Energetic staff on the menu at Macdonald Hotels: Pioneering scheme for canteen to serve only healthy, balanced meals

Abstract

Purpose

Describes the HR policies in place at the Macdonald Hotels and Resorts, concentrating on initiatives at the Macdonald Manchester Hotel and Spa.

Design/methodology/approach

Explains the background to the various initiatives – including a scheme to serve only healthy, balanced meals in the staff canteen – and the results they have achieved.

Findings

Details such staff‐development initiatives as the hotel's induction program, its graduate‐training scheme, its Stairways to Success training program and the level 2 National Vocational Qualification in customer service.

Practical implications

Reveals that the importance the company attaches to training is consistent with its policy of high employee involvement.

Social implications

Explains that the hotel chain wants its employees to feel as privileged as its guests in the way that they are treated.

Originality/value

Highlights an unusual scheme to boost employees' energy levels by serving healthier meals and meals high in starch in the staff canteen.

Citation

(2011), "Energetic staff on the menu at Macdonald Hotels: Pioneering scheme for canteen to serve only healthy, balanced meals", Human Resource Management International Digest, Vol. 19 No. 1, pp. 26-28. https://doi.org/10.1108/09670731111101589