Day 152 - 11 Jul 95 - Page 51
1
2 Q. What sort of qualities are you looking for?
3 A. Of a first time crew member?
4
5 Q. Yes.
6 A. Clean, pleasant, maybe some evidence of dealing with
7 members of the public, somebody who will portray the right
8 image to the customer and somebody, you know, if they have
9 had, you know, like a paper round or something like that or
10 some similar job previously which they can demonstrate that
11 they did well, then that is all to the good.
12
13 Q. You assess them as they progress in the job, assuming they
14 get past the three-week probationary period, right?
15 A. Yes, by means of performance reviews and observation
16 check list.
17
18 Q. I assume, as in common with the rest of human experience,
19 they vary in their qualities and their aptitudes; is that
20 right?
21 A. Certainly, yes, we get good crew members and not so
22 good crew members.
23
24 Q. What is required in a McDonald's person to progress rapidly
25 through the pay reviews, the different ranks of hourly paid
26 workers and then into management? What sort of qualities
27 do you look for?
28 A. Probably somebody who can demonstrate a high level of
29 skill and expertise on the differing stations as a minimum;
30 somebody who works hard; somebody who can lead by example;
31 somebody who can show other crew members and train other
32 crew members. Those sort of qualities.
33
34 Q. Did you insist that the people on the tills smile at the
35 customers all the time?
36 A. I think if I insisted that they smile at all of the
37 customers all the time, it would be totally
38 self-defeating. For instance, if I told everybody in the
39 court here to smile, then I should think half the court
40 would totally ignore me. That would be the same situation
41 in a restaurant. You cannot smile continuously. There
42 were certain people, sort of, three or four members of the
43 crew who would naturally smile at customers most of the
44 time. There would probably be others who found it very
45 difficult to smile all the time.
46
47 There was no real -- there was no pressure put upon these
48 people to smile. We are more interested in politeness and
49 courtesy towards the customers than some grimace of a
50 smile.
51
52 Q. Can I ask you about what are called doubles or back-to-back
53 shifts?
54 A. Yes.
55
56 Q. Do you know what I mean?
57 A. Yes.
58
59 Q. How often did they happen in your time at Colchester?
60 A. Very infrequently.
