McDonald's motivates staff with World Cup events

EXCLUSIVE: McDonald’s Restaurants is raising employee engagement in the workplace and boosting staff motivation with events based around the 2014 Fifa World Cup.

The restaurant chain has held two competitions for employees themed around the football tournament, which kicks off today (12 June), to help bring the event to life in its restaurants.

It also offered employees and managers an opportunity to win trips to Brazil to watch the tournament.

The McDonald’s Cup featured more than 700 five-a-side teams made up of employees, giving them the opportunity to play at England’s St George’s Park training camp, and also represent the UK at a tournament in Brazil.

An all-female team, made up of employees from restaurants in Lowestoft, Pakefield, Beccles and Great Yarmouth (pictured), won the UK title and will play in the global McDonald’s Cup finals in Brazil during the World Cup.

Another competition, called Road to Rio, awarded 11 managers with an all-expenses paid trip to the World Cup. These managers had their names drawn after winning the best customer satisfaction ratings in February, March and April.

The 11 managers will spend three nights in Rio and receive tickets to see Spain versus Chile and England versus Uruguay. They also won £1,000 for their respective McDonald’s Restaurants to spend on a staff event and night out.

Neal Blackshire, reward manager at McDonald’s, said: “We are constantly looking for ways to recognise outstanding performance both individually and within restaurant teams.

”These two programmes, organised by our operations colleagues, are an excellent example of this in practice.

“Having a motivated workforce is central to the success of our organisation. We are delighted to able to give our employees the opportunity to share the excitement of the 2014 World Cup, and for our winners, provide a once-in-a-lifetime experience.

”We know that if our employees are engaged and motivated, this will positively impact our customers’ experience.”