McDonald’s Launches Career Advising Campaign for Restaurant Employees with the Help of Five Industry Influencers
31 October 2018 - 12:01AM
Campaign to drive awareness for education, career
advising services available through Archways to Opportunity and
pair select restaurant employees with leaders across
arts/entertainment, technology, entrepreneurship, healthcare and
restaurant/food service for job shadowing opportunity
McDonald’s today announced the launch of its Where You Want To Be
campaign, a concerted effort by the company to help restaurant
employees connect the skills they learn on the job with the
education, tuition assistance and career tools available to take
the next step in their professional journey – whether at McDonald’s
or elsewhere.
This campaign is based on employee insights from
the company’s previously released Workforce Preparedness Study that
analyzed generational sentiment around soft skills abilities, and
identified the top industries McDonald’s restaurant employees
aspire to be in, which include: arts/entertainment, technology,
entrepreneurship, healthcare and restaurant/food service.
Through Where You Want To Be, McDonald’s aims to
educate restaurant employees on the professional tools available to
them through the company’s signature education and career advising
program, Archways to Opportunity. Based on those top five
industries identified, the company is partnering with five
influencers in each industry to provide a once-in-a-lifetime
experience for select employees to learn first-hand what a future
career in their industry of choice looks like under the wings of an
expert. These include:
- Arts/Entertainment: Rapper and actor, Bryshere
Gray
- Technology: Digital Content Creator, former
McDonald’s crew member, Tyler Oakley
- Entrepreneurship: Entrepreneur and Author,
James Altucher
- Healthcare: Board-certified dermatologist and
dermatologic surgeon, Dr. Meena Singh
- Restaurant/Food Service: Community of
McDonald’s Owner/Operators
“This campaign started by listening to
employees,” said Melissa Kersey, McDonald’s U.S. Chief People
Officer. “By connecting restaurant employees’ aspirations with the
necessary education tools and career advising services to achieve
them, we continue to reinforce our role as America’s Best First
Job. Through this campaign and our ongoing education investments we
are committed to helping all those who come to work for us – or our
independent franchisees – to see the possibility of their own
potential.”
“Our current workforce needs more innovative and
flexible options for learning. In order to deliver on that need,
employers and universities must be better aligned and more
responsive to the needs of adult and working learners,” said Paul
LeBlanc, President of Southern New Hampshire University, an
Archways to Opportunity partner. “I have huge admiration for the
work McDonald’s is doing to develop the workforce, foster greater
educational attainment and unlock opportunities for restaurant
employees.”
McDonald’s is leveraging the Where You Want To
Be campaign to highlight the new suite of career advising tools
available through its signature education program, Archways to
Opportunity. Together with longstanding Archways education partner,
Council for Adult and Experiential Learning (CAEL), McDonald’s aims
to improve employees’ experience with career pathing solutions to
better position them for long-term career success. Designed to help
restaurant employees identify potential career paths and then chart
a course of action to achievement, these new or enhanced tools
include:
- Career Advising
Services: Available immediately, restaurant employees
can access no-cost career and academic advising services with
a Master’s-level prepared advisor to create a plan for reaching
short and long-term education goals that bridge to career
pathways.
- Career Exploration
Tool: In 2019, McDonald’s restaurant employees will
gain access to a rich new mobile experience for career and
education exploration through a mobile app featuring built-in
guidance and resources to help people advance their careers.
Restaurant employees will be able to understand the valuable skills
they are developing, understand their strengths, find local
education and link to growth opportunities in a variety of
careers. This tool will be connected to existing advisors who
are able to support restaurant employees in utilizing all Archways
to Opportunity programs.
“The focus McDonald’s is putting on restaurant
employees and their education and future employability aligns
perfectly with our mission, so we are proud to be taking our
partnership to the next level,” said Dr. Marie Cini, President of
the Council for Adult and Experiential Learning. “As a young
worker, it can be hard to look beyond the day-to-day and think
about the future, but services like this can be a huge help for
youth that may not know what careers are available to them and need
help mapping out how to grow their skills, education and interests
to be set up for success. With this new offering, McDonald’s is
giving restaurant employees a big leg up in their journey to
building the futures they want.”
Where You Want To Be underscores McDonald’s
ongoing commitment to education and advancement opportunities. Key
announcements in 2018 include:
- Invested $150 million into Archways to Opportunity, which
provides eligible employees at participating U.S. restaurants an
opportunity to earn a high school diploma, receive upfront college
tuition assistance, access free education advising services and
learn English as a second language. Since the Archways to
Opportunity program launched in 2015, it has increased education
access for over 33,000 people and awarded more than $42 million in
high school and college tuition assistance.
- Launched a new initiative with the International Youth
Foundation called Youth Opportunity that sets a global goal to
reduce barriers to employment for two million young people by
2025 through pre-employment job readiness training, employment
opportunities and education programs.
- Expanded the McDonald’s HACER® National Scholarship from five
to 30 winners, providing more Hispanic students the opportunity to
obtain a college degree. Scholarship applicants have the
opportunity to directly receive up to $100,000 to help finance
their tuition.
- Partnered with the Thurgood Marshall Scholarship Fund to
support historically black colleges and universities (HBCU) by
funding four “True to the HBCU” $10,000 scholarships as a way to
help foster educational empowerment.
About McDonald's USA
McDonald's USA, LLC, serves a variety of menu
options made with quality ingredients to more than 25 million
customers every day. Nearly 90 percent of McDonald's 14,000 U.S.
restaurants are independently owned and operated by business men
and women. Customers can now log online for free at approximately
11,500 participating Wi-Fi enabled McDonald's U.S. restaurants. For
more information, visit www.mcdonalds.com, or follow us on
Twitter @McDonalds and
Facebook www.facebook.com/McDonaldsUS/.
Contact: Lauren Altmin, Media Relations at
McDonald’s (773) 431-5726 (cell)Lauren.Altmin@us.mcd.com
Christie Shein, Media Relations at Purple Strategies (646)
457-8224 (cell)Christie.Shein@purplestrategies.com
Application Details:
You must be a current McDonald’s restaurant
employee to apply. Eligible restaurant employees can enter
at www.mcdonalds.com/wheretobe until November 8, 2018. The
application process includes submitting a video describing how
McDonald’s is helping them learn the skills today that will help
take them to where they want to be tomorrow. Selected restaurant
employees will be paired with successful influencers for a career
shadow day in one of the top desired fields.
About the Workforce Preparedness
StudyEarlier this year McDonald’s in partnership with
Morning Consult released a Workforce Preparedness Study, which
analyzed generational sentiment around soft skills abilities. The
study found that respondents believe soft skills, such as teamwork,
customer service and responsibility are not only more impactful
than hard skills for long-term career success, but also are best
developed during a first job, which for many across America is with
a company like McDonald's.
A photo accompanying this announcement is available at
http://www.globenewswire.com/NewsRoom/AttachmentNg/d327ce2b-fc62-4ed8-a2b6-f493c9a4b2eb
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