Driving Success through the Employee Experience

What you realize is that it isn’t always the big, new, shiny initiatives that make the biggest difference.  People want to be treated with respect, they want to feel included as part of the team, and they want to have opportunities to learn and succeed.

The HR Digest: “At McDonald’s, we believe that serving up a best-in-class customer experience starts first with ensuring an exceptional employee experience.” How do you make it possible?

Heidi Capozzi: Fred Turner once said “we [McDonald’s] are a people business and we never forget it.” The adage has been the company’s guiding principle ever since Fred shared those words in 1973. The challenges of the past few years – the pandemic, racial and social tensions, the war in Ukraine – have placed an even finer point on the importance of taking care of our people. In our business, you can’t truly understand the employee experience from your desk.  Since joining McDonald’s in 2020, I’ve been fortunate to have worked in multiple U.S. restaurants and visited numerous international markets.  It’s a practice I encourage my team to do regularly because only by hearing directly from our restaurant teams and experiencing the work firsthand, do you gain perspective on how we are best able to show up for them. What you realize is that it isn’t always the big, new, shiny initiatives that make the biggest difference.  People want to be treated with respect, they want to feel included as part of the team, and they want to have opportunities to learn and succeed. Getting the employee experience right is our recipe for success across the board—because the way our people experience our brand directly impacts the way our customers experience our brand.

What do you see as the greatest leadership strength?

The best leaders are those who are willing and eager to continue learning. The world is rapidly changing—new technology, new competitors, new opportunities— and with it comes new ideas and insights. A strong leader is constantly expanding their knowledge, searching for diverse perspectives, and growing their networks. There’s an element of humility that goes along with this too. It’s about recognizing that you don’t have all the answers and being open to learning from others what you can do differently, or better, to grow as a leader. By asking smart questions and tapping into a diverse set of perspectives, you’ll gain a stronger understanding of how to create positive change within your own team.

What skills do the global HR managers of the future need to acquire? 

There are some skills that are enduring – HR managers need them now and in the future.  The most significant of these is business acumen. You are part of a team that sets and executes a strategy to grow the business successfully.  This is as much of your job as anyone else’s. Next, there are two other skills I think are critical, but certainly review additional industry HR competency models to consider what you uniquely need to develop.  For me, I believe HR managers need strong talent skills – assessing talent, developing talent, and thinking strategically about how to ensure a robust pipeline of critical talent for your organization’s future.  The amount of time Boards, c-suite teams, and senior leaders spend on the topic of talent continues to grow, and this is an area where your advice and insight can be invaluable. The ability to lead transformation is another critical skill.  Organizations are constantly needing to adapt to changing circumstances or re-tool themselves to take performance to the next level.  Being able to accelerate needed change that aligns with an organization’s values, strengthens culture, and empowers people, can be a great differentiator.

What was that one lesson you learned in your journey as a CHRO that helped you a lot? 

One of the best pieces of advice I’ve been offered since becoming a CHRO was to build a close network of CHRO peers I can turn to for outside perspective. You learn quickly in this type of position that it’s rarely the easy problems that make it to your desk. Usually, it’s the most complex challenges that your team hasn’t been able to solve. But while a problem or challenge may be new to me, it’s likely someone has faced it before.  I have benefited tremendously from others who have been willing to share their insights, learnings, and ideas.

How are you going to shake things up next?

My focus right now is on ensuring the best employee experience for our restaurant teams and staff. When we think about workplace experience, above all else, we’re committed to recognizing, supporting, and investing in our people. We’re seeing some great results, and I’m excited to build on that momentum. For example, we’re continuing to expand education and training access to help employees at their individual point of need through programs like Hamburger University and Archways to Opportunity, which has served nearly 75,000 restaurant employees since launching in 2015. In so many ways, we are an educational institution where people can learn skills that will serve them wherever life takes them—whether they choose to stay with us for the long term or go on to pursue other dreams. We’re also doubling down on making sure everyone feels valued, respected and included. This past Spring, we launched a new U.S. initiative called Thank You Crew, which is all about celebrating the McDonald’s crew and managers who make our customers’ days a little brighter. Across the country, franchisees found special ways to surprise and thank their employees. And next year, we’re exploring how we can take this program global. One of my favorite facts is that one in eight Americans have worked at McDonald’s, often as a first job. We recognize the role we play in setting the tone for their first workplace experiences, and we’re humbled every day to have that opportunity.

Heidi Capozzi,

Executive Vice President and Global Chief People Officer, McDonald

Heidi Capozzi is the Executive Vice President and Global Chief People Officer at McDonald’s. She is responsible for the company’s worldwide human resources operations, including Corporate Employee Relations, Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion, Total Rewards, Learning and Development, and Talent Management. Capozzi joined McDonald’s in 2020 from The Boeing Company, where she served as CHRO since 2016. At Boeing, she led HR initiatives for 160,000 employees across a $76 billion global enterprise and oversaw the company’s leadership and learning, talent planning, employee and labor relations, total rewards, and diversity and inclusion initiatives. Under her guidance, Boeing transformed its talent development and mobility system.

Photo: McDonald’s  

This profile was published in the January 2023 issue of The HR Digest.

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