The parent of Taco Bell, KFC and Pizza Hut is inviting employees to join it in a cultural endeavor that addresses younger generations’ yearning for more than a paycheck from their employer. They’re being encouraged to join the franchisor in rebuilding an impoverished Nicaraguan village that was “adopted” by the company.
Employees of Yum! Brands’ three quick-service chains are being asked to support a new fundraising initiative called Feed the World Ambassador Program. As an initial move by the program, “ambassadors” from Yum’s payroll joined Yum CEO Greg Creed in a fact-finding visit to Jinotega, Nicaragua, the village Yum has pledged to parent.
Employees are invited to help the residents of Jinotega by raising funds for four specific purposes:
- Building classrooms and bathrooms for pre-school-aged children.
- Upgrading school cafeterias, kitchens and storage facilities.
- Providing essential school supplies.
- Installing sustainable irrigation systems and school gardens.
The effort is strategic as well as tactical. Ambassadors will help to draft the fundraising mechanisms and programs as well as participate in them, Yum said.
The Feed the World Ambassador Program is part of a larger Yum charitable program called World Hunger Relief, which aims to provide 2.4 billion meals to people in need.
Restaurant employers and motivation experts report that an increasingly large proportion of the entry level and hourly workforce are looking to join companies that offer more than good wages and benefits. The conventional wisdom holds that members of the millennial generation in particular are interested in potential employers who support communities and the environment.
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