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McDonald's owner/operator relays lessons learned from pandemic
The rigors of business in a pandemic-ridden world have given restaurateurs a run for their money. But there have also been invaluable lessons learned through the crisis. Here, one Sacramento McDonald's owner/operator relays some of the things she'll take away from her days doing business in a shut-down world.
April 28, 2020 by S.A. Whitehead — Food Editor, Net World Media Group
Although consumers tend to think of McDonald's as "that giant fast-food corporation," the fact is that it's made up of many individual business people, who own and operate the brand's franchises. Racquel Ruiz is one of them in Sacramento, California. She's owned three of McDonald's approximately 14,000 U.S. stores for about 12 years and has worked in her family's nine franchise stores for more than 20 years. In other words, Ruiz knows this brand inside-out.
Still, even she will tell you that COVID-19 has thrown some challenges her way that test even the most-experienced restaurateurs. QSRweb recently interviewed Ruiz about doing business in the weeks since stay-at-home orders were put in place.
"Leaders shine during a crisis. I am amazed by the talent within our organization."
-Racquel Ruiz
Her recipe for survival through this ordeal has a familiar ring to it in that it also involves three Ps — like the federal government's more renowned Paycheck Protection Program.
"I have lived by these words even before this pandemic and I will continue to do so into the future: Be present, positive and proactive and we will get through this together," she said of the three Ps she's keeping top of mind.
"It's important for (an owner/operator) and crew to know the strength of yourself, your teams and the brand. Our arches will continue to stand strong and we are part of something so much bigger right now and we should be proud."
In fact, during our interview with this California QSR operator, you might say the Ps took precedence, especially when it came to her team members. Simply put, she has been bowled over by their dedication to the business at a time when we've all been told to stay at home and many have feared even stepping outside their homes' closed doors.
"It's in times of crisis the certain people really shine and they are shining bright each and every day," she said of her restaurant teams.
Ruiz believes that the kind of work and spirit she's seen in recent weeks doesn't happen without an extraordinary brand capable of attracting equally extraordinary team members, who can pull together to do what it takes to keep people going in a largely sheltered-in-place world.
What a little smoothie can do for a crew
Granted, a burger and fries might not seem like much in the overall scheme of things, but Ruiz said when that to-go bag of food helps an essential worker make it through his or her shift or provides a meal to a weary single mom after a day of working and home-schooling children, that means something.
"Small acts that show care and kindness are going a long way right now," Ruiz said. "A small act of caring I recently did was to contact my local smoothie shop and pre-order enough vitamin C smoothies for all of our restaurant teams that were in the store that morning.
"The smoothie shop wrote messages on the lid like, 'We love McDonald's' (and) 'We're loving it and have a super Saturday.' The crew loved the smoothies and the little messages. They felt the camaraderie of fellow food service workers, and they requested that every Saturday is now a smoothie Saturday."
Ruiz said she knows employee support during this time is about much more than smoothies or pats on the back. Under the risks posed by COVID-19, she said that employers must also do all they can to protects workers from risk.
That's why stores across the McDonald's system conduct employee wellness checks, require employees to wash hands every half-hour, provide gloves and masks to workers, impose social distancing through the use of floor decals in-restaurant, and clean high-touch surfaces every two hours, with complete disinfection of restaurants at the end of each day.
"A silver lining to a crisis situation is being able to witness the strength and perseverance that people are capable of," she said. "Leaders shine during a crisis. I am amazed by the talent within our organization, from the crew to the supervisors.
And although the company has always had a bonus program in place for upper management to earn based on achieving specific metrics, Ruiz has adjusted the program to also award them based on being "powerhouses under pressure, for adapting quickly to change and for being positive, present, and proactive towards their team."
Ruiz said all these efforts are paying off as the connections her stores have made with their communities and customers during the crisis are like business insurance for the future.
"Our customers have been amazing during this time and we continue to receive an outpouring of gratitude from them – thanking us for staying open and providing them with a sense of normalcy and comfort. …" she said. "For those who can't stay home — doctors, pharmacists, paramedics, the people working three shifts to make masks and respirators, truck drivers who deliver the products the rest of us need — we're staying open, so they can keep going."
See more COVID-19-related coverage here
About S.A. Whitehead
Pizza Marketplace and QSRweb editor Shelly Whitehead is a former newspaper and TV reporter with an affinity for telling stories about the people and innovative thinking behind great brands.
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