Page 227 - Everything I Know About Business I Learned

Recognition

Praise from Ray Kroc Himself
Certainly, on the corporate level we were encouraged to try dif-
ferent approaches, all in the name of being the best, though
sometimes other conflicts ensued. For instance, back when I
worked as a training manager, I wanted to get my staff more
field oriented, and get them visible in the field rather than only
conducting “classes” for managers and assistant managers.
Along with my four-person staff, we began to visit stores. In
truth, this was not a regular practice for the training department.
Rather, it was the responsibility of the field service group, which
made store visits and graded operators accordingly. This devel-
oped into a bit of a discord with field service, and I reached into
my growing bag of tricks to navigate this issue. Once I explained
to the field service staff that we were merely augmenting their
visits and supporting their direction, things got better, and the
two departments started a working relationship that became a
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real positive force.
That kind of push helped our department to win many acco-
lades, and that year I was fortunate to receive the President’s
Award. This was my first opportunity to receive recognition on
a corporate level. And it was heady stuff. This was given to
roughly 1 percent of the entire employees, and the process of
review had to go all the way up to the president of the company
for approval.
In typical McDonald’s fashion a beautiful award and a stock
option grant was given. Perhaps the best reward was the dinner
organized in Chicago. At this gala, Ray Kroc personally gave us
our awards, and then to the delight of everybody there, he pro-
ceeded to play the piano for us, much the way a relative would
at a holiday gathering. He also shook everyone’s hand and auto-
graphed copies of his book, Grinding It Out. It was a memo-
rable time that again showed me the power of recognition—and
made me feel that the people and company to which I devoted