Benedict’s Rule

â€Å"Benedict’s Rule†, a document that supposedly details the way a true Christian must behave to actually be a true Christian, and not a mere Sunday churchgoer, is a curious text. It is aimed mostly at those who wish to dedicate their whole lives to God, written mostly for monks. However, it is often taken to be a guide to how all Christians should behave despite the fact that there are quite a few things that differ rather drastically from what the Bible says. It is my opinion, thus, that this text cannot be used as a correct interpretation of God’s vision for Christians.Before beginning dealing with both this text and the Bible, I must note that the Bible contains controversial information. Sometimes the tales are of humans that strove hard and failed, and their failure – when taken literally and not as a lesson – can serve as a bad example. Other times, tales are shown to demonstrate how not to do, and there aren’t very many instances th at there are direct commandments towards humanity. That is why I have decided to use one particular section of the Bible – the Sermon on the Mount, as it is a depiction of Christ speaking directly and clearly to the people to show what he wants of them.It is a condensation of the Bible in many ways. And, as we shall see in direct comparison, what the Bible says are the direct words of God do not comply even closely what St. Benedict wants of the people. First of all, the text explicitly shows a bias towards monks. Even though it was written for monasteries, the author does not seem to accept any other kind of worshipper. Only those who are monks are actually pleasing to God – or, at least, such an expression I garnered from reading the text.And, even then, traveling monks, those, who have no stable monastery are frowned upon deeply and insinuated with all sorts of sins (â€Å"Always roving and never settled, they indulge their passions and the cravings of their appeti te, and are in every way worse than the Sarabaites. † BR, chapter 1). Elitism, however, is one of the things Christian doctrine rises against the most. Christianity is not the religion of some Elite, it is the religion of the many, and it is for everyone, who will take the time and trouble to know God.Any person can do it, and there is no need to lead a special, â€Å"especially righteous† life in a monastery. No, indeed, a true Christian is a man of the higher world, a man of heaven, who descends unto the Earth to aid those in need of guidance here. Someone might protest on this one that monasteries are of great value. I do not underestimate the importance of monasteries in the great work that is Christianity – scholars and keepers of lore are as valued in the Christian tradition as in any other. However, neither are they the most important.The most important is the average, everyday person, who has his or her own relationship with Deity. The aim of Christianity was never to create an elite, it was to have everyone transmute into an elite. This requires not monasteries as places of seclusion – a monk may not even eat outside of a monastery, as chapter 51 of Benedict’s rule states – but as schools admitting all those who wish to learn truly! A division between believers is not only unnecessary, but also harmful to the cause, and teaching it to the people who would be teachers is just plain evil, if an unintended one.Second, as we can see in Benedict’s rule, he depicts things such as humility, silence, and et cetera as being rather, well, showy. For instance, humility: Benedict shows that humility is to be spoken of out loud, at least in the middle degrees of it. This is not humility, but the opposite, exaltation. Even the he mentions greater humility later on; it still does not seem to be the most important. Formal observance seems to take precedence over the simple and honest, if at times clumsy, task of living a good life, shows seem to be more important than honest service.Monasteries are supposed to be quiet and devoted to their given tasks, not showing off their â€Å"more-humble-than-thou-art†. This is devoutly un-Christian. The Bible says, however, that things such as worship should be kept in secret – and not because of a fear of nosy neighbors, either! The mysteries of God are simple, yet, when occulted, they gain great power for the transformation of the one that works with these mysteries. However, as with any occult knowledge, when revealed, it becomes absolutely useless and even false.Like decorations out of a good drama, when brought to daylight, they are nothing but fool’s gold – and the alchemical transmutation of fool’s gold into real gold only occurs in solitude and darkness, only after a person has sought his on way to God and fought his own battles on it. One might oppose me in that monasteries are there to leave the lights within this darkness, for the lone traveler and neophyte to use. Monasteries are supposed to lead the exemplary life, one for which the average believer should strive. Yet how much of an example is it, if it is impossible to follow because of the elitism?A true teaching goes out to the students of this teaching, it does not attempt to shroud knowledge in baubles. Yes, showing an exemplary life originally was one of their functions – however, such things must be done very carefully, and never massively. Yes, certain shreds of enlightenment, certain way markers can be transplanted from one person to another; and a basic education is never a bad thing. However, usually such things are not given in monasteries. They are not careful enough, not competent enough, and too massive for their own good – and, even if they were good enough, what truth about God was ever learned in a classroom?It and the teacher in it can aid in pinpointing the way, not be the Truth itself. Added to the usuall y reclusive and yet arrogant life of the monasteries, what comes of it is more an indoctrination than anything else. And this leads us to the next un-Christian thing I found in Benedict’s Rule. Benedict speaks much of obedience. (â€Å"As soon as anything hath been commanded by the Superior they permit no delay in the execution, as if the matter had been commanded by God Himself. â€Å", chapter 5) However, he speaks of obedience to humans, not to God.He says that those high up in the Church are God’s chosen for this work, and should be obeyed as God would be obeyed, for they are always vessels for His will. We shall not even get into the whole discussion of where saying that the Church hierarchs lack the basic gift of God – Free Will – leads. Omitting that, we shall focus on the fact that everything is, in its own way, a test from God. If subscribing to the theodicy of the fact that evil exists as a tool for our learning and growth, the fallacies of an other can also be regarded in this respect.Preaching blind obedience, when one of the basics of Christianity is â€Å"Ask, and it will be given to you; seek, and you will find; knock, and it will be opened to you. † (Matthew 7:2)? The process of seeking has always involved thinking for oneself, separating the wheat from the chaff, deciphering the Holy Book that is Life and Christ itself – not merely obeying those who are also on this search, and may be going down a wrong alleyway, for to be human is to err! Christianity is a religion that is supposed to grant freedom, not to suffocate it within the throngs of hierarchy.In Benedict’s Rule there is much emphasis on formality. When prayers are to be said, how gifts are supposed to be given, and so on. (â€Å"CHAPTER XVI How the Work of God Is to Be Performed during the Day†, et cetera). The proper procedure for communion with God is quite important, that no one can deny, however, it is not by chance that the Sermon on the Mount focuses upon the inner motivations (â€Å"But I say to you that everyone who is angry with his brother shall be guilty before the court;† Matthew 5:22) and not on the outer manifestation.One might say that an outer manifestation, such as the keeping of formalities, is important as well. After all, is it not by ceremony that we recognize and identify? Is it not the symbol that shows us the way? Is it not the atmosphere that is created with these symbols and formalities that first teaches us the essence of religion, is within them not the spirit of Christianity itself? Yes, and I do not mean to contradict that in any kind of way. However, as a word written on a page can never replace the object itself, so the symbols of religion should not become the core of religion, and this should be remembered.Christianity, when it first arose, was a religion of personal experience. It was something that you felt and worked with, and it – and its outer expression s – was individual for every believer. Everyone was his own judge, in the end. Any outer rules that came into existence for Christianity, though important, were secondary, not primary. The code of conduct is a useful thing, however, it – if the monks to whom it is addressed are good monks – has no value whatsoever. It would be valuable for those striving to be monks, for complete novices, but not for those who have done the inner work.For, if one heeds the Bible, which frowns even upon evil thoughts, good actions should follow. The formalities are a necessary subsequence to real inner faith. What would be good is advice on wisdom, on how to make decisions, and not on the formalities. Tradition is important and beautiful, but not to this extent. It should not become dogma, accepted on faith as Gospel – and as too many would want it to be. As we can see, the text †Benedict’s Rule†, if read with care, can be seen as even contradicting the Bible.Such is the price of human folly; such is the price of people attempting to judge the inner world by outer laws. Not a gentle mingling, growing into each other, which is done within every true individual’s hearts – but a forcible mashing together of the two things that should be one, yet are now separate. This task, to be done, must include letting go of the reins of society and entrusting the process within the hands of an individual human and God, though this is very difficult.Christianity is not supposed to force this relationship, as Benedict states, with punishments (â€Å"At the day hours, however, whoever doth not arrive for the Work of God after the verse and the Gloria of the first psalm, which is said after the verse, let him stand in the last place, according to the rule which we stated above; and let him not attempt to join the choir of the chanters until he hath made satisfaction, unless, perchance, the Abbot's permission hath given him leave to do so, with the understanding that he atone the fault afterwards† chapter 43).However, it is supposed to gently show those who made a mistake that it was a mistake. As Socrates said, â€Å"There is not one person that would do evil if they knew it was evil. † This is true, and Christianity’s function is to enlighten the people, to aid them in stopping making mistakes. How many times could a teacher force someone to learn? None. But a teacher who awakens within his pupils not fear, but a desire to learn, will succeed in being a good teacher. Benedict, though he tries valiantly, fails this difficult task.

Reflection of Being Catholic

People who are raised Catholic, would know what I mean when I say most parents of newborns will have their babies baptized into the faith very young, probably within the first 6 months after birth. I was a late bloomer. When I was 6 years old, my grandparents gained full custody of me, and being that my mother had never done anything to introduce me into the family's religion, my grandparents did not waste any time in having me baptized. Being that I was not baptized until I was six, I immediately had to take Sunday school classes for my First Reconciliation and my First Holy Communion.When I was in second grade I was already altar server, which was not an opportunity for kids until they were in fifth grade. Grade school kids who were altar servers helped with simple duties during mass such as processing in with candles, holding the prayer book for the priest to read from, etc. As a kid, I placed a lot of importance on my faith; it was really all I had. My mother was a drug addict an d had left me alone worrying about what she was doing days at a time, so then my grandparents came to my rescue. With all the misfortunes in my life, religion was a means of hope and happiness.By third grade, my grandparents had me attend to St. Hughes, a Catholic school. I was saying my prayers at night, something that most kids probably would not have time for. As I continued to grow and mature, it was only typical that I encountered such problems as being out casted amongst students in class, and heartbreaks over boys throughout high school. I usually turned to prayer for relief and comfort. As life in general continued to get me down and bring me heartache, I came to the realization that perhaps there was not a God, or if there was, I had no idea how my prayers and church-going would help me.By the time I was a junior, I had stopped going to church (except for when there was holiday mass. ) I considered myself uncertain at this point. I had gone from church going altar server wh o said their daily prayers to someone who, dared to pray at all, I was screaming curses at God, blaming him for all the misery in my life. After high school, I immediately moved out of my grandparents place. I then decided to move in with my boyfriend and we then split three months later, due to him cheating when we were engaged to be married. I was so heart broken and confused.I saw everything I earned and worked for in my relationship was all for nothing. I went through a party girl phrase for a while with my good friend Desiree, after she found her fiance had killed himself, we just kept partying and hanging out with a crowd of bad people who did drugs and who did not care about their life. I was at a different point in my life; I felt I could see things more clearly and more for what they are. My grandmother has always offered me advice and still does to this day, but always with some â€Å"Catholic† twist to it.If life got me down, or if I was going through a rough patch , my grandmother encouraged me to pray and believe in Jesus. Though listening to her advice never felt it would do me any good. There were moments of thinking God was punishing me for not being true to my faith and for the choices I was making. Today, I have changed in a lot of ways. I did move back in with my grandparents for a few more years, which was quite helpful for me to get back on my feet. I met the most amazing man of my life, who I will be marrying in 2014. I took another chance and I moved out again and I now leave in Lansdale with my fiance.I have a chance to be a step parent to two beautiful girls and show them that there are always choices in life that you will have to make that you believe are right. I do not party anymore, but I do have some concerns for my girlfriend Desiree who still does it and has a 4 year old daughter at home, but I do the best that I can to be a friend and convince her that there is more to life then partying, especially with having a child ho me wondering when you will be home. I do follow some of my catholic traditions I do pray here and there to God for help in certain things like good grades, better job opportunities, and of course, health.I have not attended church still for a long time unless it is a wedding or a funeral. I believe that God puts obstacles in front of us that he knows we are able to handle. I still believe that God works in mysterious ways. I have convinced myself that there is karma. I believe in what comes around goes around and I state this because I recently heard my ex-fiance has been hit with money problems, which was something he left me with when we decided to get a home together and I took out a loan to put a down payment for a home, which made me glad he will feel the stress I felt with paying back so much in a short time.I went through so much in my life that I did believe God was mad at me because I stopped praying to him or not attending church anymore, which made me think he was punishi ng me for all the wrong doing and hate I had towards others. I know now that I can make things turn around for the better. The past only makes you look forward to what the future has in stored for you, only you can make what you believe are the right decisions in your life either with faith or without. What happens in your past makes you stronger for the future is what I believe.

A raisin in the sun by Lorraine Hansberry Research Paper

A raisin in the sun by Lorraine Hansberry - Research Paper Example With $10,000 worth of insurance check, Hansberry asks if this is enough to buy their American Dreams. Raisin in the Sun depicts the deferred American Dream, where blacks diverge on their ideas of being African American and how this affects their definition of the American Dream, but as a family, they resolved their individual differences through affirming racial equality through racial integration and the variety of their dreams. The play argues that the poverty of the black working-class is a product of racial prejudice and a misplaced sense of humility. The setting of A Raisin in the Sun embodies the constrained life of African Americans. The Southside Apartment of the Youngers is a place of â€Å"weariness† where â€Å"too many people have lived for too long† (Hansberry Act 1 Scene 1). Blacks are compressed in a limited space through the policies and programs of the government that rely on racial prejudice. May talks about the space that limits African American growth, a space that ensures their poverty. She says: â€Å"Hansberry speaks to the material/ecological situatedness of her characters’ lives† (May 130). Most blacks rented and did not own their houses, a situation that Lena wanted to change. For her, having a house in a white neighborhood is already the realization of her American Dream. Walter thinks differently, however. Washington argues that Lena’s American D ream opposes Walter’s version of it. He asserts: â€Å"[Lena’s] is in short, not the true American Dream, but a second-class version of it reserved for Black Americans and other poor people† (Washington 130). Lena has a misguided sense of humility because she sees that a house is enough. Walter knows better because he does not aim for mere existence, but a true sense of development through a business undertaking. But Lena warns him of taking more than what the white society can afford to give blacks. She says: â€Å"When a man goes outside

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Individual report-corporate strategies - Essay Example With its vision of enabling its customers to make the most of their world and possibilities though the services it offers, O2 plc (O2) accomplishes its commitment of providing mobile communication services in Europe. The business organisation also profits from its leading mobile internet portal business. Armed with its values of being bold, trusted, open, and clear, O2 continues its quest to become the telecommunication industry’s market leader. The creation of O2 in the 1990s can be traced backed to the decision of British Telecommunication to â€Å"demerge its mobile phone business† in order to strengthen the financial position of the latter. From its beginning, the firm is currently a major player in the various nations where it operates including the United Kingdom, Republic of Ireland, Germany, the Isle of Man, and Asia. As the business organisation is focused on satisfying consumer needs, O2 strategic business units are classified according to their geographic locations. It should be noted that the products being offered varies in each region (O2 Plc 2006). The major products of O2 are mobile telecommunication equipments which are either paid through installment plans or pre-paid. With its thrust to provide the market with higher quality products, the company offers complementary services like third generation telephony (3G), O2 Active, I Mode, and O2 Online. O2 also ensures the satisfaction of customers by offering product features like entertainment through its sponsorship of the England Rugby Team and Arsenal FC and partnership with Anschutz Entertainment Group (O2 Plc 2006). As stated above, O2 Plc operates in different geographic locations, battling head-on with various competitors. Table 1 shows the geographical locations of firm’s business activities alongside with its competitors in each region. It can

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Latin American Literature (Marquez) - Essay Example When he enters the kitchen on the morning the Bishop is expected, both the cook, Victoria Guzman, and her daughter, Divina Flora, know what Santiago Nasar will not learn for some time--that two men are waiting outside the house to kill him. (Marquez, p.15-19) They, like many others Santiago will cross in the short time before his death, do not warn him. When the narrator's mother hears the news of what is to happen to Santiago, she immediately sets out to warn Placida Linero that her son is in danger, but is stopped in the street and told that "they've already killed him." The twins even reveal their plans to a policeman who passes on the information to the mayor, yet even that does not stop the murder. On her wedding night, Angela furious husband returns Angela to her family. This is seen as violence to her family, especially in the conventions of the time where such an act brings shame to both Angela and her family. As one might expect, she is now put under a lot of pressure to tel l her family who it was that took her virginity.

Economic Development Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words - 3

Economic Development - Essay Example Population growth is presently considered as a vital event in relation to economic development. The aspect is often regarded as a major determinant of the pace of development witnessed within an economy or a specific region. Based on a similar perspective, the article named â€Å"Falling Fertility† emphasized on reviewing the study conducted by Thomas Malthus during the late 1790s signifying population to be a vital event in the economic development process. As mentioned in the article, it was predicted by Thomas Malthus during 1798 that the growth rate of the population might outdo the food supply of the world in the upcoming era. However, the article states that the predictions made by the author were termed as undependable.Furthermore, the article states the fact that the author connoted that with the rapid growth in the process of industrialization there was fall in the rate of fertility in the then ‘developing countries’ such as France, Europe, America, and B ritain. According to Malthus (1998), it was observed that when people became prosperous with the virtues of industrialization, the families became smaller in terms of the total number of members. On the flipside, Thomas Malthus also noted that when families reduced, people became wealthier. Taking the inspiration from Thomas Malthus’ study, a similar scenario has been depicted in the article published through ‘The Economist’ replicating the aspect that it is with the increasing rate of industrialization that families tend to shrink.

Love at first sight Essay Example for Free

Love at first sight Essay Adolf Hitler was a very famous person that was in the Holocaust. He was a very cruel person who thought that everyone who wasn’t a pure blooded German was lower than him and filthy. He put a lot of people through misery and pain. He didn’t even know if the people he was killing could be nice and pleasant. All he cared about was that they weren’t pure blooded Germans. Adolf Hitler was born on the 20th of April, 1889, in a town named Braunau an inn, Austria. He was baptised catholic and his dream was to become a priest and to peruse art school. He came from a divorced family, his father died in 1903. Hitler’s mother died when he was 18 years old, 1907. Hitler’s grandfather is believed to be Jewish and while in Vienna he had two close Jewish fiends. Hitler also served in World War 1. When Hitler was a child he was brutally abused by his father and lost 3 of his siblings when he was a young boy, 2 from diphtheria and one during child birth. This must have been very traumatic and hard for a young boy to grasp. His mother and father were divorced and his father has 2 marriages after his mother. Hitler had only been 14 when his father died of pleural haemorrhage. He soon after his father’s death left school due to him suffering from lung infections. Hitler had a hard and traumatic childhood and when he turned 18 his mother died from terminal breast cancer while being treated by a Jewish doctor. It is believed that Hitler’s grandfather was Jewish and after his mothers death he became certain for what he wanted to become and moved to Vienna to become an artist, after years before being rejected. Hitler met two Jewish men and became close friends with them. This is why many of Hitler’s generation and the generations there after don’t understand why he turned against the Jewish, could it be psychological issues within his mind and thoughts after having such a rough childhood? What could have been the main reason for Hitler to turn against Jews in particular? â€Å"Hitler began growing hatred for, not the Jewish in particular but rather against the cruel world that he lived in†. There are many that believe this statement is not true because they believe Hitler grew angry after his mother’s death, because it was a Jewish doctor, Dr. Edward Bloch who put her with excruciatingly painful as well as expensive treatments and surgery, and yet she still died. As well as his â€Å"hidden shame† for his grandfather being Jewish. Others believe that he was angry at his father for the abuse, pain and suffering he put him trough and wanted to get back at the world in his own twisted way. What could have been the reason for someone to act so mentally ill, that they’d want to exterminate an entire race? I believe that Hitler was not only physically unfit but mentally too that he may have lost his mind. There are theories that Hitler turned against the Jewish population because it’s believed they killed Jesus Christ and he was a Christian. When Hitler was 18 he moved to Vienna to peruse his passion for becoming an artist, he lived a very poor life living off of hid fathers small inheritance and an orphan’s pension. He became penniless and soon was homeless; he slept in a different place every night. It is during this time that people believe he became prejudiced about Jewish people, developing his knack for politics, and forming his debating skills. Adolf Hitler, two of his closest friends at this time were Jewish. He also admired Jewish art dealers and Jewish operatic performers and producers. However, Vienna was a centre of anti-Semitism, and the portrayal of Jews as scapegoats (the people who bear the blame) with stereotyped attributes (something that someone said that was not true about them but people believed) fascinated Hitler. What could mentally have been wrong with Hitler’s mind that he’d turn so violently against his own family and friends? In May of 1913 Hitler left Vienna and went to Munich, which is the capital of Bavaria, to avoid military services. In January the police came to him with a notice from the Austrian government. It threatened a year in prison and a fine if he was found guilty of leaving his native land with the intent of avoiding conscription (enrolling for the military). Hitler was arrested right then and taken to the Austrian Consulate. When he reported to Salzburg for duty, he was found â€Å"unfit too weak and unable to bear arms. Hitler served in World War I. He was enlisted in the Bavarian army. After less than two months of training Hitler’s regiment saw its first combat near Ypres, against the British and Belgians. Hitler almost died that day and many others. He was awarded two Iron Crosses for bravery. In October of 1916 he was wounded by an enemy shell and moved to a Berlin area hospital. After recovering, and serving four years in the service, he was temporarily blinded by a mustard gas attack in Belgium in October 1918. Communist revolts shook Germany while Hitler was recovering. Some Jews were leaders of these revolutions and this was part of Hitler’s hatred for Jewish people. Could Hitler’s recovery stage have been the time that he started to plot plans to exterminate the Jews, it may be possible that when he was injured and had to recover that he may have become mentally ill. It is also possible that he blames the Jews for becoming injured in the first place and this may have been the last straw for him. It is impossible to know what was running through Hitler’s mind but its more then certain that for one human to hate and despise a race so much to want to demolish them is not human nature, it is not normal for a human to have any thoughts, plots or motivation towards exterminating one person let alone almost a billion people. There are many theories that Hitler was an ill man and wanted more then to exterminate a race but exterminate a nation for his own personal gain, even though this is possible to know there are still theories and accusations and this makes knowing the truth difficult. Hitler’s dictatorship began in 1933, when he joined and created the Nazi party. His leadership, many believe, made him more power hungry then ever, and made him more mentally ill then before. Hitler died in 1945, after committing suicide. There are theories that he couldn’t handle his life anymore and wanted an easy way out, others believe it was his childhood that made him mentally ill and traumatised, and others think it was the guilt of killing millions of people for no reason. What could drive a human to taking their own life? Now you see that Hitler’s life was very sad, like many others at that time. The way he was treated when he was young, his family life, might have affected the way he turned out to be an adult. Which is why many believe he was a strong and ruthless dictator due to his childhood, but this is still not a good enough reason, in my eyes, for someone to commit mass murder and attempt exterminating a race. Hitler was humanly unstable and was not fit to dictate or run a country which led to his genocide of the Jews and suicide. Bibliography www. google. com =to find out the following websites and information. www. historypics. com = was used to find childhood pictures of Hitler and adult pictures. www. historyresearch. co. za = this was used to find information about Hitler’s childhood and life experiences. www. wikipedia. com = Also used to find out more information about his childhood and to see if the information found on the other websites was similar. www. brainyquotes. co. za = Used to find a quote to support the theories and feelings about Hitler. www. ispsuk. org = was used to find out how people can be mentally ill and where it could have began. www. webmd. com = Also used to find out about mentally illness and what it means to become mentally ill.

Curriculum and instruction Essay Example for Free

Curriculum and instruction Essay The definition of curriculum transcends the conception of it as a mere document and ushers it into the realms of instruction itself. Certain researchers consider the curriculum to be a dynamic instrument that is vital to the way students and educators interact with the materials of education â€Å"in a free-wheeling setting† (Weade, 1987, p. 15). Much of the current trends in curriculum and instruction involve the constructivist practice of hands-on training (Ediger, 2001). This dictates that the curriculum takes the form of the drafting and implementation of practical methods in the planning of instruction. Depth of instruction is at the heart of current reformatory curriculum drafting, as it has been theorized by several educational researchers that the improper articulation of the intricacies of certain concepts has led to current educational problems (AAAS, 2000). The fact is that curricula, which serve as a guide for teachers, also have the ability to restrict their freedom in the classroom. The cursory way in which some curricula deal with concepts often has the effect of curtailing teachers’ tendency toward depth and breadth within a lesson, and this in turn has an adverse effect on the understanding of the students. In mathematics, for instance, a student may be having trouble understanding the application of an algebraic concept in the real world. The student may not be able to visualize the transformation of a perfect algebraic square such as (a + b)2 into the expression a2 + ab +b2. The student might not be aware of how the ab portion of the equation comes into play. Visualization of the problem might be aided through the labelling of the sides of a square with the measurements a + b and then dividing the square into bits to demonstrate the areas that correspond to a2, b2 and ab. The visual and practical demonstration of this would work in conjunction with the theoretical aspect of the algebraic problem to aid understanding and consequently memorization. In that way, freedom in the curriculum allowing for a greater depth in the instruction of the concept would lead to a better understanding for the student (AAAS, 2000). References American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS), Project 2061. (2000). Algebra for all — not with today’s textbooks, says AAAS. Press Release. Retrieved on October 2, 2007 from http://www. project2061. org/newsinfo/press/rl000426. htm. Ediger, M. (2001). â€Å"What makes for a quality science curriculum? † Journal of Instructional Psychology. 28(4): 241-243. Weade, R. â€Å"Curriculu ‘n’Instruction: the construction of meaning. † Theory into Practice, 26(1): 15-25.

Analysis of Employee Turnover at McDonalds

Analysis of Employee Turnover at McDonalds 1.1 Introduction In a perfect world it would be best for any organization to have employees who love their jobs, enjoy working with their co-workers, are happy with the salary, willing to work hard for their managers and never leave the organization. However, in the real world employees do leave either because they want more money, hate the work environment, hate their co-workers, want a change or because their spouse gets a dream job in another state (Sharma, 2008). Many organizations nowadays face ‘high attrition rate or turnover mainly due to a highly competitive market. Staff attrition or turnover has been cited as one of the primary concerns facing organizations and businesses in any industry. Staff attrition or turnover relates to those who leave an organization due to resignation, termination and retirement. According to the latest CIPD survey (CIPD, 2007), the annual employee turnover rate in the UK was at 18.1 percent. The report also found that the annual turnover levels differed cons iderably from one industry to the other industry, with the highest average rates being 22.6 percent and these were found in private sector organizations and, within this sector, the hotels, catering and leisure industry reports rates of turnover at 10 percent higher than the average for the sector of 32.6 percent. High turnover rates creates particular pressures for the HR department, which is primarily responsible for replacing those who leave, but also for line managers who face disruption to production and service standards. This is the necessary result of having to induct new employees, who are usually less experienced and productive compared to those whom they replace. It takes some time for the new recruits to perform at their optimum levels. This results in the organization failing to meet its objectives, reduction in productivity and higher costs. It is therefore important for HR managers to measure staff attrition, monitor its impact and take appropriate action to minimize its effects(BanfieldKay,2008). Globalization has led to the rapid expansion of multinational fast food companies e.g. McDonalds and KFC. Even at this present time of global economic recession, these fast food companies are growing and generating profits. The customers, who were eating out at a high profile restaurant, are now looking for something reasonable and affordable. McDonalds is offering good hygienic food at a reasonable price to these customers and are benefitting from this global economic downturn. This has lead to a fierce competition between these fast food companies and each of them is trying to give the best quality product and service to its customers. In a company like McDonalds, giving a quick and high quality customer service is essential for its success. However many of the McDonalds restaurants are experiencing high employee turnover which could affect the overall productivity and profitability of the respective McDonalds restaurants. One of the senior executives at McDonalds put the chains an nual employee turnover at nearly 44 percent. According to the chief human resource officer of McDonalds Mr. Floersch the managerial turnover was at 20% globally while that of the crew members averaged between 80 percent and 90 percent. This however, varied from country to country (The Wall Street Journal, 2008). In this research, the researcher would like to investigate the main reasons for experienced employees leaving the organization i.e. McDonalds and what sort of challenges the managers face due to the high turnover. The researcher would also like to find out any retention strategies adopted by the HR department to curb the high turnover rate. For this, the researcher decided to choose few selected restaurants in London. 1.2 The Overall Aim The researchers main aim in this study is to find out the main reasons for high employee turnover at McDonalds, the way it affects the managers and the organization, and steps taken to retain employees. 1.3 Research Objectives The researcher in this research would like to find out the main reasons for having high turnover rate in McDonalds and the challenges that the managers face and also how they can curb the rate of staff turnover.The researcher also intends to study the following: To find out the main causes of high employee turnover To find out the various retention strategies adopted by McDonalds in order to retain employees. To find out the various challenges faced by managers due to employee turnover. Chapter2 2.0 Background-Company Overview McDonalds has 31,000 restaurants in 116 countries and is one of the biggest family restaurants in the world. The first restaurant in UK was opened during 1974 in Woolwich High Street and the first franchised restaurant opened in 1986. In UK there are now 1,190 restaurants employing more than 70,000 people, of which 51% is operated by franchisees. McDonalds main vision is to give the family the best experience, something that they will never forget and would want to come back to. They achieve this through its people they employ. McDonalds realizes that its employees can only perform well when they are given the right working environment and for this, they strive to provide various rewards and benefits which would suit each and every individual working in the organization. McDonalds is one of the largest global brands and it offers a culture of flexibility, opportunity, equality and diversity. It has one of the most diverse cultures within the UK (McDonalds, 2009). 2.1 Recruitment at McDonalds McDonalds policy is to hire those ‘Crew Members who can bring a smile to the workplace. This brings in positive energy and creates a good friendly atmosphere. The recruitment procedure for a ‘Crew Member is a two-step process. First the applicant needs to apply online and if successful, the second step will be to invite the candidate to a restaurant for On job evaluation (OJE) and interview. The on job evaluation helps evaluate the candidates customer service skills and his ability to keep up with the high energy environment. This will last for 15 minutes after which the candidate will be interviewed by the Business Manager for another 15 minutes. Once the crew members are hired, they will attend a welcome meeting which will be conducted at their chosen restaurant or the recruitment centre. The welcome meeting involves viewing a DVD which gives important information about the company and also gives the manager an opportunity to interact with the new recruits. They also at tend a compulsory online Health safety and Food safety test when they start working (McDonalds,2009). McDonalds also recruit ‘Trainee Business Managers who need to display some strong leadership skills. In this, McDonalds makes sure that the candidate is right for the job. A candidate applying for this position has to go through four-step selection process. The first stage is the initial screening process, this helps in ensuring that the candidate meets the basic criteria for selection. If successful, the next step is an online personality questionnaire that the candidate will have to complete. This ensures if the candidate has the desired attributes to be working in McDonalds environment. The next step is a restaurant based ‘On Job Evaluation or OJE. In this the candidate works for the entire day in order to find out what its really like to work in a McDonalds restaurant. The final step of the process is an interview with the Senior Manager of the restaurant (McDonalds,2009). 2.2 Training in McDonalds McDonalds success depends on its well trained crew and managers who maintain company standards of providing high quality, good service and cleanliness at each of its restaurants. McDonalds has a company policy to provide career opportunities that will allow employees to grow and meet their full potential. They have included career development programmes for crew and operations management which will allow them to progress to a senior management position. The company believes in promoting people on their merit. The crew members are trained by the Crew Trainers and they learn the skills necessary to run each of the workstations in the restaurant, from the front counter to the grill area. They are also trained on how to take deliveries and store the frozen food into the chiller, this is then further used in cooking and making the necessary burgers. Major part of this training is floor based and this helps the crew members learn faster and are also able to retain the information provided. After the initial training period the crew members are monitored by the use of ‘observation check lists (OCRs) on an ongoing basis. The observation checklist is a score sheet that marks all aspects of work in the restaurant. The ratings derived from these checklists goes towards their performance appraisal. The restaurants do promote the good performers to management positions where they will have the responsibility to runs shifts within the restaurant. For this, training is given to crew members in areas such as Customer Care, First Aid, Taste of Quality and Food Restaurant Safety. On successful completion of the management entrance exam, the employees will attend a training course provided by the Training Department before they start working in management position (McDonalds, 2009). 2.3 Retention Strategies of McDonalds McDonalds provides high levels of training to its employees working in various positions at the restaurants. This helps in reducing staff turnover and lowers the turnover costs. Employees that perform well are given recognition by awarding them with ‘Employee of the month. It provides medical insurance and offers health care. McDonalds now gives quarterly bonus to its crew and managers instead of yearly bonus, this was a step taken towards motivating its employees. The organization gives five weeks holiday per annum and they are going to increase that to six weeks from April 2009. Computerized English language classes are conducted; this can be enjoyed by the crew members between shifts (The Wall Street Journal, 2008). In 2009, McDonalds aims to provide Apprenticeships to up to 6000 of its 72,000 UK workforce and later will be increased to 10,000 from 2010. This will give the staff an opportunity to gain valuable and nationally recognized qualification that is equivalent to fiv e GCSE grade A*-C. McDonalds senses the importance of investing in their staff says the Senior Vice President David Fairhurst of McDonalds UK. This has been done purely to retain the existing staff and also to attract new ones towards working for McDonalds, which, is a global brand name (McDonalds Latest News, 2009). Chapter3 3.0LiteratureReview This section of the study points out the various theories that are relevant to the topic chosen. It starts with the HR and then focuses on employee turnover and the impact it has on the organization. It also speaks about the various ways an organization can adopt to reduce the employee turnover. 3.1Human Resource Management Human resource management (HRM) is a strategic and coherent approach to the management of an organizations most valued assets. The people working in HRM put individual efforts and also work together collectively in order to achieve its objectives. Their main goal is to help the organization achieve their goals and targets through people. HRM is concerned with choosing human capital that meets the organizations requirements and to develop their capabilities so that the work is done effectively (Armstrong, 2006). Recently there has been a growing importance of HRM; this is due to the fierce competition from overseas economies. In the twenty-first century if an organization wants to have a competitive advantage, it would have to effectively manage the organizations human resource. This would also enable the organization to maintain high performance consistently over a long term. In todays market the managers recognize the growing importance of recruiting, selecting, training and develop ing, rewarding and compensation the employees. However, individuals that work with human resource matters face a multitude of challenges such as the ever constant changing workforce, the government regulations and technological revolution. Furthermore, globalization has made organizations of all sizes to think about cutting costs and improving productivity (Mondy, 2008). It is therefore, important that the HRM and the other departments within the organization work closely together in order to achieve the organizational goals and objectives and to compete locally and internationally (Sims,2002). 3.2 Human Resource Development (HRD) Human Resource Development is a title which represents the latest evolutionary stage in the long tradition of training, educating, and developing people for the purpose of contributing towards the achievement of individual, organizational and societal objectives (Wilson,2005).The fundamental aim of strategic HRD is to enhance resource capability in accordance with the belief that the human capital of an organization is a major source of competitive advantage. It is therefore about ensuring that the right quality people are available to meet present and future needs. HRD policies are closely associated with that aspect of HRM that is concerned with investing in people and developing the organizations human capital. Human Resource Development is important for organizations because it is the people whose innovative ideas, their quality at work and their hunger for continuous improvement that is needed in order to compete in todays modern and high competitive business world and these won t come from machines (Swart et al, 2005). The development of human resource will always be an ongoing process and a vital ingredient for the success of an organization. 3.3 Employee Turnover Employee attrition or turnover can be explained as the number of people who leave employment over a specified period due to retirement, death, redundancy, dismissal, transfer or resignation (Secord, 2003). According to Muller-Camen et al (2008) turnover is the number of people who leave the organization at a given time period. Most organizations would like to reduce their turnover rates, especially when it comes to the good performers who have benefitted from the companies training programs. Some organizations measure their turnover rates on a monthly basis, whereas some do it on a yearly basis. A limited amount turnover is positive for organizations as a poor performer could be replaced by a more productive one. Also, it creates an opportunity for promotion or career development when an experienced staff leaves an organization. However, high turnover could affect the quality of product and service that is offered to the customers (Baum, 2006) e.g. in case of McDonalds if an experien ced staff leaves and a new staff is recruited in the kitchen section, the quality of making the burgers will be affected. It is important for any organization to stem the staff attrition rate as finding a replacement could incur heavy costs for the organization. Some of these costs include recruitment, administration and selection costs. The managers will have to recruit new employees which will incur cost to the organization and also to cover up for the loss, the other employees working in the department would be under pressure to meet the company targets. In a highly competitive market this needs to be avoided by the managers. In order to avoid high attrition rate, it is essential for HR managers to try and retain its existing employees. 3.4 Cause of Employee Turnover There are various employee turnover causes. For example, one of the biggest employee turnover causes is an ill tempered manager. Employees dont like to work with those managers who are always being negative to them, shouting at them and blaming them for something which wasnt their fault. The employees dont want to work for a manager who is not well organized in his work. Employees find it extremely difficult to work with managers who have attitude and are not easily approachable when they face problems, such managers often find it difficult to retain their staff. Sometimes managers in order to maximize profits for the organization try to cut costs by making an employee work more so that they dont have to recruit another staff. Another main cause of employee turnover is less pay to the employees. Many employees leave an organization due to not being paid enough by the management. Employees want that they are respected for their efforts in form of good pay and good benefits. It is ther efore important for organizations to treat their employees as human beings and respect their feelings and opinions. When an employee feels that they are not being looked after by their employer, they get affected mentally as frustration creeps in and this forces them to leave the organization. Also, less pay and no benefits results in lack of motivation and job satisfaction. Another reason that causes employee turnover is an employee interaction with other employees. If an employee is not comfortable with their co-workers they often tend to leave the organization. They dont really get along with the workplace and this affects their performance and productivity. Employee turnover also occurs when they are not rewarded for their hard work. If an employee performs really well at work, he/she expects that the employer would recognize the efforts put in. However, this does not happen often to the employee (Employee Turnover Calculator Blog, 2008). 3.5 Types of Employee Turnover There are two types of turnover: Voluntary and Involuntary. Voluntary turnover is sub-divided into avoidable and unavoidable turnover. Avoidable turnover is that which an organization can prevent from occurring such as increasing the employee pay or by giving him new job assignment. Unavoidable turnover is when an employee quits and the organization could not have prevented, such as people withdrawing through retirement or returning back to school or university. Other examples of unavoidable turnover is when an employee quits in pursuit of a new career, health problems which forces an employee to take up a different type of job or perhapswhenanemployeeleavesthecountry. Involuntary turnover can be split into discharge and downsizing types. Discharge turnover occurs when an individual has been asked to leave the organization. This could be due to job performance problems wherein an employee does not perform well over a period of time even after adequate training is given to the employe e or could be for not being discipline at work e.g. coming late at work or misbehaving with colleagues. Downsizing turnover is targeted at a group of employees by an organization, it occurs as a part of organizational restructuring or cost-reduction program to improve organizational effectiveness and increase shareholder value. This reduction could be permanent or temporary due to a plant or site closing or relocation. The reduction in workforce also occurs at the time or mergers and acquisitions (Heneman Judge, 2006). 3.6 Cost as aresult of Employee Turnover The most important factor of high employee turnover that affects any organization is the cost. These costs can further be divided into the recruitment costs, training costs, lost productivity costs, new hire costs and lost sales costs (Pilbeam Corbridge, 2006). Recruitment costs are usually in the form of advertisements. The organization also incurs cost as they have to pay the recruitment agency, and also for posting advertisements on the internet. The training costs include cost of departmental training, cost of the person(s) who conduct the training and cost of various training materials. There are lost productivity costs as the new trained employee would only contribute at 25% productivity level for the first 2-4 weeks and cost of mistakes the new employee makes during his induction period. The new hire costs include putting the person on the payroll, establish computer and security passwords and identification cards, telephone hookups and cost of establishing email accounts. Th e lost sales costs or lost revenue which is calculated by multiplying the number of weeks the position is vacant by the averageweeklyrevenueperemployee.Despite the costs of high employee turnover being so significant it is overlooked and rarely calculated. Few organizations, 7 per cent of those surveyed, calculate the more extensive costs of turnover (CIPD, 2004a). When these organizations were asked why they dont calculate these costs, over half of them gave the reason that the organization did not require the information, while a third stated that calculating the various costs was just too time consumingforthem. According to Risher Stopper (2002) for an organization cost of replacement can sometimes account to around 2.5 times the annual salary of an existing employee. Such costs are rarely identified by the accounting department of an organization. Therefore, in order to avoid such turnover costs, organizations must form a successful retention strategy overtime. 3.7 Customer Satisfaction and Customer Retention According to Hill (2006) recently many organizations whether it be a small one or a large one, they have increasingly come to understand that it is important for them to maintain customer satisfaction. Nowadays the organizations have realized the fact that retaining existing customers is easier and less costly than finding some new ones. Todays businesses are so competitive that in order to gain or win new customers, organizations have to invest a lot of money. Organizations have started to realize that there is a strong link between customer satisfaction, customer retention and profitability. For many organizations in the hospitality and service industry customer satisfaction will be the topmost priority in order to be successful. Meeting the various needs of the customers and satisfying them has become the key operational goal for many organizations. Customers would only be satisfied when the organizations product or service is good enough to meet their requirements and therefore t his needs to be measured by the organization. In the words of Argenti (2002) in order to measure the overall success of any given product or service one needs to find out how often do the customers buy that same product or service. A customer buying the same product repeatedly would mean that he/she is satisfied with that product. If one can put it in simple terms, a company can make regular profits if customers show a long term commitment to their product or service. The reason why organizations can make profits from long-term and loyal customers is because they dont have to invest huge sums in attracting the new customers through the means of advertisements and promotions. Therefore, if a company after acquiring a new customer manages to keep them in the long-run, its investment on acquiring will pay off. E.g. If McDonalds want to stay competitive in the fast food industry it needs to make sure that their customers are always satisfied with the food and also the customer service. This is essential for retaining customers and would also add value to the company,thereby increasing the company profits. 3.8 Employee Retention Retention includes all those activities that an employer does to encourage qualified and highly-skilled and productive employees to continue working for the organization (Jackson et al, 2009). Staff retention is about attracting and keeping good-quality employees, while accepting that some of them will leave the organization. However, the managers should ensure that when these employees leave, it wont affect the organizations productivity to a large extent (Bloisi, 2007). Retaining a productive employee is of considerable importance to the companys HR professional. The CIPD (2004) report intro HR trends and indicators reported that 31.7 percent of employers face difficulty with retaining its employees. Large organizations find it even moredifficulttoretaintheirworkers.According to Browell (2003) an organization can benefit a lot from retaining the existing staff, some of them include: reduction in recruitment costs and selection and training of new staff, it keeps skills and knowledg e within the organization, helps improve performance, productivity and profitability, it helps in building customer loyalty and satisfaction, and lastly, it could help increase the sales volume of the organization thereby making them competitive in the market. Organizations should consider the following elements which would help in retaining employees: Job previews employees should be given a more realistic job preview when they are being recruited. Care should be taken not to give them high expectations that cannot be met. Improve management style one of the main reasons employees leave the organization is due to dissatisfaction with their managers. Organizations that would like to improve retention should take measures to improve their managers people management skills. Career development and Progression organizations should give their employees ample of opportunities to develop their skills. This can be done by introducing mentoring scheme, encouraging multi-skilling, improving career development opportunities and investing in succession planning (CIPD, 2008). Flexibility organizations should be flexible towards employees working hours and times. If employees are forced to work hours which is not convenient for them, they will look for jobs elsewhere. Treat people equally and fairly to improve retention organizations should make sure not to discriminate against employees. If they are unfair towards them it will result in voluntary resignations. Every employee that belongs to a team should be treated equally by the managers. Improve pay and benefits Many employees leave due to less pay and no benefits. A simple pay rise could be a useful strategy for organizations to retain their employees. Organizations should make sure that they match the market rates or better it when it comes to good performingemployees (Muller-Camenetal, 2008). 3.9 Recruitment In todays global competitive market organizations are under constant pressure to perform well and stay competitive and in order to achieve that, they need to recruit the right people for the right job. Recruitment is a very costly process as a lot of resources go into it. If the organization recruits wrong people it could cost to the organization huge sums and also loss of valuable time. Therefore it is important for the recruitment process to be fair, reliable and valid (Armstrong, 2001). According to Bratton and Gold (2003) an organization should setup such a recruitment process, which will help in generating a pool of talented and skilled workers who are capable for employment in an organization. Recruitment involves searching and hiring qualified people for the organization and consider them when filling job openings. The recruitment process should be consistent, taking into consideration the organizations strategy, vision and values. There are different sources an organization can use for recruiting: the first being the internal labor market and this could be the companys current employees. A good way for recruiting employees from within is through posting announcements in a company newsletter. According to the CIPD recruitment survey (2004a) 84 percent of UK organizations surveyed looked for applicants from within the organization. They did so by using internal email or intranet (69 percent), notice and bulletin boards (68 percent), team meetings (18 percent), staff newsletter or magazines (14 percent), and by memos, circulars and approaching directly. The second source would be the external labor market and this could be reached via electronic media and also referrals from current employees (Jackson et al, 2009). However, the success rate of these sources is not equal and may vary e.g. employee referrals may yield better quality applicants than through newspaperadvertisements. It is important for any organization to monitor its recruitment process as this will help reduce the talented and knowledgeable employees from leaving the organization. For any organization the recruitment process is the very first stage of retention. It is therefore important for an organization to monitor the recruitment practice as it will help in finding the right candidate for the job. In the long term this will also help the organization to reduce the turnover levels. 3.10 Training The primary reason that organizations train their new employees is to increase the level of the knowledge, skills and abilities that they possess. It can be used as one of the ways to retain its existing employees, as training will give them an opportunity to develop new skills and gain knowledge. The amount of training given to the employees has a positive influence on the organizations revenue and overall profitability. Managers should therefore keep a watchful eye on the organizations goals and strategies while conducting training programmes (Snell Bohlander, 2007). Training is also described as a planned process which enables to change the attitudes of people; it helps a person to gain some knowledge and develop the skills through various activities which helps the person to achieve effective performance. Training an employee at work is important as the employee will be able to meet the requirements of the organization in the present and in the future (Beardwell et al 2004). Tra ining is the systematic process of altering the behavior of employees in a direction that will achieve organizational goals. Training is related to present job skills and abilities. It has a current orientation and helps employees master specific skills and abilities needed to be successful (Ivancevich,2007). There are two generally accepted methods of training: one of them is called on-the-job training and the other is called off-the-job training. On-the-job training is probably the most widely used method of training and it usually takes place at the workplace. Off-the-job training usually takes place in a location which is outside of the workplace and is normally more expensive than the on-the-job training (Mullins,2005). In on-the-job training an experience worker trains the newly recruited employee. E.g. in McDonalds trainees acquire skills such as running a machine, making of a burger by observing the experienced worker. OJT is also used for top level management, there are â⠂¬Ëœassistants who train and develop the future managers. Some other forms of OJT include apprenticeships and self-directed learning. The advantage of OJT is that it can be customized according to the experiences and abilities of the trainees. Off-the-job training provides group based learning opportunities which is conducted at a site which is away from the workplace. Off-the-job training is conducted in an off-site training classroom close to the workplace or in a corporate or private facility. Off-the-job training is usually expensive as it requires a lot of travelling and maybe used by large organizations. Training classrooms, vestibule training setups and specially constructed training laboratories are some of the sites used for off-the-jobtraining(Jacobs,2003). In an organization training could also be used to change the culture within the organization. It can be used as an important tool by the organization to improve the overall effectiveness, especially in todays world where the marketis highly competitive. An organization can take up two approaches on training: a systematic training and just-in-time training. In a systematic approach, training must be designed, planned and then implemented appropriately in order to meet the needs of the organization. The training is given by those people who know exactly how to train the employees. Once the training has been provided, it is carefully monitored in order to Analysis of Employee Turnover at McDonalds Analysis of Employee Turnover at McDonalds 1.1 Introduction In a perfect world it would be best for any organization to have employees who love their jobs, enjoy working with their co-workers, are happy with the salary, willing to work hard for their managers and never leave the organization. However, in the real world employees do leave either because they want more money, hate the work environment, hate their co-workers, want a change or because their spouse gets a dream job in another state (Sharma, 2008). Many organizations nowadays face ‘high attrition rate or turnover mainly due to a highly competitive market. Staff attrition or turnover has been cited as one of the primary concerns facing organizations and businesses in any industry. Staff attrition or turnover relates to those who leave an organization due to resignation, termination and retirement. According to the latest CIPD survey (CIPD, 2007), the annual employee turnover rate in the UK was at 18.1 percent. The report also found that the annual turnover levels differed cons iderably from one industry to the other industry, with the highest average rates being 22.6 percent and these were found in private sector organizations and, within this sector, the hotels, catering and leisure industry reports rates of turnover at 10 percent higher than the average for the sector of 32.6 percent. High turnover rates creates particular pressures for the HR department, which is primarily responsible for replacing those who leave, but also for line managers who face disruption to production and service standards. This is the necessary result of having to induct new employees, who are usually less experienced and productive compared to those whom they replace. It takes some time for the new recruits to perform at their optimum levels. This results in the organization failing to meet its objectives, reduction in productivity and higher costs. It is therefore important for HR managers to measure staff attrition, monitor its impact and take appropriate action to minimize its effects(BanfieldKay,2008). Globalization has led to the rapid expansion of multinational fast food companies e.g. McDonalds and KFC. Even at this present time of global economic recession, these fast food companies are growing and generating profits. The customers, who were eating out at a high profile restaurant, are now looking for something reasonable and affordable. McDonalds is offering good hygienic food at a reasonable price to these customers and are benefitting from this global economic downturn. This has lead to a fierce competition between these fast food companies and each of them is trying to give the best quality product and service to its customers. In a company like McDonalds, giving a quick and high quality customer service is essential for its success. However many of the McDonalds restaurants are experiencing high employee turnover which could affect the overall productivity and profitability of the respective McDonalds restaurants. One of the senior executives at McDonalds put the chains an nual employee turnover at nearly 44 percent. According to the chief human resource officer of McDonalds Mr. Floersch the managerial turnover was at 20% globally while that of the crew members averaged between 80 percent and 90 percent. This however, varied from country to country (The Wall Street Journal, 2008). In this research, the researcher would like to investigate the main reasons for experienced employees leaving the organization i.e. McDonalds and what sort of challenges the managers face due to the high turnover. The researcher would also like to find out any retention strategies adopted by the HR department to curb the high turnover rate. For this, the researcher decided to choose few selected restaurants in London. 1.2 The Overall Aim The researchers main aim in this study is to find out the main reasons for high employee turnover at McDonalds, the way it affects the managers and the organization, and steps taken to retain employees. 1.3 Research Objectives The researcher in this research would like to find out the main reasons for having high turnover rate in McDonalds and the challenges that the managers face and also how they can curb the rate of staff turnover.The researcher also intends to study the following: To find out the main causes of high employee turnover To find out the various retention strategies adopted by McDonalds in order to retain employees. To find out the various challenges faced by managers due to employee turnover. Chapter2 2.0 Background-Company Overview McDonalds has 31,000 restaurants in 116 countries and is one of the biggest family restaurants in the world. The first restaurant in UK was opened during 1974 in Woolwich High Street and the first franchised restaurant opened in 1986. In UK there are now 1,190 restaurants employing more than 70,000 people, of which 51% is operated by franchisees. McDonalds main vision is to give the family the best experience, something that they will never forget and would want to come back to. They achieve this through its people they employ. McDonalds realizes that its employees can only perform well when they are given the right working environment and for this, they strive to provide various rewards and benefits which would suit each and every individual working in the organization. McDonalds is one of the largest global brands and it offers a culture of flexibility, opportunity, equality and diversity. It has one of the most diverse cultures within the UK (McDonalds, 2009). 2.1 Recruitment at McDonalds McDonalds policy is to hire those ‘Crew Members who can bring a smile to the workplace. This brings in positive energy and creates a good friendly atmosphere. The recruitment procedure for a ‘Crew Member is a two-step process. First the applicant needs to apply online and if successful, the second step will be to invite the candidate to a restaurant for On job evaluation (OJE) and interview. The on job evaluation helps evaluate the candidates customer service skills and his ability to keep up with the high energy environment. This will last for 15 minutes after which the candidate will be interviewed by the Business Manager for another 15 minutes. Once the crew members are hired, they will attend a welcome meeting which will be conducted at their chosen restaurant or the recruitment centre. The welcome meeting involves viewing a DVD which gives important information about the company and also gives the manager an opportunity to interact with the new recruits. They also at tend a compulsory online Health safety and Food safety test when they start working (McDonalds,2009). McDonalds also recruit ‘Trainee Business Managers who need to display some strong leadership skills. In this, McDonalds makes sure that the candidate is right for the job. A candidate applying for this position has to go through four-step selection process. The first stage is the initial screening process, this helps in ensuring that the candidate meets the basic criteria for selection. If successful, the next step is an online personality questionnaire that the candidate will have to complete. This ensures if the candidate has the desired attributes to be working in McDonalds environment. The next step is a restaurant based ‘On Job Evaluation or OJE. In this the candidate works for the entire day in order to find out what its really like to work in a McDonalds restaurant. The final step of the process is an interview with the Senior Manager of the restaurant (McDonalds,2009). 2.2 Training in McDonalds McDonalds success depends on its well trained crew and managers who maintain company standards of providing high quality, good service and cleanliness at each of its restaurants. McDonalds has a company policy to provide career opportunities that will allow employees to grow and meet their full potential. They have included career development programmes for crew and operations management which will allow them to progress to a senior management position. The company believes in promoting people on their merit. The crew members are trained by the Crew Trainers and they learn the skills necessary to run each of the workstations in the restaurant, from the front counter to the grill area. They are also trained on how to take deliveries and store the frozen food into the chiller, this is then further used in cooking and making the necessary burgers. Major part of this training is floor based and this helps the crew members learn faster and are also able to retain the information provided. After the initial training period the crew members are monitored by the use of ‘observation check lists (OCRs) on an ongoing basis. The observation checklist is a score sheet that marks all aspects of work in the restaurant. The ratings derived from these checklists goes towards their performance appraisal. The restaurants do promote the good performers to management positions where they will have the responsibility to runs shifts within the restaurant. For this, training is given to crew members in areas such as Customer Care, First Aid, Taste of Quality and Food Restaurant Safety. On successful completion of the management entrance exam, the employees will attend a training course provided by the Training Department before they start working in management position (McDonalds, 2009). 2.3 Retention Strategies of McDonalds McDonalds provides high levels of training to its employees working in various positions at the restaurants. This helps in reducing staff turnover and lowers the turnover costs. Employees that perform well are given recognition by awarding them with ‘Employee of the month. It provides medical insurance and offers health care. McDonalds now gives quarterly bonus to its crew and managers instead of yearly bonus, this was a step taken towards motivating its employees. The organization gives five weeks holiday per annum and they are going to increase that to six weeks from April 2009. Computerized English language classes are conducted; this can be enjoyed by the crew members between shifts (The Wall Street Journal, 2008). In 2009, McDonalds aims to provide Apprenticeships to up to 6000 of its 72,000 UK workforce and later will be increased to 10,000 from 2010. This will give the staff an opportunity to gain valuable and nationally recognized qualification that is equivalent to fiv e GCSE grade A*-C. McDonalds senses the importance of investing in their staff says the Senior Vice President David Fairhurst of McDonalds UK. This has been done purely to retain the existing staff and also to attract new ones towards working for McDonalds, which, is a global brand name (McDonalds Latest News, 2009). Chapter3 3.0LiteratureReview This section of the study points out the various theories that are relevant to the topic chosen. It starts with the HR and then focuses on employee turnover and the impact it has on the organization. It also speaks about the various ways an organization can adopt to reduce the employee turnover. 3.1Human Resource Management Human resource management (HRM) is a strategic and coherent approach to the management of an organizations most valued assets. The people working in HRM put individual efforts and also work together collectively in order to achieve its objectives. Their main goal is to help the organization achieve their goals and targets through people. HRM is concerned with choosing human capital that meets the organizations requirements and to develop their capabilities so that the work is done effectively (Armstrong, 2006). Recently there has been a growing importance of HRM; this is due to the fierce competition from overseas economies. In the twenty-first century if an organization wants to have a competitive advantage, it would have to effectively manage the organizations human resource. This would also enable the organization to maintain high performance consistently over a long term. In todays market the managers recognize the growing importance of recruiting, selecting, training and develop ing, rewarding and compensation the employees. However, individuals that work with human resource matters face a multitude of challenges such as the ever constant changing workforce, the government regulations and technological revolution. Furthermore, globalization has made organizations of all sizes to think about cutting costs and improving productivity (Mondy, 2008). It is therefore, important that the HRM and the other departments within the organization work closely together in order to achieve the organizational goals and objectives and to compete locally and internationally (Sims,2002). 3.2 Human Resource Development (HRD) Human Resource Development is a title which represents the latest evolutionary stage in the long tradition of training, educating, and developing people for the purpose of contributing towards the achievement of individual, organizational and societal objectives (Wilson,2005).The fundamental aim of strategic HRD is to enhance resource capability in accordance with the belief that the human capital of an organization is a major source of competitive advantage. It is therefore about ensuring that the right quality people are available to meet present and future needs. HRD policies are closely associated with that aspect of HRM that is concerned with investing in people and developing the organizations human capital. Human Resource Development is important for organizations because it is the people whose innovative ideas, their quality at work and their hunger for continuous improvement that is needed in order to compete in todays modern and high competitive business world and these won t come from machines (Swart et al, 2005). The development of human resource will always be an ongoing process and a vital ingredient for the success of an organization. 3.3 Employee Turnover Employee attrition or turnover can be explained as the number of people who leave employment over a specified period due to retirement, death, redundancy, dismissal, transfer or resignation (Secord, 2003). According to Muller-Camen et al (2008) turnover is the number of people who leave the organization at a given time period. Most organizations would like to reduce their turnover rates, especially when it comes to the good performers who have benefitted from the companies training programs. Some organizations measure their turnover rates on a monthly basis, whereas some do it on a yearly basis. A limited amount turnover is positive for organizations as a poor performer could be replaced by a more productive one. Also, it creates an opportunity for promotion or career development when an experienced staff leaves an organization. However, high turnover could affect the quality of product and service that is offered to the customers (Baum, 2006) e.g. in case of McDonalds if an experien ced staff leaves and a new staff is recruited in the kitchen section, the quality of making the burgers will be affected. It is important for any organization to stem the staff attrition rate as finding a replacement could incur heavy costs for the organization. Some of these costs include recruitment, administration and selection costs. The managers will have to recruit new employees which will incur cost to the organization and also to cover up for the loss, the other employees working in the department would be under pressure to meet the company targets. In a highly competitive market this needs to be avoided by the managers. In order to avoid high attrition rate, it is essential for HR managers to try and retain its existing employees. 3.4 Cause of Employee Turnover There are various employee turnover causes. For example, one of the biggest employee turnover causes is an ill tempered manager. Employees dont like to work with those managers who are always being negative to them, shouting at them and blaming them for something which wasnt their fault. The employees dont want to work for a manager who is not well organized in his work. Employees find it extremely difficult to work with managers who have attitude and are not easily approachable when they face problems, such managers often find it difficult to retain their staff. Sometimes managers in order to maximize profits for the organization try to cut costs by making an employee work more so that they dont have to recruit another staff. Another main cause of employee turnover is less pay to the employees. Many employees leave an organization due to not being paid enough by the management. Employees want that they are respected for their efforts in form of good pay and good benefits. It is ther efore important for organizations to treat their employees as human beings and respect their feelings and opinions. When an employee feels that they are not being looked after by their employer, they get affected mentally as frustration creeps in and this forces them to leave the organization. Also, less pay and no benefits results in lack of motivation and job satisfaction. Another reason that causes employee turnover is an employee interaction with other employees. If an employee is not comfortable with their co-workers they often tend to leave the organization. They dont really get along with the workplace and this affects their performance and productivity. Employee turnover also occurs when they are not rewarded for their hard work. If an employee performs really well at work, he/she expects that the employer would recognize the efforts put in. However, this does not happen often to the employee (Employee Turnover Calculator Blog, 2008). 3.5 Types of Employee Turnover There are two types of turnover: Voluntary and Involuntary. Voluntary turnover is sub-divided into avoidable and unavoidable turnover. Avoidable turnover is that which an organization can prevent from occurring such as increasing the employee pay or by giving him new job assignment. Unavoidable turnover is when an employee quits and the organization could not have prevented, such as people withdrawing through retirement or returning back to school or university. Other examples of unavoidable turnover is when an employee quits in pursuit of a new career, health problems which forces an employee to take up a different type of job or perhapswhenanemployeeleavesthecountry. Involuntary turnover can be split into discharge and downsizing types. Discharge turnover occurs when an individual has been asked to leave the organization. This could be due to job performance problems wherein an employee does not perform well over a period of time even after adequate training is given to the employe e or could be for not being discipline at work e.g. coming late at work or misbehaving with colleagues. Downsizing turnover is targeted at a group of employees by an organization, it occurs as a part of organizational restructuring or cost-reduction program to improve organizational effectiveness and increase shareholder value. This reduction could be permanent or temporary due to a plant or site closing or relocation. The reduction in workforce also occurs at the time or mergers and acquisitions (Heneman Judge, 2006). 3.6 Cost as aresult of Employee Turnover The most important factor of high employee turnover that affects any organization is the cost. These costs can further be divided into the recruitment costs, training costs, lost productivity costs, new hire costs and lost sales costs (Pilbeam Corbridge, 2006). Recruitment costs are usually in the form of advertisements. The organization also incurs cost as they have to pay the recruitment agency, and also for posting advertisements on the internet. The training costs include cost of departmental training, cost of the person(s) who conduct the training and cost of various training materials. There are lost productivity costs as the new trained employee would only contribute at 25% productivity level for the first 2-4 weeks and cost of mistakes the new employee makes during his induction period. The new hire costs include putting the person on the payroll, establish computer and security passwords and identification cards, telephone hookups and cost of establishing email accounts. Th e lost sales costs or lost revenue which is calculated by multiplying the number of weeks the position is vacant by the averageweeklyrevenueperemployee.Despite the costs of high employee turnover being so significant it is overlooked and rarely calculated. Few organizations, 7 per cent of those surveyed, calculate the more extensive costs of turnover (CIPD, 2004a). When these organizations were asked why they dont calculate these costs, over half of them gave the reason that the organization did not require the information, while a third stated that calculating the various costs was just too time consumingforthem. According to Risher Stopper (2002) for an organization cost of replacement can sometimes account to around 2.5 times the annual salary of an existing employee. Such costs are rarely identified by the accounting department of an organization. Therefore, in order to avoid such turnover costs, organizations must form a successful retention strategy overtime. 3.7 Customer Satisfaction and Customer Retention According to Hill (2006) recently many organizations whether it be a small one or a large one, they have increasingly come to understand that it is important for them to maintain customer satisfaction. Nowadays the organizations have realized the fact that retaining existing customers is easier and less costly than finding some new ones. Todays businesses are so competitive that in order to gain or win new customers, organizations have to invest a lot of money. Organizations have started to realize that there is a strong link between customer satisfaction, customer retention and profitability. For many organizations in the hospitality and service industry customer satisfaction will be the topmost priority in order to be successful. Meeting the various needs of the customers and satisfying them has become the key operational goal for many organizations. Customers would only be satisfied when the organizations product or service is good enough to meet their requirements and therefore t his needs to be measured by the organization. In the words of Argenti (2002) in order to measure the overall success of any given product or service one needs to find out how often do the customers buy that same product or service. A customer buying the same product repeatedly would mean that he/she is satisfied with that product. If one can put it in simple terms, a company can make regular profits if customers show a long term commitment to their product or service. The reason why organizations can make profits from long-term and loyal customers is because they dont have to invest huge sums in attracting the new customers through the means of advertisements and promotions. Therefore, if a company after acquiring a new customer manages to keep them in the long-run, its investment on acquiring will pay off. E.g. If McDonalds want to stay competitive in the fast food industry it needs to make sure that their customers are always satisfied with the food and also the customer service. This is essential for retaining customers and would also add value to the company,thereby increasing the company profits. 3.8 Employee Retention Retention includes all those activities that an employer does to encourage qualified and highly-skilled and productive employees to continue working for the organization (Jackson et al, 2009). Staff retention is about attracting and keeping good-quality employees, while accepting that some of them will leave the organization. However, the managers should ensure that when these employees leave, it wont affect the organizations productivity to a large extent (Bloisi, 2007). Retaining a productive employee is of considerable importance to the companys HR professional. The CIPD (2004) report intro HR trends and indicators reported that 31.7 percent of employers face difficulty with retaining its employees. Large organizations find it even moredifficulttoretaintheirworkers.According to Browell (2003) an organization can benefit a lot from retaining the existing staff, some of them include: reduction in recruitment costs and selection and training of new staff, it keeps skills and knowledg e within the organization, helps improve performance, productivity and profitability, it helps in building customer loyalty and satisfaction, and lastly, it could help increase the sales volume of the organization thereby making them competitive in the market. Organizations should consider the following elements which would help in retaining employees: Job previews employees should be given a more realistic job preview when they are being recruited. Care should be taken not to give them high expectations that cannot be met. Improve management style one of the main reasons employees leave the organization is due to dissatisfaction with their managers. Organizations that would like to improve retention should take measures to improve their managers people management skills. Career development and Progression organizations should give their employees ample of opportunities to develop their skills. This can be done by introducing mentoring scheme, encouraging multi-skilling, improving career development opportunities and investing in succession planning (CIPD, 2008). Flexibility organizations should be flexible towards employees working hours and times. If employees are forced to work hours which is not convenient for them, they will look for jobs elsewhere. Treat people equally and fairly to improve retention organizations should make sure not to discriminate against employees. If they are unfair towards them it will result in voluntary resignations. Every employee that belongs to a team should be treated equally by the managers. Improve pay and benefits Many employees leave due to less pay and no benefits. A simple pay rise could be a useful strategy for organizations to retain their employees. Organizations should make sure that they match the market rates or better it when it comes to good performingemployees (Muller-Camenetal, 2008). 3.9 Recruitment In todays global competitive market organizations are under constant pressure to perform well and stay competitive and in order to achieve that, they need to recruit the right people for the right job. Recruitment is a very costly process as a lot of resources go into it. If the organization recruits wrong people it could cost to the organization huge sums and also loss of valuable time. Therefore it is important for the recruitment process to be fair, reliable and valid (Armstrong, 2001). According to Bratton and Gold (2003) an organization should setup such a recruitment process, which will help in generating a pool of talented and skilled workers who are capable for employment in an organization. Recruitment involves searching and hiring qualified people for the organization and consider them when filling job openings. The recruitment process should be consistent, taking into consideration the organizations strategy, vision and values. There are different sources an organization can use for recruiting: the first being the internal labor market and this could be the companys current employees. A good way for recruiting employees from within is through posting announcements in a company newsletter. According to the CIPD recruitment survey (2004a) 84 percent of UK organizations surveyed looked for applicants from within the organization. They did so by using internal email or intranet (69 percent), notice and bulletin boards (68 percent), team meetings (18 percent), staff newsletter or magazines (14 percent), and by memos, circulars and approaching directly. The second source would be the external labor market and this could be reached via electronic media and also referrals from current employees (Jackson et al, 2009). However, the success rate of these sources is not equal and may vary e.g. employee referrals may yield better quality applicants than through newspaperadvertisements. It is important for any organization to monitor its recruitment process as this will help reduce the talented and knowledgeable employees from leaving the organization. For any organization the recruitment process is the very first stage of retention. It is therefore important for an organization to monitor the recruitment practice as it will help in finding the right candidate for the job. In the long term this will also help the organization to reduce the turnover levels. 3.10 Training The primary reason that organizations train their new employees is to increase the level of the knowledge, skills and abilities that they possess. It can be used as one of the ways to retain its existing employees, as training will give them an opportunity to develop new skills and gain knowledge. The amount of training given to the employees has a positive influence on the organizations revenue and overall profitability. Managers should therefore keep a watchful eye on the organizations goals and strategies while conducting training programmes (Snell Bohlander, 2007). Training is also described as a planned process which enables to change the attitudes of people; it helps a person to gain some knowledge and develop the skills through various activities which helps the person to achieve effective performance. Training an employee at work is important as the employee will be able to meet the requirements of the organization in the present and in the future (Beardwell et al 2004). Tra ining is the systematic process of altering the behavior of employees in a direction that will achieve organizational goals. Training is related to present job skills and abilities. It has a current orientation and helps employees master specific skills and abilities needed to be successful (Ivancevich,2007). There are two generally accepted methods of training: one of them is called on-the-job training and the other is called off-the-job training. On-the-job training is probably the most widely used method of training and it usually takes place at the workplace. Off-the-job training usually takes place in a location which is outside of the workplace and is normally more expensive than the on-the-job training (Mullins,2005). In on-the-job training an experience worker trains the newly recruited employee. E.g. in McDonalds trainees acquire skills such as running a machine, making of a burger by observing the experienced worker. OJT is also used for top level management, there are â⠂¬Ëœassistants who train and develop the future managers. Some other forms of OJT include apprenticeships and self-directed learning. The advantage of OJT is that it can be customized according to the experiences and abilities of the trainees. Off-the-job training provides group based learning opportunities which is conducted at a site which is away from the workplace. Off-the-job training is conducted in an off-site training classroom close to the workplace or in a corporate or private facility. Off-the-job training is usually expensive as it requires a lot of travelling and maybe used by large organizations. Training classrooms, vestibule training setups and specially constructed training laboratories are some of the sites used for off-the-jobtraining(Jacobs,2003). In an organization training could also be used to change the culture within the organization. It can be used as an important tool by the organization to improve the overall effectiveness, especially in todays world where the marketis highly competitive. An organization can take up two approaches on training: a systematic training and just-in-time training. In a systematic approach, training must be designed, planned and then implemented appropriately in order to meet the needs of the organization. The training is given by those people who know exactly how to train the employees. Once the training has been provided, it is carefully monitored in order to