|
|
| What's cool? |
 |
|
In my role as Operations Consultant, but also throughout my career in McDonald’s, one of the coolest things has to be the many opportunities to travel. I love to travel and through my work I have travelled throughout Europe and various parts of the UK, Chicago, Seattle, Sydney, Dubai and numerous parts of Ireland. Some of these places I possibly would have travelled to outside of work, but it would have taken me a lifetime to do so and a very understanding bank manager or a winning lotto ticket!
|
| What particular skills do you bring to your workplace? |
|
|
I am self-motivated, and have good people and organisational skills. I am hard working, conscientious and have the ability to recognise and develop talent. I am also known for my modesty!!!
|
| What's not so cool? |
|
|
As Irish people we have enjoyed a great reputation around the world. We are known as well-educated, welcoming, good fun, non-threatening and for having an unquenchable thirst.
In my travels I have always been very proud to say that I am Irish. However, I have witnessed first hand a very worrying trend. It may be because we have less time, hence less patience, that is making a small number of people so angry that they feel that is acceptable to abuse our staff in our restaurants, ridiculing their country, their gender, their colour. This is so not cool!!!
|
| What are the main tasks and responsibilities? |
|
|
My responsibility is to provide leadership, to coach and direct my six restaurants, to maximise their long-term sales and profit potential and to build a positive business relationship with Restaurant Managers and the Restaurant Management Team. This sounds very vague so, I will try to give you some examples of the tasks I complete to earn my salary:
- I complete interviews and conduct “On the Job Experience days” (OJEs). These are excellent tools we use in the hiring process. They are days designed to give the interviewee the opportunity to see what it’s like to work in a McDonald's and also give us the opportunity to see how a potential employee reacts in the restaurant environment.
- I ensure that all my Restaurants are adequately staffed and that staff turnover in them is kept to a minimum.
- I enforce and educate all restaurant employees, on all appropriate HR policies, labour laws, security and safety procedures.
- I develop, train, reward and recognise the results of all levels of restaurant employees.
- I complete and present performance appraisals based on agreed defined goals and objectives for all Restaurant Managers and I ensure performance reviews are completed on all other restaurant employees in a timely basis.
- I ensure that individual development plans are implemented, and diversity-staffing objectives are met.
- I review and assist the Restaurant Management team in improving Quality, Service, Cleanliness and Sales Building
- I ensure that restaurants properly execute national and local promotions and that there is an on-going local marketing plan for each restaurant.
- I coordinate the implementation and execution of new products and processes consistently within the restaurants.
- I complete various audits to ensure that my restaurants meet McDonald’s standard practices and procedures regarding cash security, etc,.
- I supervise the implementation of reinvestment plans on an annual basis. This includes opening new restaurants, re-builds, re-models, equipment purchases, etc.,
- I consult with my Restaurant Managers to ensure that they balance profit targets and Quality Service Cleanliness targets.
That's a taste of my job role!
|
| Describe a typical day? |
|
|
This is a hard question to answer as no day is the same and no day is typical, which is something I enjoy about my job. So what I will attempt to do is to give you a taste of some things I am involved with, which fill up my days.
The days that I spend in my restaurants, outside of auditing, are agreed in advance with the Restaurant Manager. I attempt to get to each of my restaurants once every 10 days. To ensure the most efficient use of our time together, we use a meeting agenda.
I include items that I need to discuss with them. These usually are financial targets and results, Quality Service Cleanliness results, people development, staffing, new promotions, goals and agreed actions from previous meetings. The Restaurant Manager adds in items that they need from me; these are usually clarifications, training or development.
The agenda remains open right up until the day before, so both the Restaurant Manager and myself know how the day will go and by having an agenda it allows us both to prepare i.e. brush up on information, have the relevant material ready and bring what is needed.
When we have covered a topic both an action and a completion date is agreed. When we finish our meeting this action plan becomes the basis for our next meeting and also items that I will check when I visit the restaurant again.
When I am auditing a Restaurant, there are announced and unannounced visits, both of which require preparation which I like to do the day before. When I am completing an announced audit, I request that the Restaurant Manager be present and I get them to complete the audit with me, as it is important to me that they see what I see, as they will be the ones charged with changing it if there is an issue.
The unannounced audits, the name speaks for itself, I complete alone. After I have completed an audit in one of my restaurants an action plan is completed. Depending on the Restaurant Manager's time in the role and their development needs, I will complete it with them, or they will do it on their own.
I also attend a lot of meetings, these include meeting with my boss, meeting with other departments, meeting with my group of restaurant managers, restaurant staff meetings and core group meetings.
Core Groups are very much like committee meetings and are made up of representatives from every sector of our business: Franchisee’s, suppliers, business partners, department heads and consultants. It is at these meetings that strategic decisions are made on purchasing, training, marketing etc.
|
| How did you go about getting your current job? |
|
|
I was the Restaurant Manager of our Dublin Airport McDonald’s, the position of Operations Consultant became available and my bosses at the time put me forward for the position, which I achieved. I have been an Operations Consultant for the last 6 years and was promoted to a higher grade Consultant in September this year.
|
| What are the main challenges? |
|
|
The main challenge in my role is adapting to change. Change is an integral part of my role, as we are a company always on the go: New Products, New Restaurants, New market challenges, improving systems, problem solving. Change is my main challenge but it also energises and motivates me. It brings the opportunity to start over again.
|
|
|
