Okay, I know they say time flies but, can you believe it’s almost New Year’s Eve? If you’re anything like me, you’re already thinking about your new year’s resolutions.
New Year’s is the perfect opportunity to start fresh. Clean slate, the beginning of a new chapter, right? We usually come up with a list of all the things that we wish to accomplish or change for the upcoming year. It’s the perfect chance to upgrade to a better version of ourselves. And as I’m sitting here writing my list, I’m thinking how nice it would be to rub a lamp and get a genie to grant me three wishes just to help me out a little.
Can you imagine?
If you work in the hospitality industry, you know how challenging it can be to not only find staff but to keep it. As amazing as this industry is, when communication is not done right, you risk losing your staff.
This year, become your own genie and grant your team not three, but four wishes.
1. Ditch the old-school paper schedule.
You probably have it pinned to a board, or posted somewhere in the kitchen collecting dirty fingertips. It’s time to turn paper into magic. This year, you can turn paper into a digital schedule, where you can not only email it to employees (one or two weeks in advance), but you can save the template! So that the following week, you have more time to yourself and do not have to create a schedule from zero. It will also keep you in the loop in case anything changes.
2. Delete the text group chats.
Now let’s face it. Nobody likes having a ton of different group chats on Whatsapp, or people texting you about their schedule or their shift. Here comes your second wish: a customized group message and newsfeed. This way, you’ll have your whole team organized by role, location, or unit and create a space to communicate more efficiently. (Without having to blow up your phone!) You can also upload any kind of media to motivate your staff and use it as you would any other social media.
3. Clear your email notifications.
The third wish is something that we can all use a little help with. Have you ever been in a meeting when someone mentions an important email that you “never got”? To then realize that you got it but it got lost in the sea that’s your Inbox. Well, this year you will not miss any emails that contain important information. You’ll have in-app messaging and push notifications that will alert you of anything that you can’t miss. Like a change in schedule, or somebody calling in sick. No more feeling like you were left behind with any information.
4. Stop chasing after ghosts.
And as if this wasn’t enough help already, this year you get a fourth and extra wish. Are you ready? No more ghosting in the hiring process. As we all know, the onboarding process is the most important part of recruiting because it’s the first impression that your candidates have. It’s either going to make them stay, or make them consider running away.
To avoid this, you’ll be able to take care of the long and daunting process of filling out and sending paperwork to new hires, by creating a digital onboarding process. This way, it’s a two-way street between candidates and managers where they can communicate and receive feedback throughout the whole process. Plus, you’ll still have the chance to interview face to face, it will just simplify the process afterward. No more waiting for weeks to hear back if they were hired or if they disappeared. Now, they won’t have the chance to run away.
2023 is right around the corner. We might not have flying cars yet, but we sure have the best way to make sure that the hospitality industry can run smoothly and better every day. When you combine technology and human connection, you are creating the winning formula.
Make frontline employee experience tech part of your resolutions list this year. It will help you create a better and more magical talent experience.
After all, who doesn’t want a little help from a genie?
Compliance Counts: Your Business is at Risk if you Don’t Take it Seriously
Compliance – the word might be yawn-inducing, but the consequences of not taking it seriously can be eye-watering.
Companies that fail to adhere to employment laws can end up facing fines running into tens of millions (be that dollars or pounds, the impact is the same), and the trickiest part of it all is that the regulations are in a constant state of flux.
In the U.S. in particular, the regulatory environment is growing more stringent, as more states adopt regulations like Fair Workweek standards which dictate schedule and hour restrictions to ensure people are not taken advantage of.
Harri’s focus on labor-related compliance is led by our dedicated Chief Compliance Officer Wendy Harkness, who brings a broad and deep experience across compliance, legal, the HR landscape.
We sat down with Wendy to find out what the burning issues are in compliance right now and how Harri helps customers cut through compliance complexity.
Harri Insider Team: Tell us a little bit about your background and what your role with Harri involves.
Wendy: I’ve worked primarily in the food service/hospitality industry for almost the whole of my career, with the last couple of decades as a Chief People Officer and Chief Legal Officer/General Counsel.
My team and I routinely analyze the ever-changing regulatory landscape to advise Harri’s Product and Development teams on pending, changing and new legislation, which is used to maintain and update our software. I talk to the product team 3-5 times a week, sometimes several times a day, to really make sure we’re ready for different things that are coming down the pipe.
HIT: Do you think that hospitality operators, in general, devote enough resources to compliance, and if not why do you think that is?
W: For an industry with incredibly slim margins before the pandemic, costs skyrocketed during and after Covid, along with mandatory compliance. Operators have less time, resources and budget for compliance today than they ever have, but the need for strict compliance is greater than ever, too. It is an extremely delicate balancing act for operators.
One thing I would add is that compliance does not fail in the boardroom – everybody in the boardroom fully understands compliance and why it’s so critical. Where it really fails is with general managers. I’ve been involved in many, many multi-million-dollar lawsuits throughout my history and it’s sad that these things [mistakes] happen on that frontline.
HIT: How crucial is it to ensure your business is compliant with workforce management laws?
W: Companies live or die by compliance because it can literally bankrupt you. For example, when you get down to a franchise model, which foodservice is filled with, franchisees absolutely cannot sustain a loss of $20m in fines. Aside from exorbitant fines, non-compliance can lead to agency investigations, reputational harm, loss of business licenses and even criminal charges in some cases.
HIT: What are customers’ biggest concerns right now when it comes to compliance – both in the US and the UK?
W: Some of the biggest concerns in both countries include the pace and scale of changing regulations, lack of ability to translate the complex, legislative requirements into compliance protocols that operators can follow, the cost, time and resources needed to keep frontline managers trained, and the exorbitant cost of failing to adhere to exacting regulations.
In the U.S., several states are doubling down on compliance requirements – expanding already difficult-to-comply-with regulations, increasing penalties for less-than-perfect compliance, and introducing sectoral bargaining like the FAST Act, which was recently passed in California.
In 2022 the UK has seen several compliance-related changes, including new requirements for gender, ethnicity and disability pay gap reporting, the move to a single enforcement body with increased powers, limitations on NDA (non-disclosure agreements) and the return to full right-to-work checks. 2023 will usher in even more changes like statutory maternity, paternity, shared parental and adoption pay, as well as parental bereavement and maternity pay.
HIT: How is Harri supporting customers on compliance?
W: Keeping up with new and changing legislation is a full-time endeavor and without dedicated compliance personnel, which few hospitality businesses have, managers are ill-equipped to decipher, train, track and enforce the myriad Federal, state and local requirements with which companies must comply.
Harri’s integrated compliance platform – which is continually being updated to reflect the dynamic world of compliance – is a game-changer. It’s no wonder scores of businesses trust Harri as their compliance partner.
HIT: What does the future of compliance look like?
W: With the right partner, the future of compliance is bright. Compliance can be a beast, but even a beast can be tamed. Compliance is no longer just for “big” companies – it is for all companies. With so many Federal, state and local regulations, compliance can surely be daunting but failing to comply is not an option and ignorance is not a defense. Exemplary compliance is obtainable. Harri can help.
Do you feel you’re facing compliance chaos? Wendy and the Harri team are here to help so you can reduce your risk and worry less. Learn more about our integrated compliance approach here.
Our team has assessed thousands of buying processes - from point solutions to global full-suite rollouts at companies of all sizes and industries. We combined our experience with conversations we had with leaders from some of the top digital transformation firms in the HR Tech space and practitioners that have gone through this process - with failure and success. We found incredible consistency between all of the success stories and even more with the failures. While more than 80% of companies have undertaken digital transformation initiatives in the last five years, only 16% say these have successfully improved performance and equipped them to sustain changes in the long term
We have identified three key steps when buying HR technology: Planning & Building a Business Case, Evaluating & Selecting the Solution, and Implementation & Digital Transformation. All stages are essential to the success of the process regardless of company size, industry, or type of technology being assessed.
Today's blog focuses on Step 1: Planning & Building a Business Case.
Some common areas to think about when looking at the business impact of HR Initiatives: