McDonald’s thanks its employees

On completing 19 years of successful operations in India,  the West and South franchises of McDonald’s India decided to show their gratitude to their employees, by organising a week-long celebration.  

Everyone likes to be appreciated, irrespective of the level or position one is in. And when an organisation takes out time and makes specials efforts to thank its workforce, it really becomes a meaningful experience for the employees.

Recently, when McDonald’s India’s West and South franchises completed 19 years of operations in India, the company decided to organise a week-long celebration for its employees. The company wanted to treat this special occasion as an opportunity to show its gratitude to its employees.

Aptly called ‘Thanksgiving Week’, the initiative was undertaken with the objective of thanking all the employees for their hard work and dedication towards the success of brand McDonald’s in the country.

“This was an endeavour to appreciate everyone in the McDonalds’ family through a range of exciting activities. All the employees were encouraged to participate in the week-long celebration through various team bonding and community service initiatives, which were aimed at instilling a sense of pride among them, fostering team-spirit and creating a fun-filled work environment,” says Seema Nambiar, vice-president, people resources & business excellence, McDonald’s India–West & South.

While supervisors gave away personalised thank you notes to their team members along with gifts in the form of customised diaries, the senior management also visited homes of operations and deputy managers to thank them for their efforts and contribution towards the success of the organisation.

To make this celebration truly meaningful for the crew members, the company decided to do a role reversal at the restaurants. The crew had to act as managers and handle responsibilities for the day while the managers had to step into the shoes of the crew.

In addition, the crew was given goodie bags and gift hampers as an acknowledgement and appreciation of their efforts.

The week-long celebration involved each one of the 7,500 employees of the company. The HR team had planned different activities each day that witnessed participation from not only the employees at the corporate office, but the restaurant crew as well.

Since McDonald’s operates seven days a week, the activities were carefully timed and planned without disrupting regular operations.

Says Nambiar, “This celebration allowed employees across roles and levels to come together and be a part of the ongoing festivities. It provided a platform for new employees to bond with existing employees and also encouraged interdepartment team bonding.”

“To be acknowledged and appreciated by senior management in the presence of family members, uplifted the spirits and created a sense of pride among employees as well as their families,” adds Nambiar.

The celebration kick started at the corporate office with the ‘traditional day’, where employees came in elegantly dressed in ethnic outfits. Exciting goodies and hampers were handed out to the best dressed employees. This was followed by a delicious potluck lunch, one minute games and jamming over great music. The celebrations continued all week and concluded with a fun-filled staff picnic.

At the restaurants, on the third day, the stores were decorated and cakes was cut to commemorate the completion of 19 successful years by McDonald’s. This was followed by a community service day, where each restaurant undertook initiatives, such as blood donation, road safety and cleanliness drives to help make a difference in the society. The initiative was concluded with a ‘dabba lunch party day’ and a ‘biriyani party day’ organised at the stores for all the employees.