NONE OF US IS AS GOOD AS ALL OF US

NONE OF US IS AS GOOD AS ALL OF US

How Macdonald’s Prospers By Embracing Inclusion And Diversity

Patricia Sowell Harris

Wiley Publishers 2009

Pp 173                 $24.95

If you were to pick up the book to learn what team-work in the narrow, management sense of the term looks like at the global level… you’d be disappointed. This is a trumpet blown proudly by Patricia Sowell Harris (MacDonald’s Vice-President and Global Chief Diversity Officer) about the ‘inclusive’ policy of recruitment and operational standards at MacDonald’s.

In the Foreword Jim Skinner, Macdonald’s CEO, extols Macdonald’s ‘unwavering commitment to inclusion and diversity in our workforce, among our franchisees, and with our suppliers – in the United States and everywhere else in the world where we do business,’ confirming their policy. ‘The road to becoming a diverse company is not a straight one’ – he continues, claiming pioneer status in global-level diversification. The pioneers were in fact the British East India Company / The British Empire which for long could boast that the Sun never sets on their Empire, but that’s another story. Though with 32,000 restaurants in 118 countries, serving more than 58 million customers everyday, and with annual sales being more than $70 billion in 2008, the Golden Arches do span a decent share of the Globe. 

That having been said in Skinner’s crisp style, you wouldn’t expect Harris to add much more either by way of justification or illustration. But a few points are worthy of attention.

First of all, the three-point formula that laid the foundations of this modern empire. One was that leadership from the top is important in embracing diversity – provided by Ray Kroc and his right-hand man, Fred Turner. The next element was training and education – in fundamental on-the-job behaviours and attitudes, which also led to Hamburger University being set up under Turner’s leadership.  The final element is support to employee networks. 

Secondly, the ‘diversification’ at MacDonald’s comes across as a broad mix of different ideas, opinions, backgrounds and experiences, in addition to the traditional areas like race and gender. (No there is no hint of ‘quotas’ for various groups and communities). As far as race and gender are concerned the company boasts (as on January 1^st 2009) of  a world-wide mix of 62% women, 35% Hispanics, 20% African Americans, 5% Asians, and 2% Native Americans.  The company as a policy allows employee networks of almost every kind. There are networks for women, African Americans, Hispanics, Asians, gays and lesbians, young professionals, and working mothers – networks that keep employees connected.

Interestingly, this was not always so.

‘Women’ were specifically banned from employment in the restaurants by Ray Kroc. He wanted MacDonald’s to be a family-friendly place. Post WWII had seen restaurants mushrooming with ex-Army guys ‘with toothpicks in their mouths, a pack of cigarettes rolled up in their sleeves, and a tendency for making advances on all the waitresses…’; they also attracted the teenaged boys who tended to crowd out the family trade. And yet within 5 years of the founding of MacDonald’s came the first woman franchisee, Lillian McMahon. And, significantly, there was ‘no compelling business reason’ to let women into the business of selling hamburgers – that is, unlike African Americans, Hispanics etc. who on the one hand constituted ethnic groups who were a force unto themselves and on the other, gave the organisation a local face in their various operations.

‘Race’ was a different kettle of fish altogether. In the year that Macdonald’s was founded (1955), Rosa Parks took her historic bus ride in Montgomery, leading to a year-long boycott; in 1957 and 1961, federal troops were sent in to Arkansas and the University of Mississippi; 1965 saw black marchers for voting rights brutalised in Montgomery; in 1965 and 1967 riots broke out in Los Angeles, Newark and Detroit; and Dr King was assassinated in April 1967. Amidst this turbulence came Herman Petty – McDonald’s first African-American franchisee – in 1968. If it was growth they wanted, says the author, they needed to recognise the new realities of the world in which they operated and change their approach. 

Thirdly, Macdonald’s provides visible support to the various networks (financial and other organisational resources) on the belief that strong networks that support the diversity of people within your organisation will lead to a better, stronger organisation.

It is a trumpet blown by Patricia Sowell Harris, but it is an interesting tune played: a haunting reminder of Dr. King’s dream …where people are judged not by the colour of their skin but by the content of their character. This leader in the Quick Service Restaurant segment (a category virtually created by MacDonald’s), that maintains squeaky-clean conditions worldwide along with its policy of diversification … deserves a whole orchestra!

Those hamburgers will be tastier for having heard this tune.