Give diversity a seat at the table
Among the list of executives you’ll find at McDonald’s is Patricia
Harris, global chief diversity officer. It’s not a job description that
every company has room for, but it’s one way McDonald’s ensures
that diversity remains on top of the priority list. Alvarez loves to
point out something that Harris often says about how you have to
go from counting heads to making heads count.
“It sounds clichéish, but it really hits home that it isn’t about the
numbers you have; it’s about whether the numbers you have are
actually in leadership roles,” he says. “And leadership does not
necessarily have to be title, it has to be the ability to influence the
allocation of resources and the strategies that get placed for success for the brand.”
That means having constant conversations at the top level about
how diversity development is coming along. Alvarez and the rest
of the executive team have regular talks about each of the aforementioned education and succession programs and look for gaps
in the system where minorities aren’t being served.
“We’ll talk about gaps we might have in the farm team and in the
pipeline,” Alvarez says. “If we see a gap or we see someone that
can get extra development that’s where we can allocate extra
resources.”
There has to be a focus on that in every area and the financial
support to grow it, Alvarez says. McDonald’s makes sure that there
is succession planning made both internally and on the franchisee
side where diverse candidates are being adequately groomed to
take over.
That means regular visits from each of the company’s diverse
groups with senior leaders to hear what issues they bring to the
table. By writing diversity into the plan as a strategic initiative,
Alvarez and the rest of the senior leadership team have committed
the regular time to study such issues. And when it’s time to promote someone, the first place they look is to see where their management doesn’t match their consumer. Those opportunities have
created results: The company has won awards for its diversity
inclusion and currently more than 24 percent of its officers are
minorities.
Overall, Alvarez says the changing business world will demand
diversity from your company. Not only will customers expect it —
and the more markets you get in, the more you will run into diverse
customers with that expectation — but your ability to grow will be
fueled by it internally. A diverse company will not only attract
minority employees, but it will attract employees who are excited
about opportunities they haven’t seen in other places.
“It definitely had to do with two pieces: understanding our customers better and understanding our constituents better,” he says.
“Both from what motivates them, from the customer side for purchase, for their belief that we’re the best choice for them when
they are eating out and for our employees in a recruiting mode for
our franchisees in a commitment to grow mode.”
The results at McDonald’s have helped evolve the company from
a hamburger restaurant to a global empire that comfortably markets more exotic products like breakfast McSkillet Burritos or
Southwest Salads to customers all over the world. That regular
redirection is caused by those diverse opinions at the table,
according to Alvarez. With a constant push from different mind-sets on where the quick-service industry is headed, McDonald’s is
able to push marketing campaigns and customer service issues
that keep it on pace with the times.
“When we started having the right advertising, level of research,
product testing and seat at the table for executives that were
diverse, and when they were at the table when the strategies were
being developed or the products were being developed — versus
just making an adjustment at the end to try to fit it — there’s been
a huge difference,” Alvarez says.
“There’s a subtleness there, but it’s been a big part of our success. I also know it’s made us better as an American company that
operates over 50 percent of our restaurants outside the U.S. It’s
made us better in understanding and bringing our different leaders and different geographies to the table as we make the strategies that are global strategies.”
HOW TO REACH: McDonald’s Corp., (800) 244-6227 or www.mcdonalds.com
