Engaging & Integrating a Younger Workforce: KFC South Pacific - SHRM
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Engaging & Integrating a Younger Workforce: KFC South Pacific
Discussion Guide
December 2015
1. What distinguishes a Millennial from other generations?
Idealism
Each country’s Millennials are different, but because of globalization, social media,
the exporting of Western culture and the speed of change, Millennials worldwide are
more similar to each other than to older generations within their nations.
The Millennial generation, or Generation Y, is used to refer to people born after
1980. Compared with Generation X, Millennials have led a fairly charmed life.
According to a study by Forbes magazine, the parents of the Millennial generation
had ready access to birth control, which has resulted in a generation of children who
were generally wanted and fully nurtured by their parents. Millennials were more
sheltered than their predecessors were. The phrase “helicopter parents” was
termed after the parents of this generation.
Millennials tend to delay adulthood, but they are more orthodox in their approach to
life and more conventional than their parents. Their opinions are deeply rooted in
idealism, and they desire to save the world. Millennials do not typically blame the
past for circumstances, but rather look forward to future solutions.
Compared to Baby Boomers
Generation X is known for tearing down the entrenched institutions of the Baby
Boom generation, and Millennials are expected to be the ones to put it back together
in a more enlightened, idealistic way.
In 2016, Millennials are expected to surpass Baby Boomers as the largest living U.S.
generation. By 2020, Millennials will make up half of the workforce. They are
characterized by marrying and having children late, renting instead of buying a
home, preferring to live in cities and not owning cars. Millennials are typically
socially tolerant and fiscally responsible.
Debt relations
The biggest difference between Generation X and Millennials is the record amount
of student loan debt carried by the younger generation. In 1989, the bottom three-
fifths of Americans ages 18 to 34 had an average net worth of $3,300. In 2013, that
same group had a net debt of $7,700.
1This debt burden is one of the few things that will hold a Millennial in a job he or she
does not like. Many Millennials started their careers during the Great Recession of
2008-2010 and are expected to take 15 years to make up for the decrease in
earnings that they experienced at the start of their careers compared with people
who enter the job market at a time of economic prosperity.
1. Why should Millennials receive special consideration in the workplace?
Members of the Millennial generation have grown up in a world of on-
demand information, instant communication and widespread social
expression. Workplaces must provide advanced forms of communications
technologies, flexible scheduling and multiple forms of work arrangements to
attract young employees and keep them happily producing. Organizations
must also remain actively engaged in retaining Millennials given that online
job sites and recruitment companies continue to advance their reach into
today’s organizations.
2. How can a family-like environment help keep Millennials engaged?
A family-like environment helps keep younger workers engaged by giving
them an emotional connection and a personal investment in their work and
their co-workers. Millennials see their co-workers as their second families.
Early in their careers, managers must teach basic job skills like arriving to
work on time, striving for goals, achieving results and working in teams.
Managers of Millennials are most effective when they learn to work with
different personality types, get to know each of their employees well, and
exhibit care and concern for their employees. Managers should be asking
questions about their employees’ educational background, sports and home
life as well as their professional and career goals and ambitions.
3. How has KFC incorporated fun into its working environment?
KFC builds “fun” by allowing employees to be the people they want to be
instead of forcing a particular behavior. Every day, team members are
encouraged to smile, dance and sing with the intention of allowing them to be
themselves. It creates a culture in which employees are open, honest and
happy. KFC has partnered with the Make-A-Wish Foundation to allow
employees to spend a whole day with children in need. As teams work
together to help others and to make a difference in their communities, they
bond in a family-like way.
22. How can an organization leverage technologies to support a younger
workforce?
On-the-ready information
Organizations can leverage emerging technologies, both open source and
proprietary, to enable rapid, mobile, asynchronous information dissemination.
Millennials expect up-to-the-minute details on all things related to their
employment and work environment. Organizations that provide technology to
automate tasks, increase efficiency and empower younger employees earlier in their
careers to make well-informed business decisions have a significant advantage in
recruiting and retaining highly skilled, talented Millennials.
Knowledge sharing and collaboration
Lifelong learning and discovery are hallmarks of the Millennial generation.
Providing technology that fosters learning, discovery and knowledge-sharing will
provide younger workers the opportunity to more quickly and easily learn from co-
workers and mentors. It is also important to implement technologies that increase
the efficiency and effectiveness of inter- and intradepartmental collaboration. Some
current types of collaboration packages include instant messaging, ad hoc file
sharing, multiuser file editing, version control systems, remote desktop sharing,
voice and video conferencing, online meeting spaces, and group discussion forums.
Collaborative hiring
Including current employees in the hiring process can be extremely beneficial for
finding prospects with the right “fit” for the job. However, such involvement can be
costly in terms of lost productivity. Organizations should consider using advanced
selection assessment software to narrow down the candidates for a job. Allowing
employees to consider the results of a selection assessment prior to engaging in-
person with a candidate will help expedite the selection process and give more
people an opportunity to voice their opinions in the process.
Leverage social-media to maintain corporate culture
Younger generations have grown up with social media as an integral part of their
lives. Organizations should actively engage with social media to remain aware of
and relevant to their employees. Organizations should consider leveraging social
media to highlight employee accomplishments, announce and plan social activities,
and encourage employees to refer their friends as co-workers or customers.
Reduce inefficiency
The Millennial generation is notoriously intolerant of inefficiency. As organizations
continue to introduce technologies with the desire to increase efficiency,
unintended consequences often cause inefficiencies in other segments of the
operation. Organizations need to include a comprehensive, ongoing assessment of
the technologies they implement to ensure that they are increasing efficiency
throughout the organization, and not creating inefficiency in some areas.
31. Why is on-demand information important to Millennials?
Perhaps it is a matter of learned behavior, but Millennials have come of age
during a period of time when information was never more than seconds
away, and as they move into the workforce, they expect the information they
need to be available instantly. If Millennials do not find the information they
need in a timely manner, they will seek it out from alternative sources.
Organizations that recognize the need for rapid dissemination of information
to their employees will benefit from a more engaged younger generation.
2. How can social media engagement improve an organization’s employee
relations?
To Millennials, social media is really the outward expression of any person,
entity, organization or club. Organizations that actively engage with social
media will be more relevant to younger employees. Many organizations have
created private groups on Facebook and LinkedIn that allow for both
professional and social conversations between employees. A well-managed
social media experience can contribute to a strong corporate culture.
3. How can technology assist with talent recruitment?
In today’s job market, every job is sought out online first. Gone are the days
of paper applications and walk-in job candidates. Online applications and
personality assessments help weed out poorly fitting candidates while
highlighting those who are likely to succeed in the organization. Social media
provides a great outlet for employee recruitment both by the organization
itself and through employee referral programs.
43. What are some effective ways to find talented employees?
Employee referrals
Employee referrals have the highest applicant-to-hire conversion rate. Though only
7 percent of applications for any given job are typically from referrals, universally
they account for 40 percent of all new hires. Applicants hired from referrals begin
their positions more quickly than applicants found via job boards and career sites.
On average, referral hires have greater job satisfaction and stay longer at
companies; some 46 percent stay with the company for longer than one year, 45
percent stay more than two years and 47 percent over three years. According to a
study by a leading recruiting agency, 67 percent of employers said that the
recruiting process was shorter via referrals, and 51 percent said it was less
expensive to recruit using that method.
More than money
According to a survey by Deloitte, Millennials want to work for an organization that
focuses on purpose and people more than it focuses on profit. Millennials have a
deep-seeded social conscious that drives them to care about and view the world in a
way far different from previous generations. Millennials are drawn to companies
that invest their profits in corporate citizenship and social responsibility. KFC
partners with dozens of nonprofit organizations to give employees opportunities to
better their community. KFC has found that Millennials like to work for an honest,
authentic, genuine organization that cares about the community in which it
operates.
Candidate assessments
In recent years, organizational psychology has led to the development of many
sophisticated software packages designed to help organizations identify good-fitting
candidates for job openings. Many of these software packages focus on personality
traits that would likely lead to a person being highly successful at a particular job.
More recently, online resume and recruiting organizations have turned to these
types of software to help direct people to apply for jobs at employers that have a
need for people that fit their personality profiles.
Social media outreach
Social media outlets like LinkedIn, Facebook, and Twitter have a vast database of
personality traits of their users. Many organizations have turned to highly targeted,
specialized advertising on these platforms as a means of recruiting top talent.
Beyond advertising, leveraging current employees’ online connections is a great way
to find local, like-minded talent. On average, a person on Facebook has 150 friends.
In an organization with 100 employees, that is a total of 15,000 potential candidates.
1. Why are employee referrals more effective than other recruitment methods?
In almost every situation, referred candidates are faster to hire than
traditional candidates. They are also cheaper to hire than traditional
candidates and will onboard faster than traditional hires. Countless research
5studies have indicated that referred hires stay at their jobs longer than
traditional hires and that the employees who successfully refer candidates
stay with their organizations longer than those who have not referred
anyone.
2. How does corporate social responsibility help attract talent?
Millennial generation leaders are looking for more than a good salary. They
are searching for meaning in their day-to-day work, and they connect their
personal values more closely to their careers than previous generations.
Organizations that foster that connectivity will be more attractive to up-and-
coming leaders. Millennials want to make a difference in everything that they
do—both personally and professionally. If an organization has named
corporate social responsibility as one of its core values, Millennials will likely
chose that organization over ones that do not.
3. How does KFC help potential employees hone their employability?
KFC teaches all candidates how they should conduct themselves in an
interview. Interviewers give interviewees ongoing feedback on what they
should be wearing even if they do not intend to ultimately hire the candidate.
KFC intends to teach all young employees valuable life skills from the
moment they walk into one of its restaurants. For employees under the age
of 17, KFC puts each candidate through a realistic “job preview” with his or
her parent so that the parent understands the demands of the job and can
approve of the child’s employment.
64. How can an investment in technology improve the attitudes of employees?
Automate repetitive work
Advancements in technology have enabled organizations to automate many manual
tasks that once required employees to spend significant amounts of time
accomplishing them. All aspects of an organization can be affected by improved
automation. Ridding an organization of mundane, repetitive tasks and replacing the
them with thought-provoking, meaningful work will help improve the attitudes of
those employees who were previously assigned those tasks.
Increase employee engagement
Investing in technology that improves communication is key to employee
engagement. Employees need to know about changes in the external and internal
business environment and how those changes might affect them. Modern project
management software allows all employees to be involved in the planning and
implementation process of changes that affect the organization. Employee surveys
are a great way to gain feedback and gauge employee attitudes.
Enhance learning opportunities
Modern, cloud-based technology combined with a deeper understanding of
neuroscience and how humans learn best is changing the way companies train their
employees. The Millennial workforce is creating a growing demand for innovative,
asynchronous and informal approaches to workplace learning. Workplace learning
is rapidly becoming a social, team-based collaboration that emphasizes
decentralized peer-to-peer learning. Investments in mobile platforms provide
continuous and instantaneous access to knowledge and decrease the need for costly
in-person, classroom-style training sessions. Videos, game-like simulations and peer
communities are great ways to leverage technology to improve employee training.
Socialization
Organizations should invest in corporate-sponsored social media platforms to
encourage employees to create a family-like environment at work. Employees who
are invested in each other’s happiness are more likely to stay with the organization
for an extended period of time and remain happy with their employment. Electronic
newsletters and employee discussion forums should be used to promote social
events, highlight employee achievements and foster employee engagement.
Investing builds confidence
When an organization makes an investment to improve technology, it shows
employees that it deeply cares about the long-term viability of the company.
Ultimately, the investment is less about the specific technology that is selected, and
more about the indication to the employees that management is willing and able to
invest in the betterment of the organization. Technology investments typically
result in increased employee longevity and improved employee morale.
71. How can technology improve employee engagement?
Mobile technology has opened a wide world of possibilities for the
workplace. It can help facilitate rapid communication with colleagues and
customers, manage supply chain issues, control availability of customer
support systems and so much more. It can make an employee’s job far more
enjoyable by affording him or her location flexibility with greater access to
corporate systems. But for all the good, there are some downsides to
consider: employee distraction, burnout and interference with work/life
balance. A well-managed technology rollout must equally consider the needs
of the organization and its employees’ personal lives.
2. What technology items is KFC focusing on to improve the employee and
customer experience?
KFC uses technology for anything from rostering employees to the ordering
process to the point-of-sale. Right now, for example, KFC is working hard on
implementing mobile ordering. The company has found that young people
want everything on demand, so it is working hard to provide an on-demand
experience for both its customers and its younger employees. Whether it is
training or setting up a communication process, KFC goes directly to young
people for advice on what they believe will improve their work experience.
KFC is also allocating more resources to social media for both its employees
and customers. KFC has found that responding to social media results in
happier customers and employees. KFC uses social media to learn from its
consumers.
85. How does a clearly defined career path help employees stay engaged?
Prevent turnover
Keeping employees in an organization is a key element of long-term corporate
success and cost savings. Providing advancement opportunities for employees is a
very effective way to prevent turnover, which can cost organizations large sums of
money. Employees who see a career path for themselves with their current
organizations are far more likely to stay engaged in their roles with the hope that
they will be able climb the corporate ladder.
When a professional leaves an organization, businesses can spend an excessive
amount of money onboarding and finding the right candidate. Even if an applicant is
extremely talented, it will take some time for him or her to understand how the
organization works and become comfortable in the role.
Hope for growth
Employees who wish to grow with an organization recognize that they must help
the organization grow. Modern professionals value opportunities for growth and
long-term success more than ever in the past. Millennials are looking for businesses
that have an established reputation for being great places to advance one’s career.
Younger workers view themselves as people who push an organization forward.
Indicating to younger employees that there is a possibility for them to advance
themselves while advancing the interests of the organization is critical to keeping
them engaged for a long period of time.
Prioritizing internal advancement
Highlighting promotional chances in job listings and continually discussing and
outlining advancement opportunities with current employees are great ways to
showcase an organization’s career paths. Organizations should develop internal
recruitment strategies that incorporate talent management software to match
current employees to managerial roles they may be suited for, based on their
talents. Even if a position is not yet available, keeping a short list of potential
replacements can help organizations prepare for unforeseen employee turnover
while providing hope for people looking for advancement.
Soften the transition
When an employee is advanced internally, the transition to a new role will be easier
and more natural for the organization and other employees. Current employees do
not have to spend time or energy learning a new personality; rather, they can focus
on continuing productivity free of these distractions. Frequent internal
advancements also prove that there are opportunities to rise within the ranks of an
organization.
1. How can an organization’s integration of new employees affect its long-term
goals?
The way an organization onboards new employees lays the foundation for
9the entire employment of that person. According to a study conducted by the
Society for Human Resource Management, the level of formality of an
organization’s onboarding process directly affects the long-term viability of a
new candidate. A sink-or-swim approach often leaves new hires struggling to
figure out how they fit into an organization long into their careers. A well-
structured, comprehensive program that covers low-level policy and legal
rules, outlines job expectations, imparts a complete understanding of the
company culture, and connects new employees to others in the organization
gives new hires a firm understanding and a sense of ease as they enter their
new roles.
2. What are some benefits of managers being involved in younger employees’
social development?
Organizations like KFC that invest in their younger employees’ personal and
professional development discover that Millennials are capable of deep
loyalty and rapid personal growth when properly encouraged. Millennials
are more motivated by incremental education and acknowledgement of
successes than a boost in pay. Organizations that encourage their managers
to involve themselves in helping and teaching younger employees can save
money by offering slightly lower wages in exchange for valuable life lessons.
3. What types of engagement tools does KFC use?
KFC deploys extremely generous quarterly incentives for employees who
meet or exceed key performance indicators. In some cases, employees can
receive $10,000 annual bonuses for exceptional performance. On a smaller
scale, KFC rewards its employees of the month with a box of chocolates,
iTunes gift cards, movie tickets and “chance” recognition cards.
106. How can an organization reinforce its company culture?
Direct work experience
It is important to demonstrate an organization’s culture to employees. Simply
stating the cultural expectations is not enough to ensure that they are carried out by
all employees. In situations that provide unique challenges requiring managerial
intervention, special attention should be paid to dealing with the situation in
accordance with the core values of the organization. These are opportunities to
demonstrate the company’s culture and to show employees how to practice the core
values and culture. In day-to-day operations, employers should expose employees at
all levels of an organization to the frontline, customer-facing operations. Such
exposure grants all employees a chance to witness and exercise their commitment
to the core values of the organization. It also gives them a chance to learn about the
challenges their colleagues face as they work to service customers.
Mentoring
A healthy organizational culture is key to a successful business. Maintaining that
culture over periods of time spanning generations of employees requires an
intentional effort to pass it along. Mentoring programs are a smart way to enhance
personal connections and maintain organizational vitality in the face of continuous
challenge and change. Effective mentoring can improve retention, build morale,
increase commitment, accelerate leadership development, provide ongoing career
development, reduce stress, build teams and facilitate organizational learning.
Reverse mentoring
Reverse mentoring provides an opportunity for culture to flow upstream. Creating a
healthy multigenerational culture requires consistent communications, clear
expectations and creative programs to encourage learning and sharing among
employees of all ages. Reverse mentoring programs that ignore age and rank are
great ways to reinforce company culture. These mentor relationships can be based
on skills, interests or personality fit. It is smart to assign mentoring teams to new
employees to prevent failure due to personality clashes. Employers should also
ensure that mentoring teams represent an age-and-skills cross-section of the
organization.
Constant, clear communications
Internal communication is a major component of a high-morale environment.
Managers must habitually share appropriate information with employees. This can
be done through online communication tools such as blogs, intranet, newsletters or
e-mail. Keeping employees informed reduces the amount of time and energy spent
trying to figure out what is going on. Transparent communication prevents gossip
and other insidious behavior that employees may engage in if they feel out of the
loop.
Show appreciation
11Expressing genuine appreciation can create a culture of positive energy—a culture
in which people feel valued for their work and help those around do the same.
Leading employees with appreciation creates a positive environment that
permeates the entire organization. Simple gestures like thanking people for their
contributions or acknowledging, in person, an exceptional effort by an employee can
go a long way to creating a happy group of employees.
1. How can frontline experience help improve an organization’s culture?
Employees at all levels of an organization benefit from understanding the
interactions that happen on the front line of customer service. By exposing
managers, operations and support staff to the demands on the front line,
employees gain a better understanding of what their colleagues do to
contribute to the organization. The same is true in the opposite direction;
frontline employees stand to gain a better appreciation for all the behind-the-
scenes efforts of the people not on the front line. That understanding will
lead to a greater appreciation of each other, thereby improving morale and
deepening the organization’s culture.
2. In what ways does mentoring help develop an organization’s culture?
Mentorship programs help transmit corporate culture, institutional
knowledge, experiential insight, and customer and vendor relationship
history. Mentorships are a way of passing information from older workers to
younger workers about things that are not easily documented. Institutional
knowledge, corporate culture, experiential insight and other intangible
lessons are nearly impossible to impart in an employee manual and are best
passed on by word of mouth and the actions of employees.
3. What are some two-way benefits of a mentorship program?
Reverse mentoring is essentially a two-way channel for collaboration
between younger employees and older employees. Such a partnership
provides younger employees a chance to see the larger picture, while giving
older workers insight into the perspective of the younger workers. Often
younger workers communicate the latest trends in technology, management
styles and modern means of interpersonal communication. When
implemented properly, reverse mentoring can help older workers stay
relevant and current with the latest advances and trends, both professionally
and socially.
127. How do advancements in technology allow more time for managers to coach
employees?
When an organization uses innovative technologies to make the business more
efficient, it allows managers more time to spend coaching their younger employees.
At KFC, the workforce largely comprises teenagers with all the life challenges they
experience at that age. Advances in technology that improve operational efficiency
allow managers to be life coaches and to provide emotional support for younger
workers. KFC essentially provides these workers with a second family, and that is
key to its outstanding performance and retention.
Improved operations
Using technology to maximize productivity creates a platform to realize true
success. Technology that offloads much of the repetitive labor a manager conducts
on a routine basis frees that manager’s time to help employees learn to overcome
the challenges of executing the company’s strategy at a higher level. Increased
business productivity that can be traced to the automation of processes allows for
more time to focus on employee development efforts.
Advanced scheduling software
Finding time to work with employees can be difficult when trying to operate a
business. Many advanced scheduling software packages allow managers to work
training into an employee’s schedule while ensuring the continued smooth
operations of the business. Scheduled training opportunities reduce stress as they
help manage overall business resources and allow more time to concentrate on
areas of improvement for each employee.
Minimize risk
Crimes against people and property can significantly add to the cost of doing
business and require large amounts of a manager’s time to document, prevent and
prosecute. Technology that helps eliminate these risks frees up a manager’s time to
coach his or her employees. Surveillance systems, fraud detection, cybercrime
prevention and inventory control systems work to prevent loss that would
otherwise take a manager away from coaching.
Improved safety
Technology can help improve the overall safety of an organization. Safety
monitoring systems—ones that prevent injuries and downtime—limit the amount
of time a manager has to deal with safety concerns. That time can be spent coaching
employees.
Help with employee training
Online training provides an effective way for managers to focus on current
employees and mentoring/coaching rather than worry about simple, routine
onboarding details. Web-based training is becoming more popular as advanced
training platforms are more widely available. These training programs are typically
13linked with a learning management system, or LMS, that makes trainees’ progress
traceable, which makes record-keeping easy for the training administrator.
1. How does recognition of employee efforts benefit a work environment?
Generally speaking, employees want to be appreciated for their efforts.
Technology can bridge the gaps in efficiency allowing time for managers to
convey to each member of their teams that they are valued. With people
working at their highest capabilities and technology helping to increase their
personal productivity, the workforce will be engaged, productive and loyal.
Feeling valued is the key to employee loyalty, which leads to greater
productivity.
2. Why is it important for managers to also be coaches?
Coaching is a style of management that involves a more personal approach to
getting employees to accomplish tasks. Traditional managerial styles are
designed to gain compliance from employees, whereas coaching is designed
to gain commitment. Employees who are committed to doing their jobs
perform at higher levels than those who are not. Millennials are generally
more eager to contribute and take on additional responsibility than other
generations and respond better to coaching than traditional management
styles.
3. What types of technology has KFC implemented to free up managers’ time?
KFC has implemented advanced scheduling software and employee safety
and security monitoring systems, and it has automated many manual
processes like new employee basic training, order management and supply
chain management.
148. How can a decentralized approach help a global brand produce better
results?
Global brand power
A global brand enables franchisees to communicate consistent messages and offer
consistent quality products to customers. For consumers who travel around the
world, they can count on global brands to be generally consistent regardless of the
market they happen to be in. For local markets, a global brand offers a perception
that creates value in the mind of consumers. Most of that value assumption comes
from the fact that many consumers considerproducts that are global to be of good
quality.
Local autonomy
Although consistency is important, a global branding and advertising program is not
typically restricted to an exacting standard. Most global brands, KFC included, allow
for menu items and service styles to be tailored to the local market. Organizations
must understand and respect the language, cultural and business differences in
individual territories by allowing for localized autonomy. Brand leadership allows
local franchisees to build on the global brand by defining the critical elements of the
brand and by expanding the offerings to meet the desires of the local market. To
ensure success, global brands typically monitor localized offerings with the aim of
spreading successful additions across the global portfolio.
Localized core values
Businesses globalize their brands for many reasons, including to achieve economies
of scale in production, logistics and communications. Global brands also convey the
core values that define the reasons and methods an organization uses to conduct
business under its brand. But globalized core values are not enough; local
operations have to think about their own set of core values and include them
alongside the corporate set of values.
Community involvement
When organizations focus on meeting the needs of the people they serve, they do
not have to spend large sums of money to attract new customers. Staying close to
their communities eliminates the need for market research to tell them what people
want. When organizations begin to focus on building communities, either by getting
closer to an existing one or helping one to start, they make themselves an
indispensable part of that community. Indispensable organizations make money and
stay in business.
Customized offerings
A global brand like KFC can provide a strong foundation of products that appeal to a
wide, global audience; however, no brand or product offering is large enough to
encompass all the desires of each local market. Decentralizing the brand allows for
local markets to offer products that are specifically desired by the people in the
market that would not necessarily be desired by other market areas.
151. Why is it important to make local consideration for global brands?
Not every element of a global brand applies to or makes sense in every single
market. For example, some markets have different customs and traditions
that may not play out well in other markets. Allowing the local operators of a
global brand to tailor their products and services to the local market will only
increase the value of the global brand.
2. How can community involvement help an organization reduce turnover among
Millennials?
Millennials have a strong desire to be part of a community. They like to know
they are making a difference and helping others. Being part of an
organization that invests in and remains active in its community gives young
workers a sense of belonging and contributes to their self-worth. Employees
who feel connected to their communities through their jobs are more loyal to
their employers and look for reasons to stay with the company rather than
move on.
3. What does KFC credit for its lower-than-average turnover rate?
KFC has built a corporate culture that supports its younger population of
workers. This has resulted in outstanding performance and retention. KFC
uses technology, training, recognition, scheduling flexibility, job variety and
leadership development programs as key levers to integrate and engage
younger workers. In addition, and more importantly, KFC has trained
managers how to provide the social support and life coaching that teens need
to be ready and happy to work. In essence, this creates the feeling of a second
family for the teens. Managers are also taught, encouraged and given the
autonomy to make work fun.
KFC works to give employees the opportunity to be the best they possibly
can be for themselves rather than for the organization. KFC sees happy
employees as those working to improve themselves above all else.
169. Why is it important to provide personalized training to new employees?
Clear expectations
Personalized training allows the opportunity to clearly set performance
expectations for new employees while addressing their personal hopes and needs. A
mutual understanding of what is expected from employees and from the
organization is essential for improved performance, employee success and good
employee relations. Clear expectations also aid in improving worker retention and
attendance. Without clear job expectations, employees can waste effort by
conducting unnecessary work. With clear job expectations, employees understand
what is important, what they should be doing, why they are doing it, and how and
when to ask for support.
Goal setting
In addition to setting clear expectations, personalized training helps new hires set
specific goals tailored to their positions and their personal lives. When setting clear
expectations, new hires can define a timeline for achieving certain goals and setting
priority for items on their list of productivity targets. It is important to be realistic
about what is possible and to select a limited quantity of key objectives that a new
employee should meet during the first few months of employment.
Process champions
New hires are likely to ask fewer questions until they feel comfortable in their jobs.
Personalized training should include ongoing involvement of a process champion
who can assist the new hire with process-oriented questions. By giving new staff
members time to ease into their positions, they will have time to work with their
assigned mentors to learn how to be most effective in their new roles.
Assess and address individual needs
It is counterproductive to offer training to individuals who do not need it or to offer
the wrong kind of training to people who already understand how to do a particular
task. A training needs analysis helps put the right training resources to good use.
Needs assessments save money and time and increase the potential for value of the
training efforts. A successful training program also needs to analyze and identify
areas of improvement that will need to be addressed beyond the initial training
period.
Ongoing learning plans
Personalized training can make expectation-setting part of an ongoing conversation
with employees. The person responsible for training the new hire should meet with
the employee on a regular basis to discuss progress and areas for continued
education and training. Regular needs assessments can help managers evaluate the
workload of each employee and adjust it if necessary to help employees meet the
company’s goals.
171. How does KFC used personalized training to retain younger workers?
To retain younger workers, KFC has found that it is important to provide
training that young employees can see will benefit them personally. The
training must also support the organization’s goals. KFC provides younger
workers with life and work skills that will provide a solid foundation either
for internal career advancement, which many pursue, or for a future career
with another organization.
2. How can an organization become an employer of choice?
Some effective ways of becoming an employer of choice are to provide
employee development and leadership engagement opportunities for all
employees; develop a strong, supportive corporate culture; provide internal
advancement opportunities; create a family-like environment; and support
employees in their personal development goals.
3. What are the key elements of KFC’s “secret sauce” for engaging and integrating
younger workers?
The key elements of KFC’s “secret sauce” for engaging younger workers are
flexibility, family and fun. The result is a work environment that allows
young employees to thrive and be the best they can be now and into the
future while supporting the goals of the organization. KFC has clearly
developed a winning recipe for integrating and engaging younger workers,
and this, unlike KFC’s original chicken recipe, can be duplicated by
progressive organizations.
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