[Asia Exclusive] From McDonald's Crew to CEO: The 'Crew Management Theory'

From Employee to CEO... The McDonald's Crew Legend
People Are the Greatest Asset: Delivering a 'Joyful Work Experience' to Customers

In the newly released video "Anthony Goes" on Korean McDonald's official social media channels, CEO Anthony Martinez appears and provides an explanation.

[Asia Economy Reporter Lee Seon-ae] CEO Anthony Martinez is known as the "McDonald’s Man" and is celebrated as a "McDonald’s Crew (employee) legend." At 36 years old this year, he began his career as a McDonald’s crew member. In 2000, he was hired as a part-time crew member at a McDonald’s restaurant in Victoria, Australia. After graduating from Deakin University in Australia in 2008, he worked as a project manager at McDonald’s Melbourne and then served as the director in charge of development for the southern region of Australia. From January 2016, he worked as the director overseeing the southern region of Australia, managing operations, marketing, and training for over 300 stores and supervising more than 80 franchisees. At a young age in his 30s, he was appointed CEO of McDonald’s Korea in March last year.

His management philosophy is grounded in the "Crew Management Theory." CEO Martinez cites improving customer experience as one of the top business strategy priorities, and he believes that employee satisfaction must be the foundation for this. Martinez explained, "Having started as a crew member myself, I believe that better customer experiences begin with employee satisfaction," adding, "When crew members work happily in a respectful environment, their positive experiences naturally translate to customers."

This belief was also reflected in this year’s recruitment. McDonald’s Korea carried out its largest-ever hiring last year, recruiting 600 full-time employees. As a company "that makes burgers," it is committed to growing together with its employees. Martinez emphasized, "With the belief that people are the most important asset, we will continue to invest in people by fostering an open recruitment process free from discrimination based on gender, age, or education, and by creating a work environment where employees can continuously grow."

In addition to new full-time hires, McDonald’s annually converts 100 to 300 part-time crew members working in stores into full-time employees. Furthermore, as of the third quarter of last year, 30 employees with disabilities were newly hired, bringing the total number of employees with disabilities currently working at McDonald’s to 178. This exceeds the legally mandated employment rate for private companies, and about 25% of all employees with severe disabilities at McDonald’s have been with the company for over 10 years. Over the past seven years, 845 senior crew members have been hired, and currently, 359 senior crew members are working at McDonald’s. The proportion of female employees at McDonald’s exceeds 50%.

◆ CEO Anthony Martinez’s Profile

▲ Born in 1985 ▲ 2000 McDonald’s restaurant crew member in Victoria, Australia ▲ 2008 Bachelor of Business Administration, Deakin University, Australia ▲ 2008 McDonald’s Melbourne project manager ▲ 2016 Director overseeing southern region, McDonald’s Australia ▲ CEO of McDonald’s Korea (March 2020~)

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.