ARS on Twitter
RSS
Pirates
Posted by CaptDMO on June 13th, 2006
There was a time when one easy way to extort money from large corporations was to register variations of their name as
website addresses. The idea was that they’d pay off on threats to put up nasty associations at the “similar” web address, or
buy the rights to the registration. One particular fast food corporation has been the brunt of many such associations with their name, including derogotory implications attached to things of a mediocre nature with lots of flash.
I was a bit dismayed when I saw a sign that advised potential employees to “apply on line” at McNewhampshire.com. The tactic is fine. I assume they have a tough time keeping good folks under employ as the starting wages (IMHO)aren’t so great and moving on is frequent judging by the apparent high turnover.
But McNewhampshire.com?
Sheesh!
June 13th, 2006 at 4:52 am
Such high turnover is common in low-compensation operations, in most cases they are the starting point in their employees’ journeys through life, or new American life and fortune, or lack thereof.
MacDonald’s is one of myriad great American success stories, and as such is viewed as a behemoth of sorts, but a lot of people miss one very important point: Their individual stores are franchises, owned and operated by independent entrepreneurs who agree to sell MacD’s products and participate in their promotions. They compensate what the marketplace determines is equal to the skill factor involved in the job expected of an employee.
This visual, front line view of the firm is a totally separate entity from Corporate, which is run by people who did not begin their MacD’s employment flipping burgers or even managing their stores.
The chain-of-command at a MacDonald’s store, therefore, ends with the franchise owner, so there is no corporate ladder available to climb and even when reaching store management level, I don’t imagine the pay could exceed maybe $35,000.00 a year, if even that.
Given the above, concerns like MacDonald’s, BK, KFC, etc and the owners of the various stores accept turnover as a given, but since none of the rank and file jobs at the individual stores require any complex skills, they also know their pool of employee candidates will always be larger than needed. This is actually true all over Retail, not merely in fast food. For folks of ambition who want more from life than the minimum wage and a monotonous job, fast food employment is a fairly brief “resting place”.
I do agree wholeheartedly, however, that McNewHampshire.com is a bit much. :-)
June 13th, 2006 at 8:31 pm
SO well said Seth. What you say- the examples you give here about skill levels and promotion ability do mark the reasons for sucess of these FF stores.