McDonald's Corp. is working hard to redefine "McJob," a term associated with unstimulating, low-paying employment with few prospects.

FILE 2007/The Associated Press

McDonald's is trying to attract better workers and keep them from leaving by offering health insurance at more outlets and providing English lessons.

The fast-food giant is taking steps aimed at "getting people thinking differently" about being a McDonald's employee, said Rich Floersch, the company's chief human resources officer.

Those initiatives seek to make a McJob something that members of its multitudinous workforce do with pride – and keep them from jumping to another employer.

McDonald's campaign also is certain to be watched by other restaurateurs for success in combating employee turnover, a chronic and costly industry problem.

At many U.S. McDonald's, crew members are being offered health insurance at group rates, along with computerized English-language classes and other life-enhancing skills that can be learned during breaks or after shifts.

And in company-owned restaurants, employees can establish 401(k) retirement accounts, in which McDonald's increases its contribution over time, depending on profit.

One senior executive recently put the chain's annual employee turnover at 700,000 – or nearly 44 percent of the company's 1.6 million employees worldwide.

Managerial turnover is around 20 percent globally, while that of crew members averages between 80 percent and 90 percent, with significant differences by country, Mr. Floersch said. He wouldn't disclose statistics for individual markets but pointed to China and Germany as having among the lowest annual turnover.

McDonald's is putting special emphasis on preventing people from quitting within the first three months of being hired. If they stay beyond that, their productivity – and the company's return on its upfront training investment – both improve.

To cut turnover, managers are interviewing crew and other employees to determine what they value most about their jobs and what might be done to improve them.

One key topic is health insurance. "We're working with our owner-operators to provide medical coverage at reasonable rates," Mr. Floersch said.

Because of its size, McDonald's can obtain a significantly lower group rate from its primary health insurer, the Blue Cross & Blue Shield Association. So far about 70 percent of its franchisees are under the company's umbrella plan. The employee's co-pay is determined by the franchise.

The company also has developed hiring tools that reduce subjectivity in the selection process and weed out poor prospects. A questionnaire that applicants fill out correlates well between high scores and future success, Mr. Floersch said.

Answers are sorted by colors: Green means the manager definitely should interview the person; red means don't waste your time.

Worldwide, McDonald's estimates it gets more than 1 million job applications a year.

The Wall Street Journal