McDonald’s recognizes 2020 Employees of the Year

Rinie Fiden (NEIL FAMA)

McDonald’s Saipan recognized two individuals as its Employees of the Year for 2020: Shane Barro, who was its Employee of the Year at its Middle Road branch, and Rinie Fiden, who was the 2020 Employee of the Year at McDonald’s Beach Road branch.

For Barro, who has only worked at the fast food restaurant for only one year and it being her first job ever, the award came as a big surprise. “As you know, McDonald’s is very popular, and being here on Saipan, it was immediately my first option. I applied at a couple other places, but McDonald’s was the first to call me back. On the day of my interview, they hired me,” she said.

As an all-round worker and a newbie at her job, Barro said that one of the difficult parts of her job was learning the different procedures at the different stations. “I’m thankful because I have a lot of coworkers who help me do just that. Coworkers help keep things exciting, we help each other learn more things and that’s pretty much the average day in the workplace here.”

When asked what she felt she did to deserve the award, Barro, who is just 23, believes it was going to work on time and maintaining a consistently good performance. As long as an individual enjoys their job and as long as they’re committed, you won’t feel that tired because you love your job, she added. “If you really love your job, you are able to do it without any sort of award in mind. Your devotion to the work itself is enough to keep you going,” she said. “I’m so thankful that my hard work on the floor was noticed and appreciated. Thankful for the opportunity to receive the award.”

Fiden also described herself as “very shocked” when she received the award. The 40-year-old has been working at the fastfood restaurant for four years now. This is also Fiden’s third job, and her first time receiving an Employee of the Year award.

Fiden believes that coming to work every day, working your hardest, and helping others is what it takes to become employee of the year. “Compared to my previous jobs, McDonald’s is very unique and I feel I’ve enjoyed my time working here more.”

Shane Barro (NEIL FAMA)

And like Barro, Fiden also believes that, because she enjoys the job, it makes her do an even better job. “I’m very thankful to my coworkers for always being very helpful. We all help each other,” said Fiden

According to Ana Olaes, McDonald’s Saipan Human Resources, all the managers vote for Employee of the Year. Everyone gives their input and rate each employee’s performance based on meeting or exceeding expectations. The managers’ vote would be then forwarded to the HR Office, where the ratings and scores are validated based on the employees records.

The employees that are eligible for Employee of the Year must have been chosen as one of the Employees of the Quarter. Two employees of the year are chosen every year, one from each store.

Employees of the Year receive a certificate of recognition, a special gift and cash reward, and others.

“These are the types of people we are looking for. They’re not working because they wanted to win an award. They are really working hard because it is what is needed to do. This is important because we want to provide to our customers what we promise,” said Olaes.