Recently Mcdonald’s announced that it would be introducing a brand new system in the next year that would be assessing how each of its franchise restaurants is performing. According to the announcement, this new assessment system is meant to help the fast food chain better support its objectives regarding the growth plan.
Response
After the announcement, many franchisees expressed their opinion to the public, with plenty of them questioning the timing of this new system while the entire country is undergoing a labor shortage which has also impacted the operations of many Mcdonald’s franchises. In fact, according to two different surveys, many franchisees stated their concerns that the regular yearly visits to their restaurants from the company, as well as third-party assessors. This is because the franchisees already undergo local regulatory inspections throughout the year, and getting more inspections can quickly result in a much less collaborative approach to the franchise operations. The franchisees also expressed their concerns about the employee morale, which has consistently been decreasing, to a point where one employee has told the public that the franchise that they worked at couldn’t be improved simply by telling the managers that they failed at what they were doing. However, according to Mcdonald’s, the company is focused on maintaining its standards of excellence in all its franchisees with the help of the new and comprehensive performance management system. The new system was designed with input from the franchisees themselves and is made to provide personalized coaching and support to different restaurants so the company can provide its consumers with positive experiences in the future too. In addition to the assessments, the restaurants would also get tailored resources that would help each franchise owner improve the everyday performance of their restaurants while driving consumers, sales, as well as profitability.
Future action
Throughout the pandemic, McDonald’s franchises faced some controversy regarding the way that COVID-19 safety regulations, which is why it’s completely understandable for the fast food brand to introduce this new performance assessing framework to monitor the progress of each franchise. The two surveys that were conducted with franchisees weren’t explained by Mcdonald’s regarding how they were conducted or how the feedback that the fast-food chain incorporated the feedback it received through them for the new assessment framework initiative. Additionally, although the new initiative is aimed at improving the overall operations of every franchise, McDonald’s still hasn’t explained how it would be providing the personalized recommendations and resources to every franchise owner, or what the information in them would be based on.