[Distribution Hot People] 21-Year McDonald's Veteran Senses Big Hit 'Best Burger' Praised by Employees

Best Burger Command, Director Sim Nam-gyu of Restaurant Solution Group
"Confident in success due to praise from employees who know McDonald's burger taste best"

[Asia Economy Reporter Lee Seon-ae] "'These days, McDonald's has changed,' 'It has become more delicious'?the secret behind the word-of-mouth success is thanks to the 'Best Burger' prepared over two years. Since every process, from ingredients to cooking methods, needed to change, the key to success was starting with a special training program that helped everyone from crew members to executives adapt to the changes."

McDonald's conducted employee training, practical exercises, and invested in manpower and equipment for over two years, and on March 26th, introduced the 'Best Burger' at more than 400 stores nationwide. The Best Burger is McDonald's global initiative aimed at providing customers with the best burger by improving the overall process, including ingredients such as buns, patties, cheese, sauces, vegetables, cooking processes, and cooking equipment to offer tastier menu items.

Since the introduction of the Best Burger, customers have continuously given positive feedback on the improved taste of McDonald's burgers, which has also driven sales growth. Despite the overall industry difficulties caused by the COVID-19 pandemic, McDonald's Korea leveraged the success of the Best Burger to achieve a remarkable 9% increase in cumulative sales from January to April this year compared to the same period last year.

The person who led the introduction of the 'Best Burger' is Director Shim Nam-gyu, an executive in charge of the Restaurant Solutions Group at McDonald's Korea. He is a veteran with 21 years of experience, having joined McDonald's Korea in April 1999. From 2010, he spent five years traveling to various McDonald's locations, supporting operations in a total of 37 countries. With his impressive career, he smiled and said he immediately sensed success when he heard the enthusiastic praise from employees who know McDonald's taste best.

Task Force of Experts with 15 Years of Service

The Best Burger was a large-scale project that required changing the entire cooking process for 15,000 crew members working at approximately 410 stores nationwide. The Best Burger task force (TF) team was composed of top experts from various McDonald's departments, including operations, menu development, equipment, marketing, purchasing & quality control, IT, and communications. Director Shim said, "The average tenure of team members is about 15 years, so it wouldn't be an exaggeration to say their veins run with a bit of ketchup," adding, "We formed a team of experts with rich knowledge, experience, and passion for McDonald's to present the best Best Burger to Korean customers."

To lead the Best Burger TF team, Director Shim received training at the headquarters in Chicago, USA. Experts from around the world preparing to introduce the Best Burger, including Korea, gathered to practice and taste the product. He explained, "I still can't forget the taste when I first tried the Best Burger," and added, "After tasting it, I felt a strong desire to prepare well and present that taste to Korean customers." To prepare for the Best Burger introduction, he held meetings every two weeks with the global Best Burger team (from the UK, Canada, the USA, etc.) to discuss improvements in ingredients, cooking equipment, and processes.

He emphasized that since the entire cooking process needed to change to apply the Best Burger initiative to all menu items, the biggest challenge was how to help the crew members in stores, who actually execute the new cooking process, accept and implement these changes well.

Seeing is Believing

To address this, a special training called the 'Mindset Change Session' was conducted over about a year. Director Shim recalled, "From key decision-making executives to crew members in stores, we discussed why the introduction of the Best Burger was necessary for McDonald's and what our customers want. Through this, employees had time to open their minds and adapt to the changes first."

During the preparation process, the phrase most often said among team members was "Seeing is believing." Rather than explaining verbally, they believed that once anyone tasted the changed burger, they would empathize with the need for change and never forget the taste. Therefore, a special time was set during training to taste the changed burger. Employees also showed very positive reactions to the new cooking process and changes after tasting the improved burger. Given the quick-service restaurant (QSR) industry's nature of needing to prepare menus rapidly, changing the cooking process is never easy. However, through the 'Mindset Change' training, they were able to help employees understand the necessity of change and awaken the will to present the improved taste to customers.

This training session was independently developed in Korea, the fourth country worldwide to introduce the Best Burger initiative, and was introduced as a best practice to over 100 countries where McDonald's operates. He proudly said, "I expect it to be a good benchmark case for countries preparing to introduce the Best Burger."

Before the official launch, when they visited about 400 stores nationwide for training and practice, crew members working in the stores gave overwhelmingly positive feedback after tasting the burger, saying it was very delicious. Director Shim said, "When the crew members who know McDonald's taste better than anyone else said that, I had a strong feeling of success," and added, "Customer reactions were explosive, and seeing customers notice the change in burger taste first and voluntarily leave online feedback was very encouraging internally at McDonald's."

He expressed his ambition, saying, "Not limited to the Best Burger, we will continue to strive to provide greater enjoyment to customers visiting McDonald's by using healthier, tastier, and high-quality ingredients," and "We will keep listening to customers' voices and deliver better customer experiences."