KFC has collaborated with Indian School of Hospitality (ISH) to launch KFC Area Coaches Programme for Women.

This strategic partnership is to enable and grow women operations leaders. Earlier this year, the brand announced its pledge to increase the women workforce at KFC restaurants by 2X by 2024 under its D&I program – KFC Kshamata focused on feeding people’s potential. Taking the journey ahead, KFC’s women area coach program would build a cohort of women leaders by sharpening their operations know how, business and financial acumen and leadership skills. Subsequent to the training, they will take up operational leadership positions within the KFC ecosystem in India. This 11-month management development programme is now open & inviting candidates for an exclusive KFC-ISH PGP Batch starting Jan 2022.

Talking about this new partnership, Aman Lal, Chief People Officer - KFC at Yum! Brands, said: “Women participation in Indian workforce is low due to uneven access to education, lack of employment equality, primary care giving responsibilities of women and societal mindsets. All these issues not only lead to lesser women entering the workforce but also lead to significant dropout at the workplace, which further results in lesser women role models at the workplace. Lesser women role models means lesser women to inspire other women to join the workforce, or stay and grow in the workforce. At KFC, our endeavour is to break this vicious cycle by hiring and growing more women. Hence, one of the strategic steps towards this is our tie up with ISH wherein we aim to hire, train and grow women leaders who can take up senior roles in our business.”

KFC also opened an all women led restaurant in Hyderabad earlier this year and aims to have more than 5000 women team members by 2024, including growing them into restaurant leadership roles.

Kunal Vasudeva, Chief Operating Officer at Indian School of Hospitality, commented: “The Postgraduate Programme is designed to help accelerate the career of young professionals in the newer normal, and with KFC India as our partners, we are excited to be taking our programme’s vision a step further – to invite more women candidates and prepare them for leadership roles in the industry.”

This association between KFC India and ISH creates a platform for women across India, which is easily accessible, builds on lifelong learning and provides quality assured employment with a globally recognised brand. The applicants of this programme will be jointly recruited by KFC and ISH on basis of merit and experience, with deserving women candidates also being extended financial assistance. Fifty percent of the ISH programme fee will be reimbursed back to candidates upon successful completion of the programme over a course of two years of employment with KFC. Upon completion of the 11-month PGP, candidates will be awarded a certificate in ‘Service Operations Management’ issued jointly by ISH and KFC, following which they will be onboarded by KFC as Area Coaches across select cities in India. Together, KFC and ISH are committed to enabling women’s participation in operational leadership positions.

What sets this programme apart is the live-wire curriculum, modern pedagogy and industry immersion built into the foundation of the programme. Bringing about a unique synergy, this partnership will serve as a template for brands to rethink their current recruitment strategies and move to more coherent ways which are in line with India’s fast-evolving economic environment.