McDonald's Corp. continues to shake up its management ranks as
it seeks to simplify operations and win back customers in its home
market.
The company, in a memo to employees and franchisees on Thursday,
announced it is appointing Karen King to be chief field officer, a
new role in which she and her team will work directly with
franchisees to improve restaurant sales. Ms. King, formerly in
charge of the company's eastern U.S. division, had been called out
of retirement last fall to become chief people officer for the U.S.
Now, she's being elevated into a critical role for the company at a
time when relations with U.S. franchisees are severely strained.
One of her direct reports is the vice president of franchisee
relations.
McDonald's is also moving other executives into new roles
intended to make the restaurants more relevant to consumers and run
more efficiently.
The moves are the biggest management shuffle that new Chief
Executive Steve Easterbrook has made since taking over in March,
and is among several things he has done to show he is serious about
reversing more than two years of sales declines in the U.S. He has
announced plans to raise wages for workers at McDonald's
company-owned restaurants, to remove certain antibiotics from
chicken and to push for menu simplification and all-day
breakfast.
"We are in a turnaround mode. We are on a journey to becoming a
modern, progressive burger and breakfast restaurant to get ahead of
customer expectations for the future," McDonald's USA President
Mike Andres said in the memo, which was seen by The Wall Street
Journal.
McDonald's said Chief Finance Officer Mike Soenke will expand
his role, overseeing both restaurant development and supply-chain
management to better determine how to make the right
investments.
McDonald's also promoted Charlie Robeson, who now heads its U.S.
company-operated restaurants, into the new position of chief
restaurant operations officer. In his new role, he will "continue
the important work around making our operations more simple and
efficient," according to the memo. The company also named Erik Hess
senior vice president of customer experience where he will focus on
menu strategy. Mr. Hess was previously senior vice president of
global consumer and brand strategy.
The company also announced the departure of veteran McDonald's
executive Jim Norberg, who had most recently held the post of chief
support officer for the U.S. business.
The latest changes come on the heels of McDonald's announcement
on Tuesday that it hired former Obama administration press
secretary Robert Gibbs to be its global communications chief and
former Bacardi Ltd. and Unilever PLC marketing executive Silvia
Lagnado to be its new global chief marketing officer.
Write to Julie Jargon at julie.jargon@wsj.com
Access Investor Kit for McDonald's Corp.
Visit
http://www.companyspotlight.com/partner?cp_code=P479&isin=US5801351017
Subscribe to WSJ: http://online.wsj.com?mod=djnwires