McDonaldization not just at McDonalds

 We've all been into a McDonald's (at least everyone I know has) and we know the routine. It's always the same. The employees all act the same and even if by chance you do have a conversation with one of them while ordering, you can't help but to just feel as though they are acting out a role. McDonald's achieves this through means of efficiency, calculability, predictability, control and irrationality. While many may only think of McDonald's or other fast food restaurants when discussing this topic, I actually think of many other places of work becoming more and more similar in those aspects.

For example, I have worked at a dentist office for the last 4 years. Most of us have been to a dental office and let's start thinking about it. When you walk in, you sign your name in at the front desk then sit quietly in a chair in the waiting room reading your Home Garden or Time magazine until the woman calls your name to come back into the room. Once you're back in the room, you open your mouth and shut up unless the woman asks you a question to create some small talk here or there. As an employee there, I know exactly what to do and how to do it. I call a patient back into the room, sit them down, put their bib on and go to let my boss know that they are there. When assisting my boss in a procedure, I am quiet and courteous and I know that if I talk out of place I will probably get a really dirty look from my boss. In the operatory room, we are quiet and there to get the job done right. In this sense, I am a McDonaldized employee even though I'm not exactly flipping burgers. I have little machines I use with timers and switches that tell me when materials are done mixing to be used for fillings. I know my place, I know I cannot really let my individuality shine because we are there to work on someones teeth and that is about it. When we are finished with the procedure, I write in the person's chart, walk them to the front desk and say "Ok they will help you out up here, have a great night!!" with a big smile on my face. Then it's right back to the room to clean and set up for the next patient on the schedule. We achieve this functional work place in the same way McDonald's does: with computers, an assembly line in a sense, repetitiveness, and much predictability in at least what to expect in a dental office. Obviously this isn't an extreme like McDonald's but it definitely reflects a lot of the same aspects.

I believe McDonaldization is seen in all different work places, not just fast food restaurants. All over, more and more people are becoming like robots in their work place because efficiency and quantity over quality or meaning is becoming more and more important.  Employers want to make money and do it quickly so they a lot of the time take the color out of their workplace and employees. Employees are alienated at many workplaces from their creativity and personality in order to fit the demands of success in their workplace. So you don't have to flip burgers at McDonalds to be McDonaldized.