Miss-Delectable
New Member
- Joined
- Apr 18, 2004
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Employers with a big heart
PEERING through the glass pane into the Kentucky Fried Chicken (KFC) outlet on Lorong One in Toa Payoh, you are unlikely to see anything amiss. Happy crew are serving 'finger-lickin'-good' chicken to diners, like you will see in every KFC restaurant across the island.
But the minute you reach for the door, you know this KFC outlet is different. A sign on it says: 'This restaurant is run by deaf crew. Please refer to the menu card and point for your order. Thank you.'
Kentucky Fried Chicken Management not only hires persons with disabilities (PWDs) but also trains them to take on suitable jobs in selected restaurants - and it tailors the workplace to make the PWDs feel at home.
At the counter in the Toa Payoh restaurant, a crew member taps on his 'I am deaf' badge and, without fuss, takes your order with a big smile. Lights, monitors and visual cues in the kitchen alert the hearing-impaired staff when food is ready to serve. A shift manager is on duty - he can't hear you either.
Despite its 'handicap', the Toa Payoh outlet has been operating since 2003. Its success has spawned two other deaf-operated KFC branches, in Fuchun Community Centre and Jurong West Community Centre.
Apart from the 300 deaf crew on its payroll, KFC also opens its doors to people with Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder as well as the intellectually, physically and visually handicapped. Their ages range from 16 to 56. Some have been with KFC for as long as 19 years.
KFC has not gone unnoticed as a PWD-friendly boss. It was appointed Ambassador for the Deaf in 2004 and awarded the President's Social Service Award in 2006.
'We believe the deaf are able people and we want to give them the opportunity to grow their careers and be independent, just like everyone else,' explains Michael Gian, KFC's chief executive officer.
PEERING through the glass pane into the Kentucky Fried Chicken (KFC) outlet on Lorong One in Toa Payoh, you are unlikely to see anything amiss. Happy crew are serving 'finger-lickin'-good' chicken to diners, like you will see in every KFC restaurant across the island.
But the minute you reach for the door, you know this KFC outlet is different. A sign on it says: 'This restaurant is run by deaf crew. Please refer to the menu card and point for your order. Thank you.'
Kentucky Fried Chicken Management not only hires persons with disabilities (PWDs) but also trains them to take on suitable jobs in selected restaurants - and it tailors the workplace to make the PWDs feel at home.
At the counter in the Toa Payoh restaurant, a crew member taps on his 'I am deaf' badge and, without fuss, takes your order with a big smile. Lights, monitors and visual cues in the kitchen alert the hearing-impaired staff when food is ready to serve. A shift manager is on duty - he can't hear you either.
Despite its 'handicap', the Toa Payoh outlet has been operating since 2003. Its success has spawned two other deaf-operated KFC branches, in Fuchun Community Centre and Jurong West Community Centre.
Apart from the 300 deaf crew on its payroll, KFC also opens its doors to people with Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder as well as the intellectually, physically and visually handicapped. Their ages range from 16 to 56. Some have been with KFC for as long as 19 years.
KFC has not gone unnoticed as a PWD-friendly boss. It was appointed Ambassador for the Deaf in 2004 and awarded the President's Social Service Award in 2006.
'We believe the deaf are able people and we want to give them the opportunity to grow their careers and be independent, just like everyone else,' explains Michael Gian, KFC's chief executive officer.
