PepsiCo walks back Shrinkflation / Medtronic now offers up-front college tuition for employees / Starbucks Employee Breaks Down after 8-hour shift / Chick-fil-A Launches Streaming App / Do your employees hate Mondays and only live for the Weekend?
Medtronic now offers up-front college tuition assistance for employees
College has long been seen as a career-transforming opportunity, but rising tuition costs make it inaccessible for many. However, Medtronic, a medical technology company with a workforce of nearly 100,000, is offering its employees an up-front college tuition assistance benefit. The company has invested $7.7 million in covering tuition costs so far, paying the tuition in advance without repayment requirements—employees are eligible from day one and are not obligated to pay back the tuition if they leave.
“One of the biggest barriers for employees, especially those coming into entry-level positions, is the affordability of paying for their tuition and then having us reimburse them after certain criteria are met.” Medtronic’s Chief Human Resources Officer, Matt Walter, shared with Fortune. “That’s just a process, and there’s obviously paperwork involved with that. So this was an innovative way to cover everything up front, so that was no longer a barrier.” About two-thirds of program participants identify as first-generation college students.
Walter says the program has been a hit with employees, expanded the company’s prospective talent pool, and made the company a more attractive employer.
“Tuition assistance is one kind of lever for us in a broader context of investing in employees and helping people expand their careers. That’s obviously a huge engagement and retention driver for us,” Walter says.
*Related – How Medtronic Inspired Their Unsung Heroes
Starbucks Barista Breaks Down after 8-hour shift
A Starbucks barista recently shared a video of themselves in tears, which has quickly gained attention online. In the clip, the employee discusses frustrations with management and difficult customers, but it was their comments about their work schedule that sparked debate. The barista, who is also a student, expressed that working 25 hours per week with 8-hour shifts on weekends felt overwhelming. Reactions on Twitter were mixed: some users criticized them as “soft” or “spoiled,” while others defended them, highlighting that worker exploitation can take many forms. What are your thoughts?
New Leader Training – It all starts and ends with your internal culture. Are you selecting the right new employees? Are you onboarding them properly to uphold the company’s standards and reputation? Are you retaining them long-term? And finally, are you developing your future generation of leaders? That is why we are so proud to announce that starting this fall will be our first Leadership Academy Class. This comprehensive program empowers leaders, HR teams, and emerging managers to create a workplace culture where inspiration thrives, teams are fulfilled, and growth is inevitable. One of the biggest challenges Senior Leaders faces is developing emerging leaders. In fact, The Chartered Management Institute’s research found that an incredible 82% of bosses are “accidental managers,” and what’s even scarier is that 25% of those are in senior leadership roles. This negatively impacts employee morale and a third of employees are quitting their jobs.
Chick-fil-A Launches Streaming App
Move over Happy Meal, the #1 rated customer satisfaction restaurant has just gotten into the entertaining business. Chick-fil-A has introduced the Chick-fil-A Play App, a free digital platform designed for families to enjoy together. Launching on November 18, 2024, the app offers a variety of family-friendly content, including original animated shows, podcasts, games, e-books, and interactive stories. This initiative aims to extend Chick-fil-A’s commitment to hospitality beyond its restaurants, providing engaging entertainment that families can access anywhere.
The app is available for download on major app stores, allowing users to enjoy the content at home, in the drive-thru, or wherever they choose. While the app enhances the overall Chick-fil-A experience, it is not specifically designed for in-restaurant streaming services. Instead, it serves as a digital extension of the brand’s family-oriented values, offering entertainment that encourages quality time together.
Do your employees live for the Weekend?
“Do you hate Mondays and only look forward to the weekend?” Could be a great employee survey question. I love Gary Vaynerchuk’s video Stop Living for The Weekend. The following are some excerpts from Gary’s video:
“To live your life where you love Friday night, Saturday, and Sunday and despise Monday through Thursday or Friday morning is devastating to me because you’re wasting too much of your life…If you literally start your week being sad, and it gets progressively better, you have a problem. We spend way too much time in our lives doing our jobs. And when you’re spending more than half your life working…That’s devastating…You need to figure out how to fix that…whether that’s taking a financial step backward to take a job that you love.
Customer backlash forces Doritos & Tostitos to put more chips in their bag
As customer satisfaction has reached an all-time low, customers are not putting up with it anymore. One of the common strategies, by consumer product companies, is shrinkflation. A term referring to a shady disguised way to reduce the product quantity while either keeping pricing the same or increasing it.
Due to a sharp decline in sales, PepsiCo, the biggest maker of savory snacks in the U.S., will replenish some bags of Tostitos and Ruffles and include 20% more chips at the same price as regular bags in select stores. Additionally, PepsiCo is increasing its 18-bag variety pack by adding two more small chip bags.
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