On 29th January 2018, a summary conference and seminar for the project “Plan for Realising the University Dreams of McDonald’s Employees,” which is jointly sponsored by the Open University of China and McDonald’s China, was convened at the headquarters of Shanghai McDonald’s China.
The conference was attended by over 50 personnel, including Gao Yang, chief of Division of Continuing Education of Department of Vocational and Adult Education Ministry of Education, Peng Yi, chief of Employees Education Division of Publication Department of All-China Federation of Labour, Yang Zhijian, OUC president, Liu Chen, OUC vice president, Ye Zhihong, OUC Department of Academic Affairs, Guo Qingchun, dean of OUC Experimental School, Zhang Jiaying, CEO of McDonald’s (China), Lin Huirong, COO of McDonald’s (China), and Zhang Junwei, vice president of McDonald’s Human Resource Department, and McDonald’s frontline employees. The attendees reviewed the achievements and experience since the implementation of the project one year ago and held discussions over “dual mechanism of learner development,” i.e. cooperation between universities and enterprises, and provided suggestions for further development of “Action Plan for Realising Dreams of Further Education” and “Plan for Realising the University Dreams of McDonald’s Employees”.
“Action Plan for Realising Dreams of Further Education - Realising the University Dreams of McDonald’s staff” is an industrial workers educational cooperation project launched by the OUC jointly with McDonald’s (China) in July 2016 in response to “Action Plan for Realising Dreams of Further Education” advocated by the MOE and All-China Federation of Labour, which aims to help McDonald’s staff access learning without having to leave their posts and to enhance the staff’s vocational skills and educational level. Furthermore, it explores a new model for staff’s continuing education and a new learner development model for national large-scale enterprises, featuring “integration of production and teaching, cooperation between universities and enterprises” against the backdrop of “Internet Plus.” To date, 1,083 McDonald’s employees have realised their university dreams through the project, of whom 65 employees have since been promoted to the positions of general managers of the café and 169 promoted into the management group. A total of 483 participating employees have been promoted, accounting for 40.5% of learners. Positive effects gradually emerge on the improvement of the employee’s professional ability and the enterprise’s human resource development.
Gao Yang, who had attended the signing ceremony of “Plan for Realising University Dreams for McDonald’s Employees” said in the summary conference that the project played an obvious role on the growth of the learners and it showed that university-enterprise cooperation has been a key breakthrough and carrier to implement and propel the government’s spirit on industrial worker’s education. She also wishes that more efforts be given to improve system and mechanism development and teaching quality to further exert the enterprise’s role in teaching reform, meanwhile further attention be given to the learners and their development to enhance not only their educational level but also their learning ability, striving to make this project an exemplary sample for promoting industrial workers’ education.
Peng Yi pointed out that “Plan for Realising University Dreams for McDonald’s Employees” is an important practice implemented jointly by McDonald’s (China) with the OUC to positively respond to the initiative of “Action Plan for Realising Dreams for Further Education” given by MOE and All-China Federations of Labour, as well as an important aspect for McDonald’s (China) to represent its willingness and efforts to undertake social responsibility, improve staff quality, build enterprise culture and realise harmonious labour relations. She hopes that McDonald’s (China) strengthens connections with different levels of All-China Federations of Labour and continues to support staff to learn throughout the project, creating a more successful experience.
McDonalds’(China) CEO Zhang Jiaying said “Plan for Realising University Dreams for McDonald’s Employees” has been strongly supported and advanced by the OUC. The OUC offers learners a brand new teaching model integrating online enrolment, teaching, examination and “credit bank”, greatly enhancing their learning efficiency and interests. According to McDonald’s (China) development plan, in the next five years, the number of McDonald’s restaurants in China will grow from 2,600 to 4,500, with staff growth of over 220,000 people. This will pose challenges for talent recruitment and development. Zhang Jiaying denoted that McDonald’s (China) will continue to intensify cooperation with the OUC and provide more career development for McDonald’s (China) employees.
OUC vice president Liu Chen said that “Plan for Realising University Dreams for McDonald’s Employees” shows that the OUC stays true to its “original mission” (60% of CCRTVU’s study centres were located in the large and medium enterprises at its initial stage) and implements the government’s guideline on university-enterprise cooperation, production and teaching combination, which is an important attempt for the OUC to provide customised service for enterprise development and the talent development, as well as duplicates the OUC’s “Six-Network Integration” learner development model. He hopes that McDonalds’(China) gives further support for its staff to study in the project and demands that the project team places more efforts in major arrangements, curriculum content, learner support, etc. to enhance the learners’ sense of rewarding.
OUC president Yang Zhijian summarised that “Plan for Realising University Dreams for McDonald’s Employees”is of symbolic significance in the mass development of China’s higher education and even the development of China’s learning-oriented society. He said, “The seed is planted and starts to sprout” and suggested the natural progression to then bloom and bring fruit. To this end, he requires that the OUC and McDonalds’(China) should further strengthen in-depth integration of communication and cooperation in the areas of technology, teaching content, and learner development, that they bravely explore a new development pathway suitable for industrial worker education, and finally, that they implement further education for farmers and frontline on-the-job personnel such as a learner development plan for curriculum systems, teaching content, etc.
The attendees also listened to the introduction given by student Cao Bin, who majored in Project Chain Operation, and instructor Dou Zhiming of “Plan for Realising University Dreams for McDonald’s Employees”, following by a visit to Hamburger University located at the headquarters of Shanghai McDonald’s (China).
By Sun Fuwan, OUC