Signing on for diversity YOU’RE HEARD
McDonald’s is proud to support the Deaf community as they celebrate New Zealand Snigdn Language Week 2024
The theme for New Zealand Sign Language (NZSL) Week 2024 is “an Aotearoa where anyone can sign anywhere”. Family favourite brand McDonald’s is a proud supporter of the Deaf community as it celebrates this week.
McDonald’s crew trainer Sarah Loe, who is fluent in NZSL, enjoys celebrating her community. She explains, “Sign language is beautiful. I am so proud to be a part of the Deaf community – it’s who I am.”
NZSL, an official language in New Zealand since
2006, is closely related to British Sign Language (BSL) and Australian Sign Language (Auslan), but is unique to Aotearoa in that speakers can express concepts from both English and te reo Māori.
Sarah started her career at McDonald’s in Hamilton six years ago, working her way up from cleaning tables and delivering food to customers, to crew training. In her current role, she works with both crew and customers, wearing a badge to let people know she’s deaf and using written signs to communicate when necessary.
When she joined the team, Sarah was hoping to make new friends. And she did. A highlight of her day is “greeting the staff with fist bumps when I come into work”.
McDonald’s promotes a bias-aware and inclusive work environment. These values are the driving force behind every decision and every experience it creates, explains Managing Director of McDonald’s New
Zealand and Pacific Islands, Kylie Freeland.
“To really serve, it’s important that Macca’s serves everyone,” she says. “Living the brand’s values means delivering on them every day and building trust by showing the millions of people who visit McDonald’s restaurants daily – as well as each individual working in a McDonald’s restaurant or the corporate offices – that we care about what they care about.”