The 20% that drives 80%: Uncovering the secrets of organisational excellence with McDonald’s Saumya Mittal

In the world of business, few journeys are as fascinating as those that traverse different industries, cultures, and scales of impact. This interview is a rare opportunity to sit down with Saumya Mittal, Chief People Officer for Asia at McDonald’s, whose career has spanned the iconic brands of PepsiCo, Google, and now one of the world’s most recognisable restaurant chains. Mittal’s path is not only a testament to professional versatility but also to the enduring importance of human connection in the rapidly evolving landscape of work.

What sets this conversation apart is Mittal’s candid reflection on what it means to build future-ready organisations. From the factory floors of PepsiCo to the innovation hubs of Google, and now to the operational intensity of McDonald’s, her experiences have shaped a people philosophy that balances scale with simplicity, tradition with transformation, and ambition with empathy. At a time when organisations grapple with generational shifts, technological disruption and the need for genuine engagement, Mittal offers a refreshingly practical and humane perspective.

In this wide-ranging exchange, Pushkar Bidwai, CEO, People Matters and Vikrant Khanna, Advisor, People Matters CHRO Effectiveness Study in Asia, delve into the core principles that have guided her leadership, the lessons learned from navigating some of the world’s largest businesses, and the pressing challenges facing HR today. The insights shared here are not only for HR professionals but for anyone committed to building resilient, adaptive and truly people-centric organisations. Edited excerpts

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I have been fortunate to spend two decades in HR across different industries. PepsiCo was an ideal place to build HR fundamentals. They deliberately expose you to various functions – sales, marketing, even factories – so you get a rounded perspective and build relationships across the business. That intentional closeness with other functions stayed with me throughout my career.

After a decade at PepsiCo, I realised my learning curve was becoming incremental. I wanted to challenge myself in a radically different environment but remain in HR, which I love. Google came into my life through a cross-functional project, and I took the leap, even accepting a lower pay to make that shift. Tech was a new world for me, but the reset was invaluable – suddenly, relationship capital and legacy knowledge no longer gave you an edge. You had to learn afresh, which was humbling and invigorating. At Google, I led the commercial HR team for Asia Pacific, again gaining regional leadership experience.

But after nearly nine years, I could feel the comfort zone creeping in. The lure of McDonald’s was the chance to lead end-to-end HR for another giant, but in an industry that is operationally intense, people-driven, and globally impactful. The challenge of driving organisational excellence at this scale, while influencing culture and strategy, was simply irresistible.

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The external environment has never been more dynamic – from the pandemic to geopolitical shifts, technological disruption, AI, and rapidly changing labour trends. In Asia, we are managing both ageing populations and a surge of Gen Z and Gen Alpha talent. At McDonald’s, we hire across the entire demographic spectrum, which means our future readiness must address extraordinary diversity in needs and expectations.

Amidst all this, I am convinced that culture is the true operating system of future-ready organisations. Culture cannot be an output; it must be embedded deeply, shaping performance management, rewards, leadership tone, and daily conversations. Agility, for example, is not just a value; it must be coded into processes and habits at every level.

Another priority is simplification. Working in ‘giant’ organisations like PepsiCo, Google and McDonald’s, the default is often to add complexity. My focus is to consciously subtract – to ask, "What can we do less of to have the greatest impact?" This is the 80/20 principle in action. We want to simplify operations and reduce friction, allowing our teams to focus on what matters most.

Finally, for HR leaders, business acumen is now basic hygiene. The new aspiration is for HR to be tech-savvy, understand AI’s impact, and anticipate how global shifts will affect our markets. Our agility as a function must exceed what we have needed in the past, so upskilling ourselves and our teams is a top priority.

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That is a wonderful question, and you are right to point out that while each of these organisations is a giant in its own right, there are striking universalities in what truly drives impact. The first, which all three prioritise, is the belief that employee experience is inseparable from customer experience. Whether it is called EX = CX or framed differently, the sharp focus on making the workplace purposeful and engaging is foundational. Each business does this in a unique way, but the intent is the same: great employee experience leads to great customer experience.

The second constant is an unwavering drive for business excellence. This is a nuanced but powerful 20% that shapes 80% of outcomes. Take McDonald’s, for instance: the consistency of quality and service, whether you are in Singapore, India, Japan or the US, is remarkable. Even as we localise, the core excellence remains unchanged. The same is true for Google, where the reliability of Search and breakthroughs in AI define the brand, and for PepsiCo, where high standards across foods and beverages define the brand. Excellence at scale is non-negotiable.

The third—and perhaps most challenging—is connectedness. For giants of this scale, fostering deep connections across global, regional and country boundaries, and within and across teams, is crucial. It is about psychological safety, collaboration, and creating space for people to connect and recognise each other. This focus on connectedness enables the other two priorities to flourish. If organisations keep these three at the heart of their practice, they remain agile, resilient, and, as I like to put it, the giants keep dancing.

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It is immensely significant for us. Our product and brand touch all generations, so our people's practices must do the same. For example, some of our markets run ‘Gen McDonald’s’ programmes that bring the youngest and oldest staff together to foster understanding and collaboration. We train managers to engage across generations and tailor benefits to different needs – longer breaks and different responsibilities for senior employees, for instance.

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Over time, I have come to see that true engagement is not about activities or perks, but about fulfillment. People want to learn, grow, and feel their work matters. McDonald’s is a lean organisation by design, which means people have broad roles and real opportunities for impact. That is surprisingly powerful for engagement. It keeps the organisation right-sized, avoiding the inefficiency and disengagement that can come from unnecessary resourcing.

The fundamentals may sound unglamorous, but ensuring people have meaningful responsibilities is the real driver of engagement. Everything else – culture, psychological safety, career conversations – builds on top of that.

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That is a great question, and one that surprised me when I joined McDonald’s. Unlike what many might expect, our relationship with franchisees is incredibly close-knit—far beyond a standard business arrangement. There is a deep, multi-decade partnership built on trust, shared values and genuine love for the brand. Whether someone works for a franchisee or in the corporate team, the connection to McDonald’s is the same, and that brand bond is remarkably strong.

What really stands out is that we co-create everything, from employee engagement initiatives and organisational structures to talent practices and compensation benchmarks. There are no boundaries—we do it all together. In fact, the collaboration with franchisees often runs deeper than what you might find in a wholly owned business, where the dynamic between region and market is also ideally a partnership, not just about control.

Of course, we have mechanisms to step in if something isn't working in a particular market, but that need is rare. The entire system is built on mutual influence, empathy, and a shared commitment to uplifting the brand.

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Again, simplification and scale are key. Our learning and development is highly centralised for efficiency – McDonald’s Corporation designs for the whole system, then we localise for our regions and markets. By the time content reaches the front line, it is 90% ready to go, with appropriate trainers, delivery mechanisms, and on-the-job mentorship. Where we need to invest more is in augmenting localisation, because Asia is diverging rapidly from the global baseline in terms of demographics and tech readiness.

In HR, we have a unique challenge: our average tenure is over 25 years, so shifting mindsets and building new competencies, such as AI literacy, requires particular attention. We must foster awareness, excitement and agility in our teams to enable broader organisational change.

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It is incredibly lean. We leverage strong external partnerships, ruthlessly prioritise, and increasingly use our Hyderabad centre to scale. The team spans franchisees and wholly owned markets, so we operate as a single system while navigating local nuances. The key is focus: doing fewer things, but doing them exceptionally well.

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The landscape is shifting so quickly that it is hard to claim a perfect formula. Our framework is threefold: system, policy and practice. First, we are working to ensure our systems are robust, integrated and ready for the future, even as we catch up in some back-end areas. Second, we are tightening policies to manage data and AI risks, particularly given our scale and distributed nature.

In practice, we encourage employees and HR teams to develop AI literacy. AI will not replace humans, but humans who know AI will replace those who do not. Training is only a starting point. We need to reward experimentation, share best practices, and build a culture where people are excited and comfortable with new technology. The mindset shift is crucial, especially for a traditional organisation with long-tenured staff.

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HR systems touch every single person in an organisation, so HR is uniquely positioned to drive digital literacy at scale. We understand the fundamentals of change management – it is not just about training, but rewiring how people think and work. As tech becomes ubiquitous, HR must move from being a support function to an orchestrator of transformation. It is a golden opportunity: just as CMOs claimed social media from IT, HR can and should claim the lead on AI transformation, making technology human-centric and accessible for all.