Chatime is a global innovative bubble tea outlet and Australia’s fastest growing iced tea franchise, who were looking for a better way to communicate with their fast-growing workforce.
“They identified a big disconnect between the usual intranet-based systems and the way their mobile, digitally savvy young employees lived their lives,” says Andrew Myers, vice president of Asia Pacific and global digital strategy at WorkJam, the world’s leading frontline digital workplace platform.
“They could see the potential for a digital workplace that allowed both corporate employees as well as franchisee workers to access their schedules, receive documents, communicate with their managers and other employees, undertake training and surveys and provide feedback to their employer, all using their regular mobile device. And that’s what we were able to provide.”
A new opportunity for growth
Myers sees employee engagement as an opportunity for franchises to grow and develop their business.
“For some time now, franchises have – quite rightly – focused on improving their relationship with customers, investing in things such as digital marketing, a better online experience and attractive store fit-outs,” he says. “Now it’s time to invest in their frontline employees by deploying a digital workplace, one with the capacity to help ensure their store experience is consistent across the brand.”
Become an employer of choice
The key to success for any business is attracting and retaining quality employees.
“Today’s employees run their lives from their phone,” Myers says. “Giving them the opportunity to flag their availability, pick available shifts and request time off using their mobile device is a sure way to become an employer of choice. It will also help you to reduce your costs by managing the workforce more efficiently.”
It’s possible to communicate through consumer messaging apps but, as Myers points out, they aren’t designed for the rigours of the workplace.
“They don’t integrate with human resources and workforce management systems, and some have poor track records when it comes to data privacy,” he says. “WorkJam is not only enterprise ready, it’s built on superior security and encryption technology to protect both your employees’ privacy and the security of your business data.”
Consistent communication
The structure of franchised businesses has long been a barrier to regular, relevant and consistent communication.
“WorkJam solves this by making it easy for head office, managers and frontline employees to communicate with each other simultaneously,” Myers says. “At a company level, the franchisor can target very specific audiences according to, for example, their state, location or role. By communicating directly to your frontline, you bring them closer into corporate family which we have seen helps to lower attrition.”
Notifications are instant and the new message appears on the front page of the app. It archives once it’s been read or the task has been completed, and employers can keep track of the level of engagement each notification achieves.
“We know that two-way communication plays a big role in engagement so WorkJam encourages employees to reply, provide feedback or ask relevant questions,” Myers says. “Fostering a sense of community by offering employees a way to participate easily within their own networks can build a strong sense of loyalty.”
WorkJam also makes it easy to provide employees with more information about the business and its products.
“This not only drives an improved customer experience it can motivate employees to promote your brand,” Myers says.
Effective micro-training
WorkJam supports the trend towards visual leadership and micro-learning – instructive videos lasting no more than two or three minutes.
“This can be much more effective than longer classroom learning or even intranet e-learning modules,” Myers says. “These days, people are consuming digital information in very different ways and it’s vital that employers keep pace with these changes.”
WorkJam’s Learning Management System enables franchisors to post training materials to specific audiences.
“They can load video content, PDFs or SCORM files, which are designed specifically to simplify learning,” Myers says. “When the training has been completed, the franchisor is notified, and the employee receive an electronic badge. You can also gamify the experience through leader-boards and rewards so that employees are motivated to learn more.”
Badges can also be used to recognise and reward outstanding performance.
“Recognition is one of the most powerful employee motivators,” Myers says. “WorkJam can be customised to track key metrics and reward achievements ranging from customer service to reliability and long service.”
Enhanced productivity
Another way WorkJam can boost productivity is by reducing managers’ manual workload.
“Getting task management out of the back-office and on to the frontline can improve operational efficiency at all levels of the organisation,” Myers says. “There are also opportunities for leveraging our automation logic, such as routinely providing more training to sites or employees who require further upskilling to meet the required standards of execution.”
Other benefits that WorkJam offers is mobile punch removing the need for time clocks and also the opportunity to provide a health survey for employees prior to starting their shift, of which both are a
significant benefit given the impact Covid-19 has had on operational processes along with ensuring the health and safety of employees and customers.
Importantly, all of these benefits fall under the umbrella of consistency.
“Consistency underpins the entire franchise system, as well as the success of individual brands,” Myers says. “This is what makes WorkJam so relevant to the franchising sector as a whole.”
To find out more, visit https://www.workjam.com/
