Introduction:
KFC Corporation has its headquarters in Louisville,
Kentucky. It is the world's most popular chicken
restaurant chain, specializing in Original Recipe®,
Extra Crispy™, Twister® and Colonel's
Crispy Strips® chicken with homestyle side
offerings. Every day, nearly eight million customers
are served around the world. KFC's menu includes
Original Recipe® chicken -- made with the
same great taste Colonel Harland Sanders created
more than a half-century ago. Customers around
the globe also enjoy more than 300 other products
-- from a Chunky Chicken Pot Pie in the United
States to a salmon sandwich in Japan to a fish
fillet sandwich in Pakistan. KFC is one the world’s
best known and loved brands today, but this would
not have been possible without its employees.
KFC’s HRM practices are the topic of discussion
for this paper, and emphasis will be placed on
the performance appraisal and improvement practices
at the company. (KFC official site)
Performance appraisals:
Performance appraisal is an effective technique
for developing an effective workforce. It comprises
the steps of observing and assessing employee
performance, recording the assessment, and providing
feedback to the employee. Managers use performance
appraisal to describe and evaluate the employee’s
performance. During performance appraisal, skilful
managers give feedback and praise concerning the
acceptable elements of the employee’s performance.
They also describe performance areas that need
improvement. Performance appraisal can also reward
high performers with merit, pay, recognition and
other rewards. Generally, HRM professionals concentrate
on two things to make performance appraisal a
positive force in their organization: 1) the accurate
assessment of performance through the development
and application of assessment systems such as
rating scales and 2) training managers to effectively
use the performance appraisal interview, so managers
can provide feedback that will reinforce good
performance and motivate employee development.
(Daft, 1997)
At KFC:
At KFC, a recognition culture is very much in
practice. According to a restaurant manager, recognition
is everybody’s responsibility. KFC has implemented
large-scale recognition efforts in all its restaurants
and Debbie Riggs is in charge of this program
which spreads over both formal and informal ground.
There are service awards, performance programs
and according to Riggs, “We all work together!
Recognition is not a program ... it is really
owned by everyone in the company.” (Tanner
Recognition Company)
A company is after all only as good as its employees
and KFC strongly believes that employees should
be rewarded amply for putting in a large portion
of their lives into the company. Regular performance
appraisals are held and employees who have made
significant contributions to the company are rewarded
for their input. As an example, the Chicago-area
Assistant Restaurant Manager Alvin Moore received
a recognition award – a watch with a symbolic
gold emblem featuring the KFC logo. In celebration
of his accomplishment, Moore was granted the day
off but he still stopped by the restaurant to
see if he could be of help. The entire restaurant
team got together to celebrate Moore’s achievement
in recognition of his efforts. (Gostick, 2001)
As a matter of fact, all the companies that comprise
Tricon (KFC, Pizza Hut and Taco Bell) believe
that recognition and applause is one of the prime
ways to guarantee employee improvement as it boosts
their morale and encourages them to perform even
better. C.H.A.M.P.S which stands for Cleanliness,
Hospitality, Accuracy, Maintenance, Product, and
Speed is an example of a successful recognition
program in which any employee can give a C.H.A.M.P.S.
recognition card to another employee when they
notice commendable behavior. Then, each week the
restaurant manager draws from the completed C.H.A.M.P.S.
cards and offers the champion a low- or no-cost
prize called Priceless Rewards. This could be
a pair of movie tickets or a promise of the manager
washing the employee's car in the parking lot.
(Tanner Recognition Company)
In today’s economy, a lot of industries
have difficulty in retaining employees and the
food industry is no exception to this fact. But
KFC and Tricon are managing to retain their employees
and their effective workforce development practices
of performance appraisal and interviews just might
be responsible for that. According to restaurant
manager Adonis Chapel, “What motivates people
and keeps them here?” As KFC’s advertising
slogan goes, “we do chicken right,”
he says the secret is “just the way you
treat people. Treat them right!” (Gostick,
2001)
Recommendations:The HR department
of KFC is definitely doing its job well as according
to Kufahl & Agoglia (2003), the company has
the lowest turnover rate in the fast food industry.
However, when a company reaches the pinnacle of
success with regards to any aspect, it has to
try even harder to stay there and maintain its
position. Hence, KFC should try to keep up the
good work and maintain the level of commendable
workforce development practices.
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