Challenges Faced by

Human Resource
Management in KFC
Corporation
Contents
 Introduction of KFC Corporation
KFC Corporation, doing business as Kentucky Fried Chicken (KFC), is an American fast
food restaurant chain headquartered in Louisville, Kentucky, that specializes in fried chicken.
It is the world's second-largest restaurant chain (as measured by sales) after McDonald's,
with 22,621 locations globally in 150 countries as of December 2019.The chain is a
subsidiary of Yum! Brands, a restaurant company that also owns the Pizza Hut and Taco Bell
chains.
KFC was founded by Colonel Harland Sanders (1890–1980), an entrepreneur who
began selling fried chicken from his roadside restaurant in Corbin, Kentucky, during the
Great Depression. Sanders identified the potential of the restaurant franchising concept and
the first "Kentucky Fried Chicken" franchise opened in Salt Lake City, Utah in 1952. KFC
popularized chicken in the fast-food industry, diversifying the market by challenging the
established dominance of the hamburger. By branding himself as "Colonel Sanders",
Harland became a prominent figure of American cultural history and his image remains
widely used in KFC advertising to this day. However, the company's rapid expansion
overwhelmed the aging Sanders and he sold it to a group of investors led by John Y. Brown
Jr. and Jack C. Massey in 1964.
KFC was one of the first American fast-food chains to expand internationally,
opening outlets in Canada, the United Kingdom, Mexico and Jamaica by the mid-1960s.
Throughout the 1970s and 1980s, it experienced mixed fortunes domestically, as it went
through a series of changes in corporate ownership with little or no experience in the
restaurant business. In the early 1970s, KFC was sold to the spirits distributor Heublein,
which was taken over by the R. J. Reynolds food and tobacco conglomerate; that company
sold the chain to PepsiCo. The chain continued to expand overseas, however, and in 1987 it
became the first Western restaurant chain to open in China. It has since expanded rapidly in
China, which is now the company's single largest market. PepsiCo spun off its restaurants
division as Tricon Global Restaurants, which later changed its name to Yum! Brands.
KFC's original product is pressure-fried chicken pieces, seasoned with Sanders'
signature recipe of "11 herbs and spices". The constituents of the recipe are a trade secret.
Larger portions of fried chicken are served in a cardboard "bucket", which has become a
feature of the chain since it was first introduced by franchisee Pete Harman in 1957. Since
the early 1990s, KFC has expanded its menu to offer other chicken products such as chicken
fillet sandwiches and wraps, as well as salads and side dishes such as French fries and
coleslaw, desserts and soft drinks; the latter often supplied by PepsiCo. KFC is known for its
slogans "It's Finger Licking' Good!", "Nobody does chicken like KFC" and "So good".

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 Introduction of Human Resource Management
Human resource management (HRM) is the practice of recruiting, hiring, deploying
and managing an organization's employees. HRM is often referred to simply as human
resources (HR). A company or organization's HR department is usually responsible for
creating, putting into effect and overseeing policies governing workers and the relationship
of the organization with its employees. The term human resources was first used in the
early 1900s, and then more widely in the 1960s, to describe the people who work for the
organization, in aggregate.
HRM is employee management with an emphasis on those employees as assets of
the business. In this context, employees are sometimes referred to as human capital. As
with other business assets, the goal is to make effective use of employees, reducing risk and
maximizing return on investment (ROI).
The modern HR technology term human capital management (HCM) has been used
more frequently compared to the term HRM. The term HCM has had widespread adoption
by large and midsize companies and other organizations of software to manage many HR
functions.

The importance of human resource management

The role of HRM practices are to manage the people within a workplace to achieve
the organization's mission and reinforce the culture. When done effectively, HR managers
can help recruit new professionals who have skills necessary to further the company's goals
as well as aid with the training and development of current employees to meet objectives.
A company is only as good as its employees, making HRM a crucial part of
maintaining or improving the health of the business. Additionally, HR managers can monitor
the state of the job market to help the organization stay competitive. This could include
making sure compensation and benefits are fair, events are planned to keep employees
from burning out and job roles are adapted based on the market.

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 Importance of a Good Human Resource System to KFC
Kentucky Fried Chicken was founded in 1932 and nowadays is the largest fast-food
chicken operator, and franchisor in the world. KFC has been proven to be a successful
business enterprise with more than 11,000 restaurants in 109 countries around the world.
HRM is valued there, as the company knows that its employees are at the center of their
success.
During the late 1990s, KFC launched a new employee incentive program as part of a
three million dollar reorganization of its corporate field operations. The program was
intended to show general managers that they play an essential role in the success or failure
of the company. The managers were taken to the corporate headquarters for three days of
meetings and seminars. The company believed that a great way to develop great teams was
to focus on restaurant leaders. The changes stemmed from a survey that was conducted
and revealed that managers wanted more support from corporate headquarters, “they
want to know that they are valued” (KFC initiates).
At KFC, all employees receive initial training, which covers food safety, business
familiarization and online testing. The training is web-based in virtual reality classrooms
where future employees are prepared. After commencing employment, team members
continue their training through a program called CHAMPS.
HR PHILOSOPHY of KFC stands on “the CHAMPS program”
C – Cleanliness
H – Hospitality
A – Accuracy
M – Maintenance
P – Product Quality
S – Speed of Service
By means of structured employee training and effective retention strategies, the
company can deliver a more consistent customer experience. The training, development,
and retention of the right people are the key ingredients to the secret recipe that result in
the long-term success of KFC.