不懼后來人

????“漢堡大學”（Hamburger U，麥當勞的培訓機構）的理念曾經(jīng)一度遭人恥笑，人們并不把它放在眼里，但對于斯金納這種既沒有大學文憑，也沒有MBA學位的人而言，管理培訓絕非兒戲。榮任CEO一年后，斯金納組織了一個領導力培訓項目。該項目歷時九個月，參與項目的是全公司最優(yōu)秀的管理人員，他們共同研究如何解決麥當勞所面臨的重大問題。此外，斯金納還自掏腰包，發(fā)起了一個專為新晉管理人員開設的培訓項目。

????多年來，斯金納極力推進公司的人才培養(yǎng)計劃，這也許將成為他留給麥當勞最豐厚的一筆“遺產(chǎn)”。 在今年四月份的美國“全國招聘日”，公司一次性招募了62,000名新人，目前，麥當勞僅在美國國內(nèi)就擁有700,000名員工。他要求所有管理人員至少培養(yǎng)兩名“繼任者”，一名能即刻接替工作，一名則可以在不久的將來就任，或者按照麥當勞內(nèi)部的說法，一名是“隨時接任者”，另外一名是“未來接班人”。人們很容易推測，這種復雜的人員配備和斯金納本人的晉升之路有著密切的關聯(lián)。每年，包括斯金納在內(nèi)的麥當勞高管團隊會對公司200個高層職位及其儲備人才庫進行審查，總共有400人。“我們會逐一討論每個人的狀況，”麥當勞首席人力資源官里奇?福洛施如是說。

????員工可能會因為隨時有“后來者居上”而感到惶恐，但斯金納對于這樣的員工從不心慈手軟。斯金納這樣說道：“青出于藍而勝于藍，很多人受不了這種危機感。我常說，我的目標就是讓身邊的人都能超越我，這一點我從不害怕。”斯金納對此身體力行：無論是分析會，還是電話通話，他都非常尊重自己的二號人物唐?湯姆森的意見。2010年至今，唐?湯姆森一直擔任公司首席運營官。

????當然，斯金納自己也有“隨時接任者”。分析家們普遍認為他的接班人就是湯姆森。麥當勞公司并沒有強制規(guī)定退休年齡，66歲的斯金納也不會輕易透露他的退休計劃。對這個問題，他倒是開玩笑的說：“人們總是問我?guī)讜r退休，我都會告訴他們：‘等我的咖啡杯蓋用完再說。’”

????翻譯：劉進龍/富來細特/汪皓

Don't be afraid of your No. 2

????There was a time when the idea of "Hamburger U," McDonald's training facility, used to elicit titters, but to Skinner, who didn't graduate from college or earn an MBA, management training is no joke. He created a leadership institute a year after he became CEO. One nine-month leadership program brings together top-performing executives to work on addressing big issues for McDonald's. Funding for another program, for all new officers, comes out of Skinner's own budget.

????This push for talent development may be Skinner's greatest legacy at the company, which has 700,000 employees in the U.S. alone, thanks in part to its April "national hiring day" spree of 62,000 workers. He requires that all executives train at least two potential successors -- one who could do the job today, the "ready now," in McDonald's parlance, and one who could be a future replacement, the "ready future." One could speculate that this redundancy might have to do with the way Skinner came into his current position. Every year the executive team, including Skinner, reviews the top 200 positions in the company and the feeder pool, which means it ends up looking at about 400 people. "We talk about all of them," says HR chief Rich Floersch.

????Skinner doesn't show much sympathy for employees who can't handle the thought of having a subordinate right behind them who's capable of tackling their job at any moment. "That's always a danger, and some people can't live with that," Skinner says. "I always like to say that my goal is to surround myself with people smarter than I am. I'm not afraid of it." And Skinner seems to practice what he preaches: At analyst meetings and on calls, he regularly defers to his No. 2, Don Thompson, who moved into his current job as chief operating officer in 2010.

????Skinner isn't exempt from having a "ready now," and Thompson is widely believed by analysts to be his heir apparent. McDonald's doesn't have a mandatory retirement age, and the 66-year-old Skinner won't say when he plans to make the move. He does offer one lighthearted hint: "People always ask me when I'm going to retire," he tells me. "I say, 'When I run out of lids.'"