Interactive Behaviour at Work - McDonalds Corporation - Case Study Example

Name: xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx Course: xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx Institution: xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx Subject: Interactive behaviour at work Date: xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx Word Count: 2200words Interactive behavior at work Introduction Interactive Behavior at Work (IBW) can be defined as reciprocal communication between two or more people. It also extends to the use of communication for the purposes or co-operation, self-presentation, leadership and working in groups (Guirdham, 2002). Interactive behaviour at work plays a crucial role in determining organizational behaviour and the overall performance of an organization. This report seeks to examine some of the Interactive Behaviour at Work (IBW) issues revolving around the waiting staff department at a McDonald’s restaurant chain in London. It will define and explore some of the IBW problems experienced in this department and discuss the wider implications of these problems. Moreover, this report will propose various solutions that can be used to resolve the IBW problems in the restaurant’s waiting staff department and the time scale of implementation. Company Description The McDonald’s Corporation is one of the largest fast food chains around the world with over 1.5 million employees and over 30 000 outlets in the United Kingdom and other countries around the world. The fast food restaurants are known for selling fast food such as, French fries, chicken products hamburgers, desserts and soft drinks among many other products. Some McDonald’s restaurants are managed autonomously by individual owners, some are affiliates or franchisee whereas some restaurants are run by the Corporation directly (McDonalds.com). I work part time in the waiting department at one of the McDonald’s restaurant chains in London. The waiting department consists of 7 employees including me. The functions of employees in the waiting department include; serving customers by preparing their tables, taking and delivering their orders and accepting payments. In some instances, the staffs in the waiting department are involved in cleaning and preparation of meals. On average, our restaurant chain serves over 2, 500 customers daily. Staff in the waiting department work for an average of 8-9 hours each day however, during the weekends and special holidays some staff member are forced to work for more than 12 hours due to increased numbers of customers. The waiting department is managed and supervised by branch manager who also manages the overall restaurant chain. Background and causes of problem While working at the waiting department at McDonald’s restaurant chain in London, I observed that the department experiences major challenges revolving around IBW issues. One the key challenges that this department faces revolves around its corporate culture. A lot of emphasis in this department has been directed towards making profits at the expense of the employees. In most cases, the plight of employees in this restaurant is overlooked. For instance, in a bid to increase the net profits of the restaurant, the management of this department has adopted a 24hour operation system that subjects employees to lengthy shifts with little pay. Consequently, members of our departments are subjected to lengthy shifts for minimal pay. Moreover, when the cooks or cleaners are absent from work, the waiting staffs are forced to perform roles that are beyond their work descriptions. Members of this department have in various occasions communicated to the branch manager about the need to increase employee salaries and hire more employees so as to reduce the workload and lengthy shifts of the waiting staff. However, the branch manager claims that the current revenue of the restaurant cannot support additional employees. However, this seems to be untrue since over time the restaurant has been making increased profits. Basically, most of the grievances of this department fall on deaf ears since the branch manager has never communicated these issues to the head manager. The branch manager is part of the McDonald’s board who meet once a month to discuss issues affecting various restaurant chains. The restaurant protocols dictate that the branch manager is the main representative of employees in the restaurant chains and thus he is the only person who can communicate the issues affecting employees to the head manager and the board. In one occasion, I attempted to communicate to the head manager via mail concerning the plight of employees in the waiting department, the branch manager discovered this and in turn threatened to fire me in case I contacted the head manager again. To make matters worse, employees in our department lack a third party representation from trade unions or other employee unions that advocate for employee rights. This is mainly because the staffs in the waiting department are not enlightened the roles of trade unions and employee unions. In addition to these issues, employee relations in our department are wanting. . According to Gennard & Judge (2005), effective employee relations contribute to motivation, satisfactory productivity and morale. The relationship between the branch manager and employees in the waiting department is unhealthy due to his autocratic leadership style. The branch manager is often in complete control of everything that goes around in the restaurant. He does not permit any staff member to make suggestions or give their opinions concerning any issue. As a result of his leadership styles the branch manager is unpopular amongst the waiting staff, he is often viewed as bossy, dictatorial and controlling. Consequently, communication and trust between the branch manager and the waiting staffs in lacking. Problem identification and definition Based on the problems stated above, it is evident that waiting department in this McDonald’s restaurant chain has a negative corporate culture that emphasis on making profits at the expense of employee’s welfare. The department has an autocratic management that does not consider the plight and input of its employees. There is evidently lack of proper communication channel between the management of the department and the waiting staff. Furthermore, the waiting staff in this department lack a third-party representation to represents their grievances to the management (Gubman & Russel 2006; Coupland 1991). Strategic implications of the IBW problems As a result of the interaction behaviour issues in the waiting department the McDonald’s restaurant has succumbed to criticisms, negative media coverage and a negative public image. The media has extensively portrayed the McDonald’s restaurant chains negatively in light of how they treat their employees and the unhealthy food products they serve (Marquez 2006). Moreover, as a result of its low payment, poor work condition and the lack of proper presentation employees in McDonald restaurant chains often feel exploited and de-motivated. Over the years, the Corporation has been involved in a number of law suits and many legal cases that involve its employee rights. Furthermore, as a result of its poor working conditions and employee relations the Corporation as experienced a high labour turn over. The high labour turn over in most of its restaurants chains can be attributed to poor wages, poor employee relations, an autocratic management and the lack of future benefits or promotion of its employees. Alternate option for resolving problem Conflict resolution can be employed in this case in order to improve employee relations in the waiting department. Evidently, the staffs in the waiting department have unresolved issues with the branch manager concerning his leadership style, autocratic management, lengthy shifts, late closes and a lack of third-party representation. According to Krantz (1997), conflicts in this case can be resolved by using a problem solving process. Foremost, the problem solving process involves both the involved parties identifying and defining the problem. In this case, the management board and a representative from the waiting staff department should sit down identify the problems and agree on the steps that should be taken in order to address the problems affecting the waiting department. Secondly, they should develop an action plan that can used to address the identified issues. Subsequently, they should implement the action plan and follow-up on it (Krantz 1997). Moreover, an effective leadership style is another option that can be employed to address the issues affecting the waiting staff department. The rationale of effective leadership is based on the expectation theory (Vroom 1964) and the leader-member exchange theory (Wang et al 2005). These theories hold that leaders are charged with the responsibility to develop an organizational culture that is conducive, fair and that meets the needs of the workforce. In this case theories of attitude change are also applicable since the key aim of this study will be to propose solutions that can transform a negative corporate culture that emphasizes on making profits at the expense of their employees to a positive corporate culture that safeguards the well-being of its employees. According to the affective –cognitive consistency theory of attitude change a negative culture can occurs when an individual’s attitudes towards a person or an object are inconsistent with the knowledge of the particular object or person. According to this theory persuasive communication is one the key strategies that can be used to change the cognitive component of a particular attitude. This implies that providing an individual with new information about something can change their overall attitudes towards a person, an issue or an object (Rosenberg, 1956). Choice of option Based on this model, the implementation of training programs for both the employees and the management of the waiting department is one of the options that can be used to address the IBW issues in this department. These training programs should be geared towards enhancing the employee’s communication skills, social confidence, collaboration and resilience. These training programs should also be need-based and should focus on training the management of the waiting department how they can establish effective communication channels that will enable employees to air their grievances. Implementing training programs can be an effective means of ensuring that the employees in the waiting department gain knowledge, competencies and skills necessary to improve the IBW issues that negatively impact on the waiting department. As compared to other options implementing training programs is less expensive and practical. Furthermore, it can lead to the actualization of positive results since it will address the specific IBW issues that affect the organization. On the other hand, initiating training programs to address the IBW issues can be ineffective especially when the training programs are not executed well. Rationale for option According to learning theories of attitude change, certain beliefs, attitudes or opinions tend to persist unless a person is exposed to new learning experiences (Hovland, Janis & Kelley, 1953). Hovland, Janis & Kelley also propose that persuasive communication is also one of the ways that can be used to induce attitude change. Hislop (2005) accentuates that knowledge management is an essential tool for an organization since it is key to organizational performance and is of great significance to advanced economy. Moreover, according to Hislop (2005), work and organizations have become even more knowledge intensive. In order to address the underlying IBW issues in waiting staff department of McDonald’s restaurant chains it is essential to focus on changing the negative aspects of McDonald’s corporate culture. One of the most effective ways of realizing this is by initiating training programs that are tailored to address the IBW issues revolving around both the management of the waiting department and the waiting staff. Implementation The problem solving process should involve the management board and a representative from the waiting staff department. Both parties should sit down identify the problems and agree on the steps that should be taken in order to address the problems affecting the waiting department. Secondly, they should develop an action plan that can used to address the identified issues. Subsequently, they should implement the action plan and follow-up on it (Krantz 1997). With reference to the affective –cognitive consistency theory of attitude change, a negative culture occurs when the attitudes of peoples are inconsistent with the knowledge of a particular person or situation. Based on this theory, persuasive communication is one the key strategies that can be used to change the cognitive component of a particular attitude. This implies that providing an individual with new information about something can change their overall attitudes towards a person, an issue or an object (Rosenberg, 1956). Therefore, initiating training programs is a positive step towards realizing a positive corporate culture. The implementation of employee training programs should be carried out regularly. Employee training and development is vital because it not only provides extra skills essential for increasing efficiency but it will also employees to become assertive. These training programs should be geared towards enhancing the employee’s leadership skills, communication, social confidence collaboration and resilience. These training programs should be need-based and should focus on empowering employees to be able to make informed and timely decisions that are beneficial to both their well-being and that of the Corporation (Schneier, 1994). Based on the learning theories of attitude change, certain believes, attitudes or opinions tend to persist unless a person is exposed to new learning experiences (Hovland, Janis & Kelley, 1953). According to this theory persuasive communication is also one of the ways that can be used to induce attitude change. It is evident that in order to realize a positive corporate culture at the waiting department the management of this department should be exposed to new information on how they can address the IBW issues in this department. Initiating training programs for the management of the waiting department is a crucial step towards the realisation of a positive corporate culture. The management should be trained on how they can develop successful retention strategies so as to avert high labour turnover. In order to avert high labour turn over and legal law suits, the management should also be trained on how they can conduct a regular needs assessment so that they can be able to understand and address the needs of their employees. Communication is imperative for the realisation of an effective retention strategy since a failed communication link between the management and its employees can contribute to a negative corporate culture. Therefore, the management should also be trained on how they can establish effective communication channels that will enable employees to air their grievances (Pattanayak 2005). Timescale of implementation The problem solving process should be implemented within a time frame of 3 months. In order to realise positive results the training programs should be implemented regularly. The employee training programs should be implemented once in a month whereas the training programs for the restaurant management should be implemented on a weekly basis. Recommendations A conflict resolution strategy that incorporates a problem-solving process should be initiated. The management of the waiting department should carryout regular assessment so as to determine whether the attitudes and opinions of employees in the department are consistent with the vision and goals of the department. According to the affective –cognitive consistency theory of attitude change a negative culture can occurs when an individual’s attitudes towards a particular matter is inconsistent with the knowledge of the particular object or person (Rosenberg, 1956). Therefore in order to eradicate a negative corporate culture the management of this department should evaluate the opinions and attitudes of its staff towards the company since these are some of the contributing factors of a negative corporate culture. Secondly, based on the findings of these evaluations the management of waiting department should implement training programmes geared towards addressing these IBW issues. Based on the learning theories of attitude change, certain believes, attitudes or opinions can be changed when people are exposed to new learning experiences (Hovland, Janis & Kelley, 1953). Conclusion The waiting staff department of the McDonald’s restaurant has over time experience major challenges revolving around interactive behaviour at work (IBW). One the key challenges that the department faces is due to its negative corporate culture. The corporation, places a lot of emphasis on making profits at the expense of its employees. Consequently, the department has succumbed to negative media coverage, negative public image, law suits and a high labour turnover. In order to address these issues, it is essential to initiate training programs for both the management and the employees of this department. Employee training programs should be geared towards enhancing the employee’s leadership skills, communication, social confidence collaboration and resilience. On the other hand, training programs for restaurant management should be geared towards helping the management to develop successful retention strategies. 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