The Challenge
McDonald's, one of the world’s largest quick-serve restaurant chains, serving approximately 69 million customers daily at almost 37,000 locations in over 100 countries, faced significant challenges with maintaining brand consistency, dealing with outdated backroom training experiences, and managing version control of printed training materials. These issues were particularly pressing as they impacted the quality of the guest experience and operational efficiency.
The Solution
McDonald's sought a modern, efficient solution to address its training challenges and discovered Inkling’s smart content system. This platform stood out as it offered continuous restaurant employee training without requiring employees to leave the front line. Jack Sylvester, Director of Learning Technologies at McDonald's, highlighted the importance of consistent training, stating, 'We strive for consistency within the brand around training crew and making sure the guest experience is first and foremost. Being customer-obsessed allows us to have a great partnership with owner-operators where we can consult early and often as we’re developing learning and the learning platforms.' Implementing Inkling allowed McDonald's to transition from static backroom desktop training to a dynamic, interactive 'show me, test me, let me try' experience. 'We found that this shoulder-to-shoulder crew training experience was one of the pieces that had been a huge gap before Inkling,' Sylvester added.
The Results
The adoption of Inkling's platform brought transformative results for McDonald's. The company modernized its store operations, provided real-time content updates, and delivered interactive, context-based training, which significantly reduced training time and labor costs. Specifically, McDonald's saved $30 million annually in onboarding and labor costs, reduced training time per new crew member by 10 hours, and saved an average of 10 hours onboarding each new person. Additionally, McDonald's training content was translated into 12 languages, enhancing accessibility and uniformity across its global locations. Sylvester noted, 'People's greatest opportunity to learn is outside the 'training room,' working at the shoulder of the colleagues on their left and right.'
