Meet Mandy...

Why did you start at McDonald’s?

Spending time with the family is very important to me. My granddaughter’s the reason I came to work for McDonald’s! I was a support worker looking after people who’ve got severe disabilities – it’s very intense work so I was either at work, asleep and trying to catch up on housework. And when she was four she said to me, “Granny I never see you. You’re either asleep or at work.” I thought, “You’re right and she’s growing up too quick.”

A friend working at McDonald’s said, “They’re a really good employer you know. Just try it, see what you think.” So I applied for the job, met Gareth the first manager and just got on with him really well. Before the end of the interview he said, “What’s your uniform size?” and I said, “Have I got the job?” and he went, “Oh yes, you got the job. When can you start?”

What do you like most about working at McDonald’s?

The diversity of the job, definitely. Meeting customers is the best part. Banter with them, and all that sort of thing. The little ones, when they come in and they know your name when they start being regulars. And the families. The older people that come in that are very, very lonely, some of them. And if we’re quiet at the time and have a chat with them they just say, “Oh it’s so nice to come somewhere where you’ve got time to chat with us”.

And doing all the different roles that I do within my role. So the customer care, the cleaning, the fundraising, the community work with the football team, the allotments that we work with… just the massive diversity really.

Is a safe, diverse community important at McDonald’s?

I love it because McDonald’s are trying to make it a more family-friendly restaurant. It works both ways because the families love coming in and we love making it a better experience for the families. The mums and dads think it’s great because we’ll sit and chat with the kids and give them the colouring that they do and we have the big tablecloths in the school holidays. And we’ve just done a course, so I can now do some magic, some balloon modelling… and we’re learning how to do face-painting!

The diversity is important as well. Not just in the role, but the diversity of people that McDonald’s employs so, you know, from very young to my sort of age. And it doesn’t matter if you’re straight, gay, bi, transgender, nobody gets treated any differently. You all bring something to the job role. And I think that’s great.

What skills do you use in your job? Do you get to be yourself?

Because of my age I use a lot of my life experiences and I’m encouraged to do that. I’ve been a mum, a child minder, a foster mum, a youth leader and a carer. You can use bits from all those previous things you’ve done in life to bring to the roles that you do now.

I’m also very bossy, I will readily admit. The managers say it’s good because things get sorted out at the front – and the restaurant, and fun days, and things like that. I’m a very organised person.

For teamwork skills, if we’ve had the training, like I’ve done the CEL training, I can pass on things like that to the dining area staff. We really gel together well as a team.

How does McDonald’s support you in your role?

We get ongoing training all the time, teaching us new things. You’ve got the videos of what’s coming, what promotions are coming, what the food is and all that. There’s taste testing as well so you can tell people what things actually are and how they taste. And you’ve got time to learn things before we actually come onto the floor. So it’s like you’re getting ready for the next promotion. I like that a lot.

How does McDonald’s help you with your work/life balance?

I’m fully flex. It’s good that you can tell them your availability. If you need to change your availability you can let McDonald’s know. There’s very, very few companies you can do that with.

What’s it like being an older worker at a McDonald’s restaurant?

You don’t get treated any differently, and that’s another thing that I like about working there. And it’s lovely sometimes because if the young ones at work have got problems they’ll come and put their head on my shoulder and ask “Can I just have a word about such and such?” and I go, “Yes, OK. What’s up?”. So that’s nice in the role sometimes.

How is the social life at McDonald’s? Have you made friends?

Yes. We’ll sometimes all go out together at lunchtime or chat about holiday and work, and we’re there to support one another if we’re going through tough times. Because myself and Julie are sort of the older people I get on with Julie really, really well and the younger girls as well.

We recently lost one of our front of house people. From being diagnosed to passing away was three and a half weeks. It knocked us for six. Marie, the lady that we lost, was Julie’s best friend outside work as well. So we were all there as a support network for Julie.

Proudest moment at McDonald’s?

This year at the big conference McDonald’s were going to have people tell their stories about working at McDonald’s. Ten of us got chosen to stand on stage on our own. Scary, very scary when you’re stood out on a stage in front of two and half thousand people. But I’ve made friends for life with the storytellers – we’re still in touch with each other. We’re from all walks of life, all ages, but it was just such a brilliant experience doing it.

What does the future hold?

I like my role. I’ve come to McDonald’s to wind down and I’m doing a lot more than I anticipated doing anyway. I’m hopefully going to stay at McDonald’s until I retire and just maybe cut my hours down gradually.