Lifetime of Achievement: Chris Kempczinsk, CEO of McDonald's

Chris Kempczinski is Chairman and CEO of McDonald’s Corporation, the world’s largest fast food organisation, whose 36,000 restaurants globally serve an estimated 69 million customers every single day.

Kempczinski is the architect of McDonald’s growth strategy, called Accelerating the Arches, which is unlocking greater innovation for the entire McDonald’s System – from its highest-performing franchisees and its network of global suppliers to its and a roster of 120,000 staff. 

Kempczinski joined McDonald’s in 2015 as Executive VP, Strategy, Business Development & Innovation. In this role, he worked closely with the company’s business leaders and franchisees to identify innovative new ideas and best practices to accelerate system growth.

Prior to becoming CEO, he served as President of McDonald’s USA, leading the business operations of around 14,000 McDonald’s US restaurants.

In all, Kempczinski has a quarter of a century’s experience working in premier global consumer companies. 

He began his career in brand management at Procter & Gamble, and also held senior positions at PepsiCo and, most recently, at Kraft Foods, where he was EVP, Growth Initiatives and President, International.

As well as serving on the McDonald’s Board of Directors, he is also a trustee of Ronald McDonald House Charities. Outside of McDonald’s, he serves on the Board of Directors for Procter & Gamble.

Kempczinski is an alumnus of both Duke University and Harvard Business School, and lives in Chicago, with his wife and two children.

In a recent interview with McKinsey, Kempczinski discussed his McDonald’s experience, and revealed that his priorities in his first year as CEO was to “refresh the core values that define who we are as a company”. 

To that end, he said he focused on “being a good listener, in order to understand how people were feeling and what we could do to support them”.

But before long, he – and the rest of the world – was faced with the Covid-19 pandemic. 

“We had the worst quarter in the history of McDonald’s in the second quarter of 2020,” he said. “Our cash flow went down about $2 billion in 2020, and our franchisees were under significant financial stress. There was a lot of anxiety.”

But he went on to explain that the strong emphasis he placed on core values came into its own in 2020.

“It helped us address the challenges we faced when the pandemic came along, and I could never have anticipated how much those messages would resonate,” he said.

Kempczinski added: “I’m very proud of having put our values front and centre, and a big learning for me was realising there is no such thing as over-communicating. 

“I stepped up my communication to make sure that our employees understood what our plan was to get through this, but also to get a lot of feedback.” 

He also reveals that, during this time, the company was constantly “pulse-checking”. 

He says” “At the end of 2020, we asked employees if they felt supported and over 90% said they felt well supported. That, for me, was incredibly gratifying.”

Asked by McKinsey how he felt he has improved the company’s marketing Kempczinski answered that the single most important thing he has to do as CEO is “ensure that our brand continues to be relevant”. He added: ”I feel like we’d gotten a little complacent, that we were stuck in a traditional mode, where we were more just broadcasting, as opposed to really engaging our customers in areas that they’re passionate about. 

“As a brand, you want people to discover you. Pop culture’s a great way to do that; our campaigns featuring rapper Travis Scott and singer J Balvin have paid off in a big way.

“We also need to be operating in the social-media space much more dynamically. When I started my career, 30 years ago, marketing was typically built around a campaign that you’d run for a full year, and then review again in a year. 

“But now we’re in an always-on marketing environment, driven largely by social media. We’re putting ideas out there and getting consumer feedback all the time – we’re in constant iteration mode.”

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