KFC restaurants in Latvia set to provide more than 250 new jobs
A new-concept Kentucky Fried Chicken (KFC) restaurant has just opened at the Akropole shopping and entertainment centre. With the opening of the international restaurant chain’s second location and the rapid expansion of this globally popular brand in the Latvian market, the franchise’s new owners, the Estonian company Apollo Group, are actively seeking employees, who are carefully selected and trained in accordance with globally developed customer service standards. KFC currently provides jobs for approximately 130 employees in the Baltics, but this number is planned to increase to as many as 800 over the next three years by investing in training programmes and tripling the number of restaurants.
With the introduction of the new concept, KFC is experiencing not only visual changes – the restaurants’ design is modern and light-toned, embodying the characteristic values of a classic American diner –, but is also implementing a carefully developed world-class employee training programme that ensures consistently excellent service quality and offers KFC’s original recipes and the flavour combinations characteristic of the brand. As part of the programme, restaurant employees are sent abroad for paid training, where they take part in both theoretical and practical classes in Latvian and English over several months. During this time, employees learn the restaurant’s global work standards and take various tests related to the customer service sector, which help determine their suitability for the selected position.
Employees at every level must complete the training programmes for the levels below them in order to pass their exams successfully; in addition, theoretical knowledge must be acquired and demonstrated in practice. The company’s staff are trained by top-class professionals from YUM Brands, the franchise partner of Apollo Group, and, importantly, prospective employees’ travel and accommodation expenses are also covered during the fully paid training trip. In their daily work, the KFC team also has access to an online learning platform, where they can refresh their existing knowledge and take various tests and mandatory examinations. It is planned that a new training centre will also be opened here in the Baltic region in the near future.
“Although the Riga restaurant team is currently fully staffed, Apollo Group is always open to attracting new, motivated employees, as at least 20 more KFC restaurants are planned to open in the Baltic states in the coming years. Each restaurant needs a restaurant manager, assistants, shift supervisors and front-of-house staff. We welcome both people who want to work part-time, for example, while combining work with their studies, and industry professionals who want to build their careers in an international company. KFC is looking for people who are eager to learn and have the potential to grow, so we focus not on quantity or previous experience, but on quality and motivation,” says Marius Stonkus, Head of KFC in the Baltic states.
As Apollo Group is part of the global corporation YUM Brands, the company also provides its employees with various additional benefits and motivates the team to improve productivity through a very simple system: first, all employees clearly know what they need to achieve in order to advance their careers; and second, employees’ achievements are always praised and rewarded. Apollo Group also regularly organises team competitions and various team-building events. The company also places great value on customer feedback; therefore, a feedback form is available on the KFC website, helping the restaurant chain monitor and improve the quality of its services on a daily basis.
