The McDonald’s Study Case
HRM 532
July 25th, 2012

Abstract
McDonalds declared its first profit lost in the history of its outstanding performance in the fourth quarter of 2002. This led the company to investigate the key components which caused this to happen. Upon review the company realized there was a need to improve its Talent Management to align with the company’s business goals and strategies. This process was needed to achieve long term growth and success for the company. This case study gives an overview of the initiatives that McDonalds implemented to strengthen the company. It discusses how and why the changes were made; how they were implemented; and the impact it had on the business future
Due to the Talent Reviews there was increased personal accountability of talent management at an executive level within their own markets. The managers were now aware of the strength and weaknesses of the talent gap and were now better prepared to replace talent due to advancement. “McDonalds currently has a sabbatical program that is a competitive differentiator,” says Rich Floresch, Executive Vice president and Chief Human Resource Officer at McDonalds. The sabbatical program allows employees after 10 years of employment to take 8 weeks off. The program has increased employee engagement and allows employees to fill temporary positions to showcase their talents. Floresch explains, “How this development opportunity gives the employee confidence that they can do the job and also provides talent management pieces that benefit McDonalds, not just the employee.” (Hartley, 2006, 1) Due to the talent reviews the mangers and organization after partnering with HR could now identify when to remove poor performers. Specific steps were now in place to fill replacement gaps and focus on development. The Global Executive Process was created from this talent review process. This caused more cross organizational progression and better selection of candidates. A global awareness as well as transparency was now achieved in the organization (Carter, 2010). The development of The Leadership at McDonalds Program