Not US-owned: certain best practices with regards to corporate governance, sexual harassment/discrimination, morale, and integrity are completely overlooked because of the lack of understanding and accountability to the US market in favor of the exploitation of the US market for substantial monetary gains that are in fact lacking. I heard my first rape joke at BK. Someone in the field said the franchisees said they were "being raped by BK." (I've had mostly positive work experiences, so I could not really relate to people who hated their jobs until now.)
The company "values" are plastered on the walls, and one of them says something about meritocracy. I read a Forbes article recently that said that companies who plaster their values all over their walls practice the exact opposite. Precisely. A book written about the 3G Capital owners, "Dream Big" (don't buy it; borrow it) talks about their strategy. They made a good amount of money, partly because they capitalized on a gaping hole in the Brazilian economy concerning venture capital, so hopefully what's in the book is true, but everything in there is the exact opposite of what happens at the corporate BK headquarters. I skimmed it, but couldn't get through the first two chapters because it was quite hilarious and painful how it was the exact opposite of my experience at BK. I suggested to my friend that she work there with me so we could be colleagues, but made it clear that she would not enjoy it, but would get paid well. She had mentioned wanting a higher salary, but decided it wasn't worth it.
Former employees don't want to talk about their experience. I reached out to a fellow top 10 alumni to talk about his current job and his past at BK. He was happy to talk to me about his current role, but not BK, where he was for several years in an executive role. I ignored his lack of communication and also the more than accurate reviews on this site.
Misunderstanding of open work environment: they took down the walls so that they could have their "open work environment", but yet the company culture is patriarchal (partly due to Miami), bureaucratic and hierarchical, not based on meritocracy and healthy competition as the mantra/signs would have you believe. (There's some mantra about worshipping the Whopper and surpassing McDonald's, which is a bit creepy.) Shortly after I started I was told to "keep [my] head down;" that should be the mantra. Someone else mentioned the placement of the bathrooms in their review: usually they're in the hallways for a little more privacy, that's especially needed at BK where image is very important and you're constantly looking over your shoulder. If you're not seen it is assumed that you are not working. I got an email once from someone concerned about getting something done because she could not see who she needed. Thankfully she emailed, some people did not bother doing that or calling. Call forwarding was also something I had to explain once.
Misunderstanding of competition: I was a varsity athlete. You compete against peers for a spot on the team, and then you compete against your teammates for time, but then you have to work with those same people to compete against another team. Healthy competition. This requires strong communication, which is nonexistent at BK. BK is all about sink or swim, doing everything within their power to make you sink: colleagues not responding to emails unless their boss or someone with an impressive title is attached, HR not responding to emails about paying the corporate card in delinquency, gossiping (the worst office politics). Basically you're hazed.
Horrible work ethic: did I mention the corporate credit card I had is in delinquency because HR does not check their emails? Franchisees complained that team members within BK did not know what was going on. That is true. The motto is to do the bare minimum, partly because everyone is overworked and partly because, as one colleague put it, you're "passing the hot potato." I was waiting for technology access once and needed approval from someone who had his away message on. The away message clearly said who to contact in his absence, but as said approver was already contacted, the people who did their job of contacting the approver chose to be unresponsive because they had successfully passed off responsibility. Being proactive is frowned upon, because if you're not being told what to do then clearly your manager/boss is not doing their job because their role is to tell you what to do otherwise it won't get done. I did not realize that micromanaging was a serious phenomenon until BK. A transaction was scheduled to be completed at the end of the month. It wasn't the end of the month and people where in a tizzy that it wasn't done. It couldn't be done before the date specified, most people new that. But of course, my supervisor reminded me well in advance of something due later that was right in front of my face.
Poor communication: bad information is better than no information. Bad information was consistently passed along as good information in the name of competition and job security. For instance, documents needed to be collected from franchisees who would then say they already sent in the documents, sometimes these documents would just sit in limbo because they system was not updated, or an email was not checked. There was a lot of misinformation, especially when it came to policy. if the person who made the policy is there, why not talk to him? No, because is BK's open work environment, you don't ask questions of those not on your level and try to understand things. It's better to be unresponsive and play dumb if something is unclear or misunderstood. I had someone not get back to me because they did not understand what was being asked. That is what they said. They did not understand the question, so they did not respond to the email. Getting responses from people was like pulling teeth.
Status Quo: the majority of people eat 12-1PM despite that we were working with teams in different times zones and there would be long lines shortening that actual lunch time. There is a place for routine except for where its impracticality is a proven fact. I've worked at many other more known and well-regarded places where lunch was staggered. Part of the "open work environment" is that you're being watched constantly. So you can't go to lunch at 1PM because then people will see you away from your desk, start talking, and then you'll be seen as unproductive because everyone else went at 12PM. You can't leave at 5:30PM even if your work is done and you got up at 6AM to work, because everyone else is still working and if they're still working, there can be no possible way that you can be done for the day.
There were policies in place for time off for family emergencies, or even franchise agreements, but quite often no one knew what was in them or bothered to check. Quality assurance was of no importance despite that fact that if it was done right the first time, it wouldn't have to be done again.
