says. ‘That is the foundation of genuinely supporting the community: taking care of local environments. We’ve always done litter picks.’

Role of the people profession

‘We used a lot of our talent and future talent to develop Plan for Change,’ says Thorne, adding that the strong connection with purpose displayed by the younger generation meant the plan was more ambitious than it might have otherwise been. ‘That purpose – why people show up to work – is about feeding and fostering communities. We need to make sure that link and synergy is well understood across the business.’

The people profession has to be able to articulate that purpose across the business and the wider ecosystem, such as through the supply chain and franchise network. While there is flexibility around how franchisees operate, they are held to the same standards as the corporate business, and the people team works with suppliers on issues like diversity. The people team has a presence across all cross-functional business activity. ‘Without activating our people, we are not going to be able to achieve anything,’ says Thorne.

The aspiration is to leverage our strength and our system to help communities.

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Onboarding New Employees in a Hybrid Workplace

• Dawn Klinghoffer,
• Karen Kocher,
• Natalie Luna

New research from Microsoft on how much time new hires should spend in the office during their first 90 days.

As you’re navigating hybrid work, it’s a good moment to assess how your onboarding processes enable or empower your new hires to thrive. Researchers at Microsoft have conducted and identified studies that suggest that onboarding to a new role, team, or company is a key moment for building connections with the new manager and team and doing so a few days in person provides unique benefits. But just requiring newcomers to be onsite full time doesn’t guarantee success. The authors explain and offer examples of how onboarding that truly helps new employees thrive in the modern workplace is less about face time and more about intention, structure, and resources.

During the pandemic, companies around the world explored new ways of working that challenged long-held assumptions and beliefs about where work gets done. Many companies, including Microsoft , saw the benefits of flexible work and wanted to offer employees a chance to continue to work in a hybrid environment, while balancing the needs of the organization.

• Dawn Klinghoffer is the head of people analytics at Microsoft.
• KK Karen Kocher leads the future of work, workforce of the future and talent & learning experiences at Microsoft.
• NL Natalie Luna is on Microsoft’s employee listening team, leading employee lifecycle and daily surveys, and researching onboarding, culture and hybrid ways of working.

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Nestlé S.A.: Achieving a global cloud transformation

Explore nestlé’s journey with sap.

With sales of more than one billion products a day, Nestlé S.A. is one of the world’s largest food and beverage companies. And with over 2,000 brands in 188 countries, the company’s operations are as large as they are complex. Nestlé’s journey with SAP began 20 years ago when it standardized its global ERP systems. Today, cloud solutions from SAP help support the digitization of everything from advanced analytics, customer experience, sustainability tracking to workforce and talent management. 

Employees worldwide have a single point-of-entry to all SAP applications.

Increased system availability with a simplified global it infrastructure., terabytes of data moved to the cloud., the challenge, strengthen the core: building an it infrastructure fit for global scale and complexity.

To stay in the hearts and minds of consumers for 156 years as Nestlé has, you need to embrace change. But when your company sells more than a billion products each day and employs more than 275,000 people who manage over 2,000 brands in 188 countries, that’s easier said than done. 

Nestlé’s business models and routes to market are changing as constantly as the world around us. Consumer expectations have shifted, and digital commerce is accelerating quickly. Supporting a future ready workforce with great employee experiences and efficiency at scale.  

Nestlé knew that at the core of every successful company is a solid IT infrastructure built to utilize data and provide the business insights that guide decision-making. And so it began its digital transformation journey.

The Solution

Transforming with a seamless journey to the cloud.

To ensure a smooth, disruption-free transition to a more dynamic, reliable, and scalable infrastructure, Nestlé selected the RISE with SAP solution—a complete offering of ERP software, industry practices and outcome-driven services designed to help companies take advantage of cloud computing in their mission-critical, core systems. With its global cloud transformation, Nestlé is now able to automate business processes across its operations, create innovative business models at global scale and achieve greater agility and resilience. 

All of Nestlé’s cloud solutions are integrated and feed into its analytics tools allowing 275,000 employees worldwide to have a single point-of-entry to all SAP applications. This is a major game-changer, reducing the time and effort to manage IT systems. 

With help from SAP Services and Support , including SAP MaxAttention services and the SAP Solution Delivery Center group, Nestlé shut down nine data centers and more than 10,000 servers. This enabled the company to migrate thousands of applications, 300 instances of SAP software, and a total of 1,200 terabytes of data to the cloud. Despite the size and complexity of the project, it was delivered on time, on budget, and without disruption to the business.  

“What we have between the Nestlé IT teams and the SAP Services and Support team is a true partnership that delivered on an ambitious transformation program—one that’s critical to Nestlé’s future success in the marketplace,” Chris Wright, CIO. 

Optimizing recruitment to retirement processes

One of the first areas of Nestlé’s digital transformation was the transformation of HR systems. The company used SAP SuccessFactors to standardize and automate HR processes that support everything from recruitment to retirement. Nestlé also uses SAP Business Technology Platform (SAP BTP) to develop custom extensions of SAP SuccessFactors for situations such as high-volume hiring during seasonal surges.  

By creating a hiring application that allows for batch handling and validation of employment data, Nestlé sped up the hiring process and made it much less cumbersome. Additionally, Nestlé now has a chatbot that speaks over 20 languages and answers simple and common questions from thousands of candidates each week without input (interactions) from HR professionals, providing a more seamless experience to the candidates and allowing the Nestlé team to focus on other work.

Giancarlo Pala Head of IT HR / Nestlé S.A. 

Transforming Customer Experience with One-Stop Shop

Nestlé is enhancing the customer experience for its business customers by streamlining the ordering, tracking, and invoicing processes. The existing approach relied on frequent telephone contact, resulting in time-consuming processes and potential errors. To overcome these challenges and adapt to the "Consumerization of Commerce," Nestlé implemented a global platform based on SAP Commerce Cloud. This platform eliminates the need for telephone contact by providing real-time insights into orders, invoices, and delivery information.

By offering a digital self-service portal, Nestlé improves the ordering and payment process, making it easier, quicker, and more efficient for retailers, wholesalers, supermarkets, and distributors. The unified one-stop shop built on SAP Commerce Cloud has revolutionized the previous customer service approach, reducing waiting times, enhancing flexibility, and ensuring transparency. This transition aligns with Nestlé's recognition of the importance of offering a seamless digital customer experience to stay competitive and meet evolving consumer expectations. The implementation of the platform not only benefits customers but also optimizes internal processes, increases flexibility, and supports Nestlé's sustainability efforts through paperless invoicing and better insights into orders, deliveries, and transportation.

Pablo Nill  Sr. Product Group Manager Customer Service Information Technology / Nestlé S.A. 

Better IT infrastructure means better business efficiency and agility

Nestlé has seen a range of benefits from its implementation of RISE with SAP, which has enabled a rapid and cost-effective cloud transformation, reducing costs, and improving the security and compliance of its applications. In simplifying its global IT infrastructure, the company has increased systems availability to 99.97% with outage times reduced from six hours to seven minutes. With SAP BTP, the company can now deploy digital assets 10 times faster than before, increasing business agility and reducing time spent managing IT. 

Business units such as human resources have seen improvements in their operations, too. Not only do they benefit from innovative applications like the multilingual chatbot, but increased automation has helped streamline and automate processes. Nestlé has also standardized the annual bonus and salary review processes across the company. Instead of taking a different approach in each country, 15,000 managers in more than 100 countries now use one common solution that has automated 95% of review processes.  

The transition to a customer-oriented approach and improved customer experience has yielded significant benefits. The reliance on the internal ERP system has diminished with the implementation of SAP Commerce Cloud, enabling easier connections and freeing the company from IT system constraints. This enhanced flexibility has led to smoother processes and better visibility of ongoing activities. Customers can now manage orders and inquiries independently, allowing the customer service team to focus on more complex customer questions or provide additional support to the sales force teams. 

Nestlé has strong commitments when it comes to sustainability and is using the information architecture of SAP to understand how its processes, supply chain, and manufacturing practices can be optimized to achieve these. 

Future Plans

Improving the consumer experience.

With Nestlé’s direct-to-consumer business increasing by more than 14% in the last year, the company is piloting SAP Commerce Cloud-based applications and portals to ensure that the customer has the same shopping experience buying directly from Nestlé as they do from a retailer.  

Nestlé plans to continue its journey to migrate its entire business operations to SAP S/4HANA Cloud, private edition , with finance and procurement already live. 

Nestlé’s digital transformation with SAP is helping to achieve their mission to unlock the power of food to enhance quality of life for everyone. And with SAP cloud solutions at the core, there is nothing stopping the company from fulfilling its purpose to be a force for good. 

SAP helps Nestlé S.A. run better

Key business outcomes and benefits.

• Reduced time spent on IT, allowing the company to quickly adjust business models and enter new markets
• Increased reliability, resilience, and performance of the platform
• Enhanced visibility and transparency
• 70% of hiring tasks now automated, improving data quality and cutting processing time by up to 90% in some markets

Featured solutions and services

• RISE with SAP can transition your current ERP data and processes to the cloud with less risk and without compromise. The bundle of tailor-made ERP software, transformation services, business analytics, and partner expertise guides you along a personalized path to the cloud. 
• SAP S/4HANA Cloud, private edition is a ready-to-run cloud ERP that delivers the latest industry best practices and continuous innovation. 
• SAP Business Technology Platform is a unified, business-centric platform that helps companies decide confidently, act with integrity, connect processes, data, and experiences, and achieve continued business innovation
• SAP SuccessFactors HXM Suite offers individualized experiences and strategic solutions – with mobile self-services available anytime, anywhere that empower employees to reach their full potential. 
• SAP MaxAttention can help you realize the full potential of your intelligent enterprise vision with on-site, premium access to trusted SAP experts, tools, and methodologies that can help deliver your expected outcomes successfully with SAP solutions.
• SAP Commerce Cloud solution provides a trusted e-commerce platform to help you innovate at scale and tap enterprise-wide data to boost profits and customer satisfaction.  

About Nestlé S.A.

Nestlé S.A. is a Swiss multinational food and drink processing conglomerate corporation. It is the largest publicly held food company in the world, measured by revenue and other metrics, since 2014. 

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