I’m A Manager At McDonalds... AMA!

[WhatToDoAboutWailmerGoneRogue]

I’m a Manager at McDonalds

I’ve worked for McDonalds for several years in different stores and have received personal awards for my customer service. I never initially wanted to become a manager, however with the support and encouragement of my business manager I went through the crew development programme to become one.

So... AMA?

I am McDonald's mad but I've got to say, the one thing that makes me irrationally angry is the distribution of sauce in the breakfasts wraps. It's only down the very edge of one side! One side is lovely and saucy and the other is dry and has none. I have to get a pot of sauce to dip the other half in. It's bothered me for years far more than I care to admit

Breakfast is until 10.30am and will not be extended as we need enough time to changeover to lunch.

Kudos for following the party line.

I can get anything on the menu 24/7 but not an egg mcmuffin at 10.31

Lunch time???

Could I get Big Mac sauce put on a cheeseburgerr?

Is there any possibility of them putting the mini Big Mac that was out earlier this year back on the menu?

I worked at a McDonalds in 1993. The chips were cooked in “shortening formula 47”. What number are you up to now?

Oi you lot, stop complaining about the veggie burgers!
They stopped them for ages years ago when I was there (mcds wages entirely paid my first mortgage 👍 - and yes it was my favourite job too. I was also at my thinnest when I worked there, despite pretty much only eating their food!) and I was over the moon when they brought them back

I just want to salute you for your lovely coffee and the fact you can get a latte in an extra value meal. That’s one of my biggest treats with the kids

The wait times in my local newly refurbished McDonald’s are just awful. A couple of times my number has disappeared off the screen before I have been given my food, I assume to make it look like it’s running efficiently when audited.

It no longer is the fast service place it used to be, do you get many complaints with the new system?

Why is my order always wrong? In the last few visits there has always been things missing or incorrect- order one had two burgers missing, order two had a banana milkshake instead of a vanilla one, order three had no fries in a happy meal and a missing burger, order four had no chicken burger in a chicken mayo, just lettuce and mayo (!) and last order was missing a burger and the chicken nugget box only had 14 nuggets.... I realise that the seems a lot of visits, but we went fortnightly after swimming so this is over 10 weeks, pretty poor for every one to be incorrect. We’ve ceased going now tbh as someone was always missing part of their meal so go to kfc where not only is the service quicker- final visit to McDonald’s took no time to order but 27 minutes for food (yes I timed it) and the orders so far have never been wrong (and it’s way cheaper....)

Whyyyyyy are toffee sundaes being discontinued? 😭😭

Why would a staff member with really dirty finger nails be allowed to work serving food?

Where did the smarties McFlurrys go ?

Why the hard sell on Hash Browns? I don't like them. When I say No Thank You. I would just like what I have ordered. I am advised that it costs the same so 'a meal then'. I order Sausage McMuffin and Orange Juice and I get a Hash Brown which I have not ordered.

I bloody love McDonalds.

The mincemeat and custard pies served at Xmas are the best ever, so why don't you do them every year?

I also hate the iPads - do you get a say in having them or not ?
Also - our local Mac Donald’s is stingy in handing out balloons - is there an official time to hand them out???

McDs is great, it gets a bad rep but my BIL who has ASD and other social SN has flourished since working for them, he's been promoted to crew leader (or whatever it's called) and his whole life seems to have been invigorated.

It's interesting what you say about everything being cooked to order.

I've generally found food to be fresh, but without fail my quarter pounder with cheese is always cold. I've often wondered if it's prepared differently?

It isn't cooked to order.

You can't get an egg mcmuffin at 10.31

It is cooked to order. They aren’t making you breakfast at 10.31 because they stop serving it at 10.30. Just because they in theory could, doesn’t mean they will

I'm having a love/hate relationship with McDs at the moment. I have two sons who both work at different restaurants. One has just finished uni and has decided to take a year out and work full time for a year or so to take a break from education, he's been at McDonalds since sixth form and has worked weekends throughout university. The younger son is at college and has only been working there since January.

While the older one seems to be getting a fair amount of shifts (with the occasional one cancelled without notification) the younger one hasn't worked since June despite showing full availability since finishing college for the year. His restaurant was refurbished in May/June and prior to that he was getting two shifts per week (he started with McDs in January) and sometimes more, he was scheduled two shifts in early July and they were cancelled, since then he's had nothing.

He's contacted the restaurant to ask for shifts and was told that the manager will email if he has any available.

Over the Summer is there an excess of staff with students returning home for the holidays? That's all we can think of for why he's not getting any work. His last performance review was positive. It's really frustrating as he's 18 and really wants to work and earn some money.

Also, both sons have tried to pick up extra shifts when they're being offered online when someone needs to swap but neither have ever been given them (and bear in mind that the older one has been there for almost 4 years), is it luck of the draw if several offer to take up a vacant shift?

Another fan of the coffee here, I’ll always choose McDonald coffee over Starbucks.

Also can you send me a McDonald’s as this thread has made me hungry.

Also I think these threads are brilliant because your clearly loving your job and getting fulfilment out of it. And it’s nice to read this and see that the company is a good company. I love a McDonalds when I’m driving to my home town for a long weekend.

Why do I never get given the dip to go with my cheese bites? It happens every time I order them at the drive thru.

What does a typical day at work involve for you?

evilharpy Great question! Every day is different depending on the actual shift you’re on, whether that be open, mid-shift or close (24 hour store also have an overnight shift, but my store is not 24 hours).

Open
Get into work at 5am with one opening crew member. They will start to set up kitchen (turning on grills, getting stock out etc.) while I will count the safe and make up two tills, read the managers diary and any new emails.

After making up the tills and logging one in ready to open at 6am, now comes the important part: the food safety aspect. We have a particular safety book and on every open there are a lot of safety checks that are essential, some examples include checking the air and product temperatures of/in freezers and chillers, checking the temperature of our hot water, checking the secondary shelf life and use by date on all items.

When I am done with these checks I will hand the booklet over to my kitchen opener who will complete the actual cooked food checks to ensure the meat and eggs we are serving our customers is safe.

Then we are ready to open and crew slowly start trickling in as per schedule. In the quiet periods we stock up and clean, to ensure as smooth a changeover as possible. Kitchen needs to make sure frozen and dry stock is out, so we have enough meat in the grill side freezers and enough fries in the hopper. Vats are dropped if required.

Changeover comes at 10.30am, and that is a busy and stressful time! The entire kitchen has to be hauled over from breakfast to main menu, so grills, UHCs and vats changed, all breakfast equipment quickly removed from the kitchen to be washed, breakfast waste needs to be counted; it’s a big operation. We also have to empty bins, sweep and mop floors all the while still serving.

Right before changeover we also have to start cooking main menu meat and ensuring safety checks are done on those too, and that can take quite a bit of time as every meat size is checked on every single grill and each patty is probed to ensure the grills are working correctly and it is safe. We absolutely cannot sell any meat that has not been checked.

That’s why we cannot easily serve breakfast once 10.30am is hit, because we only have a very short time to changeover before lunch starts in just over an hour, and we are losing at least one crew member for 45/60 minutes to wash all breakfast equipment and put it away too.

Not to mention, we don’t want lots of waste after breakfast as well.

And while all this is going on I need to make sure crew get their breaks, and that is hard to manage with so little crew in the morning as you don’t want to leave yourself short.

Oh, and delivery comes three times a week so two crew members are lost for quite a while while that is dealt with, and I have to personally deal with the change delivery when that is due.

On one particular day of the week you also have to do the weekly clean on the blended ice machine which takes quite a while, and also on another day the weekly clean of the shake machine... which is a long process and a pain in the arse!

Then it’s a case of getting ready for lunch and trying to fit in some training somewhere. After lunch as the opening manager my shift is over and I get to go home, providing I have entered any waste on my shift and the crew break food as well, and taken off and cashed up any required tills. I communicate any issues or developments with the mid-shift manager and then am able to leave.

Mid-Shift

The easiest shift of them all! Especially if there is more than one mid-shift manager. You basically have to take the pressure off the opening manager and keep the shift ticking over until the closing manager gets in at 4pm. You need to ensure breaks are sent out and lunch changeover is completed (bins emptied, floors swept and mopped, everything stocked up etc). Basically make sure it isn’t a shithole for the closers to walk in to as that isn’t fair.

Again, training.

Close

Depends on the time your store shuts but usually the closing shift starts at 4pm. The first thing you do is take the safe and count it, make up and put out a till for the closer. A few temperature checks need to be done but really you’re just getting ready for teatime.

After tea deposits need to be made and as we go further into the night more cleaning needs to be done and vats need to be checked for oil percentage to see if they need to be dropped in the morning.

After we close the daily stock count needs to be done, tills need to be cashed up, deposits made, the system needs closing down and all the while the crew are cleaning absolutely everything, which includes a lot of washing up.

Nobody goes home until the close is completed, so that means everything is clean and stocked ready for the opening manager.

Again, training.

And then the cycle starts again! Every day is different as we don’t have set shifts, but they are worked out fairly

Was this the same in your store, and did you ever take part?

HannahHut No, nobody is given preferential treatment. We’re allowed either Christmas or New Year off but we do have to balance it out, so if we have too many wanting Christmas we will ask if anyone wants to switch and they would be guaranteed Christmas off next year. We treat everyone equally and we have a real sense of teamwork.

Do you think that the new Argos style order then collect system is more efficient than the old system where the person who you paid fetched you order? It seems much slower to me.

rainingcatsanddog Yes, it’s much better. It’s smoother, more efficient, faster (all stores do regular diagnostics both before and after refurbishment and wait times are lower on the new EOTF system), and with crew being assigned a station it means they’re not running around trying to do everything like headless chickens.

Have you ever worked at any other fast food joints?

I have not, though I have worked in retail before.

Have you seen the FB group "Homemade McDonalds?" Its a group where McDonalds lovers try to recreate McDonalds menu items.

No, I shall have to check it out!

I think most McDonalds are franchises? How does that work with building a career in the wider organisation?

lilyfire Yes, they are, and pretty much all franchises are part of a franchise group, so you have one person who owns several in a group. This means you can work your way up through the group and take on positions within it that aren’t store based, like area manager or HR.

The career prospects are huge; pretty much everyone high up in McDonalds has started as a crew member, from franchise owners to area managers to HR to even higher.

I believe it is possible to transfer into the McDonalds corporation as a whole as we are close with them, however the franchise groups build a bond and you get to know everyone in your group, so it’s rare. People prefer to be promoted within the franchise group as they are really close knit teams.

Also - could something be done so that they don’t run out of carrot sticks and fruit bags so often and to stop them going slimy if they do have them.

That is an issue with ordering at your local store that should be addressed. It is true, we don’t sell a lot of carrot bags but it isn’t an excuse. Apple and grape fruit bags are not on the menu at the moment as we have melon bags, but they shouldn’t be run out of either.

They also shouldn’t be slimy; I get the melon bag on my break most days and they are always fine.

Why cant I get an egg mcmuffin at 10.31 and why do the staff have to be so righteous about it.

noego I have explained that above:

Changeover comes at 10.30am, and that is a busy and stressful time! The entire kitchen has to be hauled over from breakfast to main menu, so grills, UHCs and vats changed, all breakfast equipment quickly removed from the kitchen to be washed, breakfast waste needs to be counted; it’s a big operation. we also have to empty bins, sweep and mop floors all the while still serving.

Right before changeover we also have to start cooking main menu meat and ensuring safety checks are done on those too, and that can take quite a bit of time as every meat size is checked on every single grill and each patty is probed to ensure the grills are working correctly and it is safe. We absolutely cannot sell any meat that has not been checked.

That’s why we cannot easily serve breakfast once 10.30am is hit, because we only have a very short time to changeover before lunch starts in just over an hour, and we are losing at least one crew member for 45/60 minutes to wash all breakfast equipment and put it away too.

Not to mention, we don’t want lots of waste after breakfast as well.

We do not sell breakfast at 10.31am, we sell it until 10.30am, so if you want breakfast after that you can politely ask if we have any breakfast left.

Thanks for the explanation. Is the same machinery used to filter both oils though?

dovegrey18 No. We filter several times a day and each vat has its own filter box, and they are changed every morning. The chicken and fry vats are separate machines with separate filter boxes; they don’t come into contact with each other.

Why are there no good veggie choices? The veggie burger never changes, and it's so bland.

Cherrysherbet We have two veggie burgers, one of them is spicy. They don’t sell well so more choices are unlikely to be added.

Thank you! That's nothing, just knowing I can is excellent. I used to work in catering and it was portioned and priced with absolutely no deviation allowed on the tills.

Dadsbigsausages You’re welcome! Our tills have lots of customisation that add the prices on, and if something isn’t there that you want we put it down as an Ask Me so kitchen know they need to ask us how to make it.

Is the mayo on a mayo chicken different to the mcChicken sandwich? Doesn’t taste as sweet to me

afreshnewname Yes, well spotted! We put cool mayo sauce on mayo chickens (and cool mayo legends) and sandwich sauce on McChicken sandwiches

Why no vinegar or mayonnaise?! Fries can be ok but often a bit dry and would be much improved by either! Not a ketchup fan.

annoyedofnorwich We don’t do vinegar because vinegar on chips is a very British thing and McDonalds is an American company, and we don’t do mayonnaise because there isn’t enough demand for it.

We do ketchup, bbq, sweet and sour and sweet curry, and our select dips are sweet chilli, sour cream and chive and smokey bbq, but if you want a select dip and you aren’t buying selects they cost 20p.

Are all of your workers at a particular level of experience paid the same or do you pay younger staff less in line with minimum wage levels being lower for younger people?

PandaPieForTea All franchise groups will vary, as will McDonalds company stores, but there is a pay tier. We are not on minimum wage, whatever age you are, but 16-17 year olds get one amount, 18-20 another and then 21+ another.

If you are promoted and are an area leader or shift manager you will have a pay rise, but that rate will be on top of your existing pay.

That sort of makes sense, although there would be more demand if people knew it was an option (as I bet most Coeliacs just don't go, I have to as it's one of the only places my autistic children will go to happily.)

HugAndRoll It is not an official option. I allow it because I want my customers to have the best experience possible, but other managers may not. All I say is that it doesn’t hurt to ask!

Please please if you can give feedback to anyone high up the salads are poor and an absolute waste of money and unappetising.

NoLogicInThis The best feedback is from customers themselves, so it would be better for you to contact them yourselves to let them know your opinion.

The shaker salad is one piece of cucumber , one tomato and filled with salad leaves which aren't always at its best.

No, it’s not. Shaker side salads should have two cherry tomatoes and two cucumbers along with premium salad mix.

Why can't there be a healthy menu to look at quickly and more choices?

We have a Meals Under range, which you can browse on the menu boards or the order kiosks, or you can ask a crew member about them.

They are meals that contain under either 400 or 600kcal.

Have you ever thought about owning a macdonalds franchise and running it as an franchise owner?

CookieDoughKid No, I like the team we have and the group I’m in; it is more important to me that I am happy rather than making mega bucks running my own franchise.

OP, thanks for the reply, but we will have to agree to differ.

Back in the mid 90s, when I began regularly eating at McDs and a medium meal cost £2.88, the menu was less than half the size it is today, and service was consistently much faster.

BonnieF You can differ as much as you want, but that is only your opinion. I have carried our diagnostics myself, seen other stores diagnostics and they have been going years; the facts are in the numbers: service time is much quicker now on EOTF than it used to be.

Well I would imagine OP is basing her answer on some kind of company data so not sure you can really disagree Bonnie

glintandglide Yeah, I’m basing it on the regular service and production diagnostics stores regularly do, and the difference between now and the old system is huge; wait time is drastically reduced.

Why did they do away with the amazing mustard sauce? (This was about 14 years ago btw and I still miss it

Spinsister I unfortunately can not answer that!

And can you please bring it back?

Probably not

Why can't McDonald's in the UK provide mayo for dipping my chips in? I have ketchup and bag sauce but I love mayo!

TheDishRanAwayWithTheSpoon There isn’t enough demand for it, sorry!

Love this OP! I used to work at McDonald's from 1998-2003 in fact I was employee of the year for 2001 for the uk! I had a really positive experience and it gave me a great work ethic and good training. The job I do now is similar in terms of everyone working their way up but a totally different field.

Seahawk80 That’s so lovely to hear! It definitely instills a great work ethic and the training is second to none; their management course is one of the best in the country and highly respected by numerous fields.

What field are you in now, if you don’t mind my asking?

Also I worked in a lot of other restaurants after McDs and I was shocked at how dirty they were and how poor the food hygiene was, McDonald's really do have high standards.

Yeah, they’re really, really good at hygiene and health and safety. The training on it is constantly reiterated; all crew know how seriously we take it.