YUM China CEO says her over 450,000 employees are like a family that won't be replaced by automation
- The CEO of YUM China says her employees are like family and automation won't change that.
- YUM is China's largest restaurant company that includes chains like KFC, Pizza Hut, and Taco Bell. YUM China employs close to 460,000 people.
- CEO Joey Wat spoke with Business Insider at the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland, about how automation won't replace her workforce, which she views as family.
- Visit Business Insider's homepage for more stories.
DAVOS, Switzerland - For CEO of YUM China Joey Wat, her close to 460,000 employees could be called family.
"This is a people business," said Wat, highlighting the major values of her company's culture. "So the caring bit is important."
YUM China, which has exclusive rights to fast-food restaurants in China including KFC, Pizza Hut, and Taco Bell, became independent from the US YUM company in 2016. YUM China has stores in about 1,300 out of nearly 2,000 cities in China.
Wat spoke to Business Insider at the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland, about how automation, though a looming threat to various retailers and fast-food companies, will not replace her workforce, which she views as family.
Wat said that each of the 10,000 store managers in YUM China's stores has grown his or her career from within the company. Many managers have been with the company for close to 20 years, Wat said, and the turnover rate for KFC store managers - the largest restaurant in the group's portfolio - is running as low as 6% to 7%.
"So we love our people and they love the company and brand," Wat said.
Wat said that while she recognizes that automation and digitalization are trends that are directly impacting her business, her company has been able to adapt. As an example, Wat explained how YUM China moved from cash transactions to more 90% of payments being made digitally in the last five years. Wat said she used to employ 7,000 workers that were fully devoted to taking cash. When this job became almost obsolete, Wat said that they found alternatives for those people, such as jobs in customer service and helping customers use digital payment options.
To Wat, her job as an employer is to make sure all of her employees are marketable and able to adapt to the changes that come with automation and digitalization.
"We told our employees if you work with us for 10 years and then you find that nobody wants you in the market anymore, for any reason, then I feel terrible as an employer," Wat explained. "You don't want your son or your daughter to be in an environment where they are not competitive anymore. Why would you do that to your own staff?"
Wat's understanding of her workers as a part of her family makes her job as the figurative "head of the household" all the more meaningful.
" ... the most successful parents are those that help their kids to become independent so that they don't need you anymore," said Wat, who herself began working in a factory at the age of 9. "That is the ultimate goal and I want my staff and my team to do the same."