Page 202 - Everything I Know About Business I Learned

Everything I Know About Business I Learned at McDonald’s

tunity to conduct a “people review” of the entire staff in order
to predict raises and promotions. It was one of the few times we
conducted our meetings behind the closed doors of our confer-
ence room. We used a board to list all of the staff and their
respective positions. The personnel review was a powerful com-
ponent of the process. We would chart out all of our individuals
by department and discuss each one. The respective department
head outlined each individual: his or her current position, where
that person was going, the individual’s potential to grow and
skills needed. With the entire leadership team in the room, the
dialogue was open and candid. It allowed everyone, regardless
of area of expertise, to understand the importance of each staff
member. Everyone gave input as we went around the room. It
was often very interesting to hear others’ perspectives as you
gauge others’ response to a person’s opinion. Many times it val-
idated how we saw our people; other times it did just the oppo-
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site. It was a blunt reminder of our main goal as department
heads: to develop our people. The direction was clear. It is a pro-
cess that all organizations should look to incorporate.
Finally, the day of scheduled budget review would arrive
when it was time to present to a room filled with all the big
guns: the president, chairman of the board, and top officers of
each discipline. It was no laughing matter—not to mention a
full-day affair where the dynamics were such that sometimes
egos interfered as those at the top level jockeyed for position.
My team presented with our zone, which consisted of about
six regions, with our senior vice president zone manager lead-
ing the way. While waiting for our region’s scheduled time to
present, we sat back and watched our peer group go through
the wringer. We listened for buzzwords and topics, hoping to
better understand which areas were most important to the top
executives. We learned while we observed, tweaking our pres-
entation as we noted which region’s presentations were effec-
tive, and which were not.