McDonald's 50th: Training
By Allison Perlik, Senior Editor -- Restaurants & Institutions, March 1, 2005
McDonald's 50th: Training
QSC&V
Two years after opening the first McDonald’s, Ray Kroc introduced a three-letter motto destined to become part of the brand’s DNA. QSC—one of many Kroc innovations to join the foodservice lexicon—represented three basic but vital building blocks: quality, service and cleanliness.
These three letters (joined later by a V for value) lie at the foundation of McDonald’s training program. The QSC&V approach breaks down every aspect of operations from food prep to distribution, allowing a global network of owner-operators to consistently train staff and measure performance. The approach also serves as the cornerstone of another of the company’s greatest innovations: Hamburger University.
Bringing new franchisees, managers and executives to corporate headquarters for training and brand immersion at dedicated facilities has become standard at many companies, but McDonald’s was the first restaurant company to require training for all managers and franchisees when Hamburger University welcomed its first class in 1961, meeting in the basement of an Elk Grove Village, Ill., unit.
Since then, the program has trained more than 75,000 employees and operators at seven campuses around the world. The program’s long-term benefits are most evident among McDonald’s Corp. executives, 70% of whom began their careers at the unit level.
Today, Hamburger University’s flagship facility occupies 130,000 square feet, with 17 classrooms, a 300-seat auditorium and a working McDonald’s restaurant.
Basics Training
“It may come out in different ways, it may be called something different, but [QSC&V] is the basic discipline of sound operations,” says Ellen Moore, executive director of the Women’s Foodservice Forum (WFF) and a former training executive with companies including RARE Hospitality, Krispy Kreme and the National Restaurant Association Educational Foundation (NRAEF).
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"Would you like fries with that?" |
Having worked closely with McDonald’s during her 10-year tenure at the NRAEF as well as in her current leadership capacity at the 1,600-plus-member WFF, Moore points to a return to QSC&V as a vital factor in the chain’s continued resurgence.
“More than ever, it’s a back-to-basics approach. ... That’s a credit to Jim Cantalupo and Jim Skinner and Charlie Bell. They were the guys who really crafted that message and took the company from going in more directions than it probably should have to focusing on unit gross sales, growing comps and the basics of quality and service.
“They were pioneers then and they still are. They embraced the concept of learning styles for all of their associates around the globe. ... They not only provide first jobs, they lead to a career. Look at the model of Charlie Bell. He started working as a line employee at age 15 and grew up to run the company. Those Horatio Alger stories are throughout their system.”
Starting Out
Brazilian supermodel Gisele Bündchen was discovered at age 14 while enjoying a Big Mac in a São Paulo McDonald’s. But most people who can say they got their start at McDonald’s mean they spent time behind the counter or at the fryer. For some it was a first job. For others serving burgers provided a necessary paycheck while seeking another job, and a few, such as CEO Jim Skinner, begin as hourly workers and decide to build McDonald’s careers.
 Jeff Bezos  Heidi Klum  Kwame Jackson |
Most whose résumés include tenures at McDonald’s go on to do other—and sometimes big—things. Below are some of the many people whose lives included, however briefly, asking the question, “Would you like fries with that?”
• Jeff Bezos, chairman, president and CEO, Amazon.com
• Andrew Card, White House Chief of Staff to President George W. Bush
• Maurice Greene, Olympic gold medalist, track and field
• Kwame Jackson, investment manager and 2004 “The Apprentice” runner-up
• Star Jones Reynolds, former lawyer and prosecutor, co-host of television’s “The View”
• Heidi Klum, German-born supermodel, who recently married another McDonald’s alumnus, British-born singer Seal
• Maya Lin, designer of the Vietnam Veterans Memorial in Washington, D.C.
• Andie McDowell, actress and model
• Nelly, rapper
• Drew Nieporent, president, Myriad Restaurant Group (Tribeca Grill, Montrachet and others)
• Tony Stewart, NASCAR driver
• Sharon Stone, actress
• Shania Twain, Canadian-born singer
• Amy Van Dyken, Olympic gold medalist, swimming
• Ron Walker, president, Captain D’s Seafood Restaurant
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