Developing an appetite for work

Yum! Brands is the parent company of KFC, the restaurant chain that boasts over 40,000 outlets worldwide, making it the largest fast food franchise on the planet.

In the UK, the company regularly makes it into the top 30 of companies in the Great Place to Work Survey and it was feedback from this survey in 2010 that proved the original trigger for the Barnardo’s partnership.

Ian Hagg, head of communications and CSR, explains: “As a company we’ve been involved on a global scale with the World Food Programme for a while and it’s proved very successful. Looking at those survey findings we picked up on the fact that while our people love being involved in such initiatives, they also wanted to do something on a more local basis that made a difference in their community.”

With two thirds of its workforce being under 25, it made sense to focus on youth-oriented opportunities that leveraged what the company was good at.

“We know that we’re good at training, working with young people and introducing them to the world of work,” says Hagg. “So the prospect of developing training geared to young people who may have ‘fallen through the workplace net’ made a lot of sense, and Barnardo’s was a natural fit.”

KFC did consider several partners in the space but chose Barnardo’s because of its national reach and track record in delivering successful local programmes. Hagg says the two organizations sat down together to see how they could make a difference. That difference would be to offer tailored, in-store mentoring-based training.

The partnership began as a pilot in North West England in autumn 2011 and has since expanded to Scotland, London, Wales and the Midlands.

The programme offers disadvantaged young adults the opportunity to participate in a four-week work placement in a KFC restaurant, learning valuable team-working and employability skills. Participants follow a bespoke programme designed to introduce them to the workplace, providing highly transferrable skills such as food preparation, customer service, working in a fast-paced environment, and being part of a team.

Alan Dobie, an asset protection officer at KFC who co-ordinates the programme in Scotland explains: “The placement consists of 4 weeks of between 20-24 hours a week. During that time they get to work in the four areas of the business: the kitchen, middle house (making chips and burgers), front house (serving customers) and a week getting a general overview of the business.

“They receive the same induction as a regular team member and are ‘buddied’ with a staff member. The store manager sits down with them every week to monitor their progress.

“After two weeks, their key worker at Barnardo’s contacts the store to receive an update. If after the 4 weeks, the young person has done well and there’s a vacancy, a job offer is likely.”

Nicholas Pinnock, KFC’s contact at Barnardo’s for south London, says the programme stands out because of its buddying role.

“The buddying system is key as is the individual approach. As a young person, it is very easy not to feel valued. At KFC, in such a busy environment, it’s very important to have that in-store support,” he says.

“Barnardo’s works with other employment training programmes but the KFC partnership really gives young people a taste of a real working environment. It’s not a guaranteed job but it is guaranteed work experience.”

Hagg is keen to underline that the programme is not about getting a job at KFC but getting job ready. “We see huge jumps in self-belief, this is the real measure of success as participants finish equipped with new confidence. Participation can have a powerful impact on both their previous experiences of work and their future approach to job seeking.”

The programme emphasises employability skills and work experience. Participants currently gain a reference and KFC is working on issuing an introductory food hygiene certificate too.|

The programme works on many layers, believes Hagg. “Feedback from the managers involved is incredibly positive. It makes a huge impact. They tell us they really love their mentoring role and the wider team gets behind the scheme because for them it’s a very clear example of how the restaurant is making a difference in the local community – they really feel they’re giving something back.”

The ‘local effect’ is an important part of the business case for the programme.

“Local stakeholders rightly ask what can they expect from a company at a local level, what difference will KFC or any other big brand make to the community and what sort of long-term community investment can they expect? We’re in no doubt that our work with disadvantaged young people goes someway to answering these questions. We’re in this - and similar schemes we’re working on - for the long-run. By example and impact we are giving local stakeholders the the opportunity to view the brand differently,” maintains Hagg.

The fact that the programme offers a very tailored approach makes it difficult to scale up, admits Hagg. “We are rolling it out nationally now but it’s been a slow burn because the whole process is a careful match making exercise - matching the right participant at the right time to the right restaurant and restaurant manager.”

In 2013, 40 young people took part, and so far offered nine of them permanent team member roles. Although recruitment into KFC roles for trainees was not the objective of the programme it has been another of the positive outcomes.

The ambition is to continue to grow the current programme and potentially expand the partnership into joint projects that may include opportunities for volunteering or links with the company’s planned in-restaurant community-facing Work Ready training.

KFC also hopes the partnership will encourage more businesses to follow suit, opening doors to more young people who lack opportunities.

The impact on its teams in the restaurants taking part in the scheme has been profound, it maintains: “They have literally contributed to turning around the lives of young people.”