"'tis the season to be jolly.........." Nope, not lost my mind, but did you know that it is less than............ er.............. a few months until xmas.
The header of my blog says that I'll answer questions (the reasonable ones anyway) honestly, and I finally got one, woohoo!!!
I got asked this in a comment to a previous entry and it really got me thinking,
What's you opinion on the new christmas opening hours then?
I'm within management, within a different group to yours and I am total...........how shall i put this......frustrated by the fact that my store will be open untill 11pm christmas eve and open from 8am on boxing day, same for new years!!!!
It sucks big time! Especially as christms is meant to be a time for family and it's hard enough with mcd's only being shut christmas day without the extra time to fit family around.
I have very young children who the magic of christmas is still there and I do not want to miss out just for mcd's!
comment on Mc6a.m. paraphrased
We've not had our opening for Xmas and NY confirmed yet, and I'm not looking forward to it now either.
My colleague first talks of the expectation placed on the management team to open later at Xmas and NY than has been expected in recent years.
My colleague also talks of the worry of not being able to spend proper quality time over xmas with their children which, quite frankly, is the sign of a good parent. How can my colleague do this with the expectation of the company?
A classic clash of work and family. So, my views?
I'll be honest, this one has really made me think, and I like the way that it has made me have to think.
I like it because I have my view as a bloke with no issue working most hols, no family committments or childen, but I have an empathy for my colleagues who do.
So, the opening hours for the, as the Americans say, Holiday Season.
My first reaction is,
"Have the regional ops team got a fucking clue what they're doing?!?!"
I'll be honest, if my ops con (Operations Consultant - person that Restaurant Manager answers to) announced to us that we were to open until 11 on xmas eve then I'd honestly think that they were taking the piss.
The vast majority of my crew rely on buses to get to and from work. there will be no buses.
So, it will be either a lift from the shift manager or taxis. Which shift manager in their right mind would be offering lifts at that time on Xmas Eve?
So, it's taxis; at Xmas Day rates!!!!!!!
Not particularly well thought out then.
I'll put it this way, when we do the schedule for a bank holiday we already know the buses that our crew get and check on the transport website before we set out the schedule to make sure that everyone is fairly scheduled. A close this late before "THE" bank holiday is silly to say the least.
If I were to tell my crew that they would be working into xmas day I would get one of two things,
1. A shift so critically understaffed that I'd have to close.
2. My entire crew walking off shift in time for the last bus.
Until public transport companies adopt continental practices then people in the service sector cannot work longer hours. That's just the way it is.
Actually, that's my only reaction.
McDonald's family friendly approach
Oh boy, won't this one be fun!!!!
In total honesty, I'm a bloke with no family committment, no religious belief and no children so I have no objection to working through any form of holiday.
In fact, the last few Xmas Days I have spent some time in work doing equipment checks (and it never ceases to amaze me that when someone sees a car outside the building and a light on they pass through the drive thru just in case!!!!!)
And one restaurant not a million miles away from me is considering opening on Xmas Day as the cross section of staff and willingness of managers allows it
But I understand and appreciate the extra demands put on my colleagues with family: and trying to enjoy Christmas with no weekend off and no prospect of leave whilst all the offices close down and the kids are on holiday is no fun.
I'm left with one term that I've had to use with my fiancee on several occasions when she has been upset at my shift pattern,
"It's the job."
And, unfortunately for McDonald's managers, that is the top and bottom of it.
Salaried managers for McDonald's get paid the best in the industry, but that salary comes with a premium at our cost. And as my first manager said,
"There's a reason why it is a young company"
And he is right. The job is demanding; maybe not intentionally, but I could compare it to he police force. It involves shift work, long hours, an intense level of pressure. In fact, a friend of mine who is a police officer thinks I got a bum deal.
It will come as no comfort to my colleague who has kids, but the modern McDonald's might be designed to attract families, but the business model doesn't consider the family life of its' managers (and a "work life balance" bollocks thing in the PRs doesn't count for shit, my BM knows no more of the state of my relationship than a pea knows the history of Birds Eye!)
So, my thoughts.
We are a multicultural society; several of my team are currently fasting and will soon be celebrating Eid. These are also people who will want shifts at Christmas, which is how our Rochdale colleagues will be open on Xmas Day, such is the way of the world.
And it is worth pointing out that every manager should be asked if they wish to work Xmas or NY (then you fight out which you actually work!!!!)
But, and I'm going out on a limb here, if someone were to get a copy of the salaried personnel files from Salaried Admin then the vast majority of Salaried Managers would be caucasian Christian descendants who celebrate Xmas (not through any institutional racism but simply how things have turned out!)
I am doing everything I can to accomodate my team who are currently fasting and organising their time for Eid. Over the Xmas and NY period what are my managers doing to accomodate those who have families or faith?
"It's the job" only works to an extent, after which you see disillusionment and resentment.
Quite frankly, in my time with the company I have seen a shift to servicing the customer at all costs, and this is making my job increasing suitable only to those with no committments. You'd never see that on one of the McJob posters!
I understand that, at the end of the day that we answer to customers, but without the families to support so many of the managers that put so much into the company what can you hope for? It is almost perverse that a family oriented company is (unintentionally) awkward to managers who have families.
As for Xmas opening times: couldn't comment on anywhere else, but where I'm based they would be unworkable unless my Ops Con would be willing to pay for the taxi himself. This unfortunately smacks of an ops team out of touch.
