FOR Saipan general managers Ruthzel Perez and Gisel Achas, working at McDonald’s is not just about serving hamburgers and other food items; it’s about interacting with people from different walks of life and adapting to different cultures and behaviors.
They said their long years of serving McDonald’s customers taught them not only how to cook, prepare, and serve items on the menu; they also got to master different approaches in dealing with people of different personalities. Working at McDonald’s, they said, earned them personality development and professional skills.
‘People skills’
Perez, who started as a service crew at the Garapan branch, said her job at McDonald’s helped her develop people skills. As general manager now of the Middle Road branch, Perez has built a solid relationship not only with those who love McDonald’s but also with co-workers.
“I learned how to listen to my co-workers and other store managers, knowing their concerns, showing them sympathy, and understanding what they are going through,” she said.
Recognizing that people face different situations, Perez said she has learned to recognize if any of her subordinates need help.
Perez’s hard work as a service crew member at the Garapan branch first paid off when she was recognized in 2011 as the Crew of the Year with perfect attendance.
The following year, she was promoted to area manager. At the time, she said, she was still uneasy about her ability to communicate with customers, since English was just her second language.
But McDonald’s Guam and Saipan President Jose C. Ayuyu coaxed her out of her shell by assuring her not to worry about it since English is almost like a second language on the islands and that he will be happy as long as she keeps doing the job right.
“So I kept that in my mind and heart,” Perez said.
With 15 years at McDonald’s now under her belt, Perez, who has a two-year education in Commerce, is still amazed that she has now built a career at the food chain.
“I didn’t realize I would come this far,” she said.
That distance includes a trip to Chicago, when McDonald’s Guam and Saipan sent her to Illinois to attend the Hamburger University, the biggest training ground for McDonald’s workers. There, she and other McDonald’s managers from all over the world were taught how to run a great restaurant.
“It was my first and long trip to the U.S. When I got there, I was like, ‘Oh my God, I am just an ordinary person, and my boss has invested in me,'” Perez said.
That experience, she said, further built her self-confidence.
And because McDonald’s provided her opportunities to attend a lot of trainings, it was there where she “grew up as” a person, Perez said.
“I improved in my people skills,” she said. “I learned how to be a people person. This job provided me a lot of training. Although I got equipped with all the training I need, I am always willing to learn something new. That’s one of the good things I can say about myself.”
And as always, Perez said, Ayuyu and his family know how grateful she is. She expresses this not only through words, but with actions, for giving her the opportunity to grow as a person, trusting her to run their business and be part of the McDonald’s family.
Communication is key
In running a McDonald’s branch effectively, communication is key, said Achas, who has been with McDonald’s for 23 years now.
Achas said her first job as a teenager was being a McDonald’s service crew member.
Because she started at a very young age, she has learned how to work with different kinds of cultures, differing characters, and diverse behaviors—something that Achas found challenging because she was quite sensitive at that time.
It was at McDonald’s where she learned how to adapt and approach people from different walks of life, different personalities, and cultures. That’s because, on top of personality development, the No. 1 professional skill she learned while working at McDonald’s is communication.
“When I started working here at McDonald’s, when customers raised their voices, I would cry. As I continued my employment, I learned not to take it personally,” she said.
Years ago, Achas could have landed a job in healthcare after attending a nursing assistance program. But she chose to keep working at McDonald’s because, more than just serving hamburgers and other food items, the job also meant interacting with people from different walks of life.
That decision ultimately changed her career trajectory. When she started with McDonald’s, she did not imagine working for the company for several years. Now, as the Garapan branch general manager, she takes pride in successfully balancing her role as a working mother and a general manager supervising and guiding service crew members.
Achas thanks the Ayuyu family for giving her this opportunity and allowing her to start at an early age. “They give me chances to improve, provide me training and help me build my self-confidence,” she said.
McDonald’s of Guam & Saipan, locally owned by Joe and Marcia Ayuyu and their son, Joe Ayuyu Jr., is the leading food service restaurant chain in the Mariana Islands. McDonald’s of Guam & Saipan has served the local communities for over 50 years on Guam and 30 years on Saipan and remains one of the island’s largest employers.
<strong>’I didn’t realize I would come this far.’</strong>
<p style=”text-align: right;”>—Ruthzel Perez, general manager, McDonald’s Middle Road branch
McDonald’s Middle Road branch general manager Ruthzel Perez and Garapan Beach Road branch manager Gisel Achas pose at the counter at the Middle Road branch on Friday.
