People Manager Review

I provide HR support to a group of restaurants and make sure the Restaurant Managers are working in line with the company expectations in terms of delivering People Initiatives, as well as help to ensure legal compliance (WTR/RTW) across the business. I deal with a range of stakeholders - employers / line managers / regional managers / owner and work to deliver whatever expectations they have in the area of people.

My theoretical knowledge around HR has definitely improved. I have learnt my role through experience and practice and while I have completed work-based courses around People, the apprenticeship provided me with an opportunity to get a deeper understanding of HR and its principles - in its own right and where it fits within the organisation.

I enjoy learning - the course is quite intense and requires a lot of self-discipline and time management but I think it's going to be worth it in the end. The fact that it's completely free to me and that my organisation is providing me with an opportunity to get a recognised qualification is great.

The Avado learning is very structured, with weekly learning broken down into sections - it's quite good. The Arch side of it (Apprenticeship provider) is okay - so far I've had 3 remote visits with my LDC and they have been a good opportunity for me to check in on my progress and re-focus my learning.

My Arch LDC is quite supportive, although we haven't spent that much time together yet. I manage my study time myself and usually struggle to fit it into actual working time but I try to use day to day situations as learns and apply my theoretical knowledge into practice.

So far, I've only had 3 visits and due to workload I've fallen slightly behind with some of my actions. My LDC has been very understanding and supportive so I appreciate that. She has been helpful in terms of advice and ideas around learning structure so that has been beneficial and gave me some perspective and provoked my thinking.

Completing the Apprenticeship and learning the theoretical side of HR allows me to understand the reasons for why I do what I do at work. As I learnt the role through experience and had no former HR training, it's been very helpful to understand the reasons behind some of the existing initiatives we already have in place but also provoked my thinking in terms of future initiatives we could put in place.

Due to Covid-19, there have not been many opportunities over the past year or so. However in the future, I'm sure there will be opportunities to network, arrange social events and take part in fundraisers for our Ronald McDonald House Charity through sporting events. Really looking forward to that!

Yes

I have worked in McDonald's for 10 years and I never intended to! I started part time when I was in college and only looked to stay a couple years tops but someone spotted the talent and potential in me and got me the opportunity to work in this role, which I never knew I wanted but now absolutely love. I have supported the wellbeing and development of so many people and I'm glad to have been able to have a positive impact on people's lives. So yes I would recommend McDonald's as an employer because we put a lot of effort into development and growth, which gives people skills for life.

I would say anyone who is interersted in applying, definitely should! There is so much more to the job than just 'cooking burgers' - you do get skills for life. If you have ambitions or aspirations to gain Management experience and are serious about it, you will absolutely be supported. Be yourself and try not to get nervous - all the interviews and assessments I have ever done, I always asked people at the end whether they found it as nerve-racking as they thought it was going to be and I'm always told 'absolutely the opposite'. We like to engage people in whatever it is we are doing and we like to have a good time so try not to be nervous and let your personality shine!