Client Name

Gray Mackenzie Restaurants International Limited (KFC Pakistan)

Faculty Advisor

Dr. Sahar Awan

SBS Thought Leadership Areas

Behavioural Studies

SBS Thought Leadership Area Justification

A qualitative research approach was conducted to explore the behavioral patterns of employees associated with high turnover rates and to identify key motivational factors that can enhance employee retention within organizations.

Aligned SDGs

GOAL 8: Decent Work and Economic Growth

Aligned SDGs Justification

United Nations Sustainable Development Goal 8 focuses on promoting sustained, inclusive, and sustainable economic growth, productive employment, and decent work for all. The KFC retention and recognition project directly supports this goal by addressing workplace challenges affecting frontline employees and proposing strategies to improve employee wellbeing, engagement, and long-term workforce sustainability.

NDA

No

Abstract

This Experiential Learning Project (ELP) investigates the drivers of voluntary employee turnover at KFC Pakistan's Karachi outlets and develops actionable recommendations to reduce turnover by 10-15%. Commissioned by Gray Mackenzie Restaurants International, the study focuses on the lived experiences of frontline crew members across 16 KFC branches spanning Karachi's diverse geographic, socioeconomic, and demographic landscape. The central research problem is that KFC Pakistan faces persistent attrition among its hourly, part-time, and full-time workforce - a structural challenge that imposes significant financial and operational costs, particularly in the context of Pakistan's post-pandemic inflationary environment and an increasingly competitive quick-service restaurant (QSR) labour market. The study was conducted using a qualitative, exploratory research design. Primary data was gathered through 130-135 in-person, semi-structured interviews with crew members across 16 KFC outlets spanning Karachi's residential, commercial, and mall-based locations. Respondents represented a cross-section of employment types, roles, tenures, and genders, ensuring maximal variation in perspectives. Data was analysed using thematic analysis following Braun and Clarke's (2006) framework, producing fifteen major themes, which were subsequently mapped onto Herzberg's Two-Factor Theory of motivation as the overarching theoretical lens. The findings reveal that KFC's Karachi workforce is sustained primarily by an exceptionally strong culture of peer belonging and team cohesion - a genuine organic retention asset reported universally across all 16 outlets. However, this cultural buffer is under increasing strain from several structural deficits: wages that have not kept pace with Pakistan's persistent inflation, the post-2023 removal of the meal benefit, inconsistent overtime and recognition practices, educationgated promotion barriers that permanently ceiling non-graduate employees, and unaddressed gender-specific welfare gaps around transport, rest facilities, and customer safety. The study recommends a set of immediate, short-term, and medium-term interventions. Immediate priorities include reinstating weekend subsidised meals, introducing annual within-band salary increments of 5-8%, standardising the Employee of the Month programme, and formalising overtime pay across all employment types. Medium-term recommendations include broadening the education assistance scheme to cover part-time staff and professional certification pathways, implementing formal late-shift transport for female employees, and introducing 360-degree feedback mechanisms for branch managers to strengthen managerial accountability. These interventions, taken together, are projected to reduce voluntary turnover by 10-15%, yielding significant savings in recruitment, onboarding, and productivity costs across the Karachi network.

Document Type

Restricted Access

Document Name for Citation

Experiential Learning Project

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