Silver Magic

TODAY
The magic of mature workers
Outlets with staff aged 60 and above see more satisfied customers, profits
05:55 AM Aug 14, 2009
by The Daily Telegraph

LONDON - McDonald's has discovered that employing staff over the age of 60 has made its restaurants more profitable.

The fast food chain invited Lancaster University Management School to examine the performance of 400 of its restaurants and the researchers found that customer satisfaction levels were on average 20 per cent higher in those outlets that employed kitchen staff and managers aged over 60.

Mr David Fairhurst, McDonald's chief people officer in the United Kingdom, said that improved customer satisfaction from restaurants with a mix of old and young staff meant higher profits for the chain.

A 20-per-cent increase in customer satisfaction levels translates into "significant sales and profits", he said.

He put the improvement down to the older workers' additional experience, work ethics and skills in dealing with customers face-to-face.

Younger staff also responded positively to having older colleagues around them, he added.
Sixty per cent of McDonald's 75,000-strong workforce are under 21, while 1,000 are aged over 60. The oldest is an 83-year-old woman.

Mr Fairhurst said increasing the number of older workers was tough as they represent a small proportion of job applicants.

Out of 140 people recruited every day, only 1 to 1.5 per cent are aged over 60, he said.
But Mr Fairhurst said that despite the business case, McDonald's would not commit to having older staff in all its restaurants.

Professor Paul Sparrow, director of the Centre for Performance-led HR, Lancaster University, said: "Mature employees are a key part of the performance recipe. This is good news for the workforce given the changing demographics of our society."