HR Corner Let the games begin by Christy Liu Global fast-food giant carries a torch for the Olympic effort As an official Olympics worldwide partner, McDonald's will be at the scene when the world's greatest athletes compete on the global stage in Beijing this summer. The iconic fast-food giant has been an official sponsor of the Olympic Games for more than 30 years and launched its Olympic champion crew programme in 1992, in a bid to provide selected staff with the memorable opportunity of experiencing the games first-hand. About 120 McDonald's Olympic champion crew members from 31 countries will travel to Beijing for the event to work in the brand's outlets and simultaneously soak up the atmosphere. "Four restaurants are being built in Beijing for the Olympics, including the one in the athletes village. McDonald's Hong Kong will be sending a 10-member Olympic champion crew and one youth ambassador to the city for the games and they will stay in Beijing for 11 days," says Victor Kwan, senior director, human resources and training, learning & development, McDonald's Hamburger University Hong Kong. Raring to go As part of the process of selecting its top-performing staff for this special endeavour, McDonald's Hong Kong ran a special campaign, including a competition and online voting in June last year. More than 10,000 employees entered the competition, competing in the areas of service, order accuracy, personality, teamwork, communication skills and operational excellence. McDonald's customers were invited to vote online for 10 Olympic champion crew members that will travel to Beijing in August with the winner of the restaurant's "Colour your summer" youth ambassador programme. McDonald's human resources and training teams have been thoroughly preparing the staff members for their trip to Beijing. They are being primed on how the Beijing outlets operate and on issues they will need to be aware of when they are in the Olympic village. "None of us have visited Beijing before, so we want to be confident that we will be able to communicate with the locals there," says crewmember Don Chan, a McDonald's assistant store manager. "Our company always stresses the importance of language skills and we are attending Putonghua and English classes. We are also able to access a wealth of useful information on our staff intranet." Another crewmember, store activity representative About Cheng, says: "Our training programme also makes use of interactive methods, such as role playing, to prepare us for our role as representatives of Hong Kong when we serve McDonald's food to athletes, coaches, officials and the media." "The programme provides crewmembers with practical skills and knowledge that are valuable for a career in the hospitality industry" Learning experience The staff members heading for Beijing have also had the opportunity to learn from past McDonald's Olympic champion crew members. "The programme provides crewmembers with practical skills and knowledge that are valuable for a career in the hospitality industry. It has taught me more about teamwork and communications," says Kenny Sun, a store manager who worked at the 2004 Athens Olympic Games. "Although I didn't speak Greek when I was in Athens, I still worked at making new friends. Not all 2008 crewmembers speak fluent Putonghua, but the most important thing is that they open themselves up to learning and enjoying the experience to the full." While the crewmembers will be working during the time they spend in Beijing, they will also be enjoying the benefits of the all-expenses-paid trip. "The Olympic champion crew programme is great, as McDonald's takes care of airfares, accommodation, meals, salaries, pocket money and even tickets to events," adds Mr Sun. Tony Tin, a senior training consultant, who was a member of the 2000 Sydney Olympics champion crew says: "My time as a member of the Olympic champion crew taught me a lot. I made new friends in the process. The experience boosted my motivation and enthusiasm for my job." The programme is also a platform for outstanding employees to share their experiences with others who are interested in learning more about the Olympics, points out Mr Kwan. "We have created a mini-website to introduce our crewmembers and the Olympic champion crew programme to the world. Crewmembers are encouraged to blog this site which is going to attract a lot of interest," he says. Many people would love to attend the Olympic Games, but only a select few get the chance. "The programme provides some of our staff members with a once-in-a-lifetime experience," Mr Kwan concludes. Salient points * Olympic champion crew members equipped and ready * Language training a focal point * Ex-crewmembers share experience * Mini-website creates interest Taken from Career Times 13 June 2008, p. C20 Your comments are welcome at [email protected]