Culture of recognition at McDonald’s

The next time you’re at McDonald’s, take a look if the staff are wearing pin badges on their uniforms as that’s one of the ways employees are recognised for their good work.

One of the most coveted pin badges is the recognition pin badge which is given to employees who embody the company culture of “Win, Lead and Serve” in their contributions. And I was lucky enough to witness one of the 500 pin badges worn by Guest Experience Leader Daliya binti Latiff at the McDonald’s outlet just below its office.

However, recognition at the company goes beyond just pin badges or annual awards. It is done on a daily basis.

“We want to embed the culture of recognizing individuals constantly and openly. And this has to come not just once a year, but on a daily basis,” Hong said.

“We have recognition boards at every department with ‘well done’ notes to encourage small wins and appreciation. We want to create an environment of not just growth, but recognition. And this is what helps us attract and retain people.”

Four Legacy Gifts

In celebration of its 40^th anniversary last year, the company decided to give its people four ‘Legacy Gifts’ – Gift of Learning, Gift of Recognition, Gift of Celebration and Gift of Giving back.

And you can tell a company is big on helping its people learn and develop when the first room you see as you enter the office is its Learning and Development Centre, which provides not only trainings for new employees, but upskilling ones as well.

“All employees from crew to our managers receive training the moment they join us so they can be effective and efficient in their work,” she said.

“There are also continuous trainings where they can be upskilled through Workforce Skills Qualifications (WSQ) and SkillsFuture Programmes.”

“For trainings, we used to have everyone coming to the office, but now we have digitalised our training. We’ve made it available online in video formats, webinars, webcasts, as well as “train the trainer” sessions where trainers will bring back what they learnt to the restaurants to train the crew.”

To put the money where their mouth is, the company has also provided opportunities for its employees to further their studies. And it’s not just giving them time off – employees’ courses are fully sponsored without any bond.

April Lee, their youngest restaurant manager at 27 years old, is one of the employees who has benefited from the Gift of Learning, graduating with a Diploma in Hospitality from Republic Polytechnic.