As you walk into McDonald’s corporate headquarters, you’ll see a quote from former CEO Fred Turner. It says, “We’re a people business and we never forget it.”

Driven by this ethos and a commitment to its values, McDonald’s is taking important steps toward further enhancing the employee experience, promoting and fostering a true culture of care across the system and providing the opportunities and resources people need to be at their best. One of those steps is deploying Workplace from Meta to company-owned restaurants, and offering it to participating franchisee restaurants across some global markets. This technology solution allows for more meaningful engagement and support, easy information-sharing, and employee recognition that will ensure that teams working at McDonald’s-brand restaurants are armed with all the tools and resources necessary to build and deliver the best employee experience.

Commenting on the initiative, Heidi Capozzi, Global Chief People Officer, McDonald’s Corporation said, “At McDonald’s, we know the employee experience directly fuels the customer experience—and we are committed to being exceptional in both areas. By offering Workplace as a resource for those at the heart of our restaurants, we and our franchisees can make it easier for the crew to grow and succeed in their jobs, and to build deeper, more meaningful connections with their teams.”

Finding the right technology

As McDonald’s considered what would make an engagement platform successful, several key features rose quickly to the top of the list. The platform needed to be highly accessible, allowing restaurant employees to engage on mobile—whether that’s to complete a training course during downtime in a shift, or to build social connections with coworkers. It also needed to be intuitive, allowing crew and managers to easily adjust to the new tool and quickly communicate to drive team connection. Additionally, McDonald’s needed to be able to incorporate the tool into its highly integrated secure ecosystem. With Workplace, McDonald’s found an engagement platform that did all that and more.

Workplace offers McDonald’s secure access to information and essential resources directly on users’ phones and uses familiar tools that ease adoption. And at the same time, it’s set up in a way that gives employees the opportunity to connect, or disconnect, when they feel the need to do so. In an initial pilot of Workplace in McDonald’s restaurants in Spain, restaurant teams not only found quick success in accessing timely and relevant operational and business information, but also in sharing tips, tricks, and best practices in the restaurant.

The implementation of modern technology has been a catalyst in evolving the way restaurant teams communicate, streamlining processes, and creating team connections along the way.

“Workplace allows us to simplify and manage communication within our restaurants with a single, easy-to-use tool. We also love that it helps us better listen and engage with our teams, making it convenient to provide quick and direct feedback. But most of all, Workplace has been fundamental in helping us communicate throughout COVID, thanking our teams and being able to keep them updated on security measures and changing regulations impacting our business.”  – René Mirá, Spanish Franchisee

A positive response from early users

Workplace is currently being used to drive employee engagement in McDonald’s company-owned and participating franchisee restaurants in eleven markets across Europe and Asia-Pacific, such as Australia, New Zealand, Portugal, Slovakia, and Poland, as well as at various company-owned restaurants in the US.

In Portugal, 73% of restaurant users are active on a weekly basis and in Spain, 140,000 messages are sent on Workplace each month. Additionally, in Australia alone, over 100,000 accounts have been claimed with 85% weekly active users. Recognition of this increased engagement has resulted in interest in the platform from other McDonald’s markets. Throughout 2022, there are further plans to deploy Workplace in five additional markets, with ambitious targets continuing into 2023, such as Canada, United Kingdom, Germany, Belgium, Austria, Saudi Arabia, and Switzerland.

Strengthening a sense of community

McDonald’s restaurants around the world have built a fantastic sense of community, ensuring they feel like they belong, can be their authentic selves, and they know their teams have their back. This is what it means to be a McFamily, and it’s not something the brand takes lightly. With Workplace, participating restaurant employees have access to modern tools to help get the job done in their respective restaurants. They can also easily lean into their restaurant community because of how the platform enables them to connect and build relationships, celebrate hard work, and share best practices and team successes. And the best part for restaurant managers? They have a better understanding of what employees are experiencing and can use that knowledge to make better decisions on behalf of the people who keep their restaurants running.

Christine Trodella, Director, Reality Labs at Meta further added, “We knew McDonald’s was looking for a platform to share information more effectively and to foster community by connecting, informing, and empowering teams. We’re very proud McDonald’s has chosen Workplace to improve restaurant communication and as a key employee engagement platform. We look forward to partnering on the continuing journey to build the very best employee experience for McDonald’s teams around the world.”

Connecting restaurant teams and sharing knowledge

With Workplace’s Knowledge Library, McDonald’s restaurant teams have a place to quickly reference the training and information they need to be successful in their roles—from static content like local marketing or promotional materials to timely business updates and more dynamic learning opportunities. For franchisees, they can ensure their employees know more about their company values, programs, and benefits. And the efficiency it drives in reaching restaurant employees is a big win for a brand that’s known for moving with speed. Workplace reduces the time it takes for information to reach restaurant frontline employees by 34% [1]—putting time back into their days to focus on the thing that matters most – creating feel-good moments for every customer.

A growing appetite for engagement

McDonald’s and each of its franchisees always aspire to raise their ambitions when it comes to the restaurant employee experience, and they are excited about the opportunities ahead as it connects, empowers, and supports the workforce of the future. The early pilot markets have demonstrated the role Workplace can play in delivering on behalf of restaurant teams, and it’s given the brand an appetite for more. Workplace looks forward to the continued elevation of the McDonald’s restaurant employee experience.