Cathy Dobson Local fast food restaurants are still working hard to overcome staffing challenges created by the pandemic, say representatives of Sarnia’s McDonald’s restaurants.
Cathy Dobson
Local fast food restaurants are still working hard to overcome staffing challenges created by the pandemic, say representatives of Sarnia’s McDonald’s restaurants.
“Our biggest challenge is getting youth used to not being in front of a zoom screen and actually interacting with people and getting those golden rules back, so they know to open doors for people, say please and thank-you, and have eye-contact,” said Melissa Stebbins.
“Rest assured, we’re working really hard to make that happen,” she told a group of about 40 members of the Sarnia-Lambton Golden K Kiwanis.
Stebbins and Darlene Black were the club’s guest speakers Tuesday. Both are long-time employees and managers with KIOV (Ketchup In Our Veins) Incorporated, the local company owned by Colleen and Peter Buckley who operate seven McDonald’s locations.
That includes five in Sarnia, one in Petrolia and one in Strathroy.
Together, the seven locations employ 448 employees, seven managers, 30 salaried managers and 30 more part-time managers.
The Petrolia and Sarnia Confederation Street McDonalds opened in 2021 during the pandemic and staffing was difficult, Black said.
She and Stebbins conducted 900 interviews, trying to find employees for the two new locations, she said.
Attracting employees to staff McDonalds locations is an ongoing process, not only for food preparation but also for management. Although numerous employees have worked at the local stores for decades, McDonald’s is like all fast-food franchises and has a lot of turnover, said Black and Stebbins.
Still, working at McDonalds continues to be a rite-of-passage for a large number of youth. Across Canada, one in 11 people have worked at McDonalds in their lifetime and the corporation is one of the biggest employer of youth ages 15 to 24 years in the country.
McDonald’s jobs are more than learning to flip burgers and operate the fry station, said Black who started at the Christina Street location in 1986 and has been chosen twice as Outstanding Manager of the Year by McDonalds Canada.
“People always ask me why I’ve stayed for over 30 years and I say because we always have 16 year olds in the house and they keep me young, they keep me engaged and abreast of anything new and upcoming in the world to help drive our business,” Black said.
“One of the reasons Melissa and I have stayed so long is all the skills we’ve learned on the job,” she added.
“It’s a lot more than flipping burgers,” said Stebbins who was also named Outstanding Manager of the Year by McDonalds Canada. “People have told me about all the life skills they’ve learned at McDonalds.”
“We take pride in making sure we’re training well-rounded adults,” said Black, noting that McDonalds has appearance standards that include no facial piercings and no visible tattoos.
Employees who are late three times can face termination.
KIOV Inc. has recently added a new HR position to assist with hiring and training, said Stebbins.
“We like to hire (most staff) young,” she said. “We hope that way we can retain them for at least three years (while they are in high school).”
