Day 124 - 10 May 95 - Page 10

     
     1        presentations.  It was normal for members of management
     2        that went through the programme to do that, but as far as
     3        being close enough to the development of the curricula to
     4        say that he had that kind of influence or introduced it,
     5        no, I would not know the answer to that.
     6
     7   Q.   It came up in previous witnesses about McDonald's providing
     8        an identity for -- it has a high percentage of young people
     9        joining, their first job.  What is your view on the effect
    10        of working for McDonald's in terms of a person's identity,
    11        the influence that you have on -----
    12        A.  My experience has been that, in general, it has been
    13        very positive.  From my own personal experience, as well as
    14        the contact that I have had over the years with thousands
    15        of young people, I think it has had a very positive impact
    16        in the sense that it has helped to develop a lot of very
    17        positive qualities, that young people have been able to
    18        utilize well.
    19
    20   Q.   But how do -----
         A.  As their first job, to learn the value of being at work
    22        on time, learning how to work well with your peers, with
    23        others, learning how to communicate to the general public,
    24        developing -----
    25
    26   Q.   What do you mean by that?  By instructing them they have to
    27        smile and say:  "Have a nice day" to the customers?
    28        A.  That is part of it.  Learning the importance of basic
    29        communication skills while, yes, I think it is important in
    30        working, and learning to work, to treat your fellow
    31        employees well, to learn to communicate to the public in a
    32        manner which makes them feel welcome to come into your
    33        establishment, your place of business.
    34
    35        Those are skills that, from my perspective, will serve you
    36        well in life, no matter what you choose to do, whether it
    37        is being a doctor, an attorney, a fireman or whatever.  So
    38        again I would say that the basic learning that our young
    39        people have received at McDonald's has been very positive,
    40        and I can tell you from conversations with executives and
         proprietors of other businesses that have employed
    42        McDonald's employees, they are very happy to have
    43        McDonald's employees, former McDonald's employees, as
    44        employees.
    45
    46        The common thing that I hear is that they are well-trained,
    47        they have good communication skills, good people skills,
    48        they have good work habits.  Again, those are things that
    49        I think are extremely -----
    50 
    51   Q.   They identify with the goals of the Company?  They are 
    52        taught to identify with the goals of the Company? 
    53        A.  Hopefully, they do.  We try to give them an orientation
    54        and to communicate with them in a way so that they
    55        understand how their efforts, their work efforts, fit into
    56        the big picture that -----
    57
    58   Q.   The big picture of making as much money as possible for the
    59        Company?
    60        A.  The big picture of having a successful business.  The