Improving Employee Motivation in Fast Food Operations
This paper examines how to improve employee motivation in the fast food industry, where high attrition rates and a predominantly transient workforce present unique challenges. Drawing on established theories — including scientific management, Mayo's human relations school, Maslow's hierarchy of needs, and Herzberg's two-factor model — the paper identifies three core strategies: providing short-term financial incentives, fostering meaningful employee recognition, and increasing employee engagement. Each recommendation is grounded in theoretical evidence and tailored to the realities of fast food operations, where long-term career commitment is limited and job design tends to reflect a task-centric, dehumanizing approach. Practical implementation steps are outlined for each strategy.
- Introduction: Context and purpose of the paper
- Theoretical Foundations for Motivation: Overview of motivation theories applied
- Providing Short-Term Incentives: Financial rewards tailored to transient workers
- Recognition of Employee Contribution: Cultural shift toward meaningful employee recognition
- Increasing Employee Engagement: Participative management and engagement programs
- Conclusion: Summary of three core motivation strategies
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What makes this paper effective
- It grounds each practical recommendation directly in named motivational theories, giving management advice academic credibility.
- It acknowledges the specific context of the fast food industry — high attrition, transient student workforce, task-centric job design — rather than offering generic management advice.
- It integrates multiple theoretical frameworks (Mayo, Maslow, Herzberg, Taylor) in a complementary, non-contradictory way, showing awareness of how they interact.
Key academic technique demonstrated
The paper demonstrates applied theory — the ability to take abstract motivational frameworks and translate them into concrete, context-specific workplace strategies. For example, it links Maslow's lower-order needs to the financial priorities of part-time workers, and then qualifies this with Herzberg's distinction between hygiene factors and true motivators, showing nuanced command of the literature.
Structure breakdown
The paper follows a clean two-part structure: a theoretical outline section that surveys relevant motivation frameworks, followed by a recommendations section divided into three named strategies (short-term incentives, recognition, and engagement). Each strategy section introduces the problem, cites supporting theory, describes a practical intervention, and notes implementation caveats. The conclusion briefly synthesizes all three strategies.
Introduction
It is well established that motivated employees bring a number of benefits to employers, reducing potential attrition levels while increasing productivity and innovation (Buchanan & Huczynski, 2011). For a fast food company such as McDonald's or Burger King, where attrition is high and many staff members are students who do not see the company offering long-term career opportunities, motivation can be particularly challenging (Kroc, 2012). This paper provides an outline of how to improve motivation in a fast food operation, taking into account the circumstances prevalent within the fast food industry. It considers the relevant theoretical basis before offering practical advice and implementation strategies specifically suited to fast food chains.
Theoretical Foundations for Motivation
Motivation is an important consideration for employers, and understanding what does and does not motivate employees is essential when determining effective strategies. The following theories provide a useful foundation for identifying strategic approaches.
Scientific management, which treats employees as interchangeable parts of a machine whose individual needs are neither recognised nor satisfied, is likely to produce low motivation, dissatisfaction, and high attrition. This pattern was observed at the Ford factory and continues to appear in many fast food outlets due to their job design and associated culture (Buchanan & Huczynski, 2011).
Mayo, the founder of the human relations school of thought, identified that a key element in staff motivation is developing and maintaining a good employment relationship — one in which employees feel that they matter (Buchanan & Huczynski, 2011).
Maslow's hierarchy of needs outlines the different factors that motivate employees as they progress from lower-order needs to higher-order needs. Lower-order needs are those essential for life, such as physiological well-being and the need for food and shelter, while higher-order needs include love, recognition, and self-actualisation (Maslow, 2014).
Employee engagement has been shown to be directly correlated with motivation, improving overall organisational performance (Cook, 2008; Schaufeli & Salanova, 2007).
These theories provide a foundation for identifying and implementing suitable strategies within the fast food industry — an industry designed largely in line with scientific management. The critical factors for improving motivation therefore centre on these frameworks, with recommendations including the provision of short-term incentives, recognition of employees' value, and increased employee engagement.
References
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Buchanan, D., & Huczynski, A. (2011). Organisational behaviour. Harlow: FT/Prentice Hall.
Cook, S. (2008). The essential guide to employee engagement: Better business performance through staff satisfaction. London: Kogan Page Publishers.
Herzberg, F. (1968). One more time: How do you motivate employees? Harvard Business Review, 46(1), 53–62.
Kroc, R. (2012). Grinding it out: The making of McDonald's. New York: St. Martin's Press.
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Maslow, A. (2014). Toward a psychology of being. London: Sublime Books.
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Schaufeli, W., & Salanova, M. (2007). Work engagement: An emerging psychological concept and its implications for organizations. In S. W. Gilliland, D. Steiner, & P. Skarlicki (Eds.), Managing social and ethical issues in organisations (pp. 153–177). Greenwich, CT: Information Age Publishing.
Seijts, G. H., & Crim, D. (2006). What engages employees the most or, the ten C's of employee engagement. Ivey Business Journal. Retrieved from
Taylor, F. W. (2012). The principles of scientific management. Mineola, NY: Dover Publications.
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