VAGABOND WINES ANNOUNCES PARTNERSHIP WITH HARRI TO RECRUIT, ONBOARD AND RETAIN NEW EMPLOYEES

Vagabond Wines, the independent award-winning wine bar and shop, has partnered with Harri, the leading workplace management solution for the hospitality industry. The collaboration will see Harri provide a range of innovative end-to-end technology solutions across all six Vagabond sites, for hiring and on-boarding of new employees, together with ensuring the operator is both GDPR and ‘Right to Work’ compliant.

Riette Carter, Head of People & Culture at Vagabond Wines explains:

“We will be expanding quite rapidly over the next 6-12 months and required an intelligent end-to-end workforce management solution for hiring and onboarding of new employees.  I especially love the on-boarding technology, which has enabled us to say goodbye to paper, whilst also being able to access the technology through a tablet and app. Everything is automated and templated and most importantly for our Managers it has removed the pressure and heavy burden of managing each of the individual elements of the recruiting and onboarding process, which in turn has hugely assisted them with their time-management – literally giving them back time in the day to deliver the key elements of their role.  For me, I can sleep at night knowing everyone has their ‘Right to Work’ checks in place and the business is completely compliant.”

“In the near future, we’ll be looking to adopt Harri’s TeamLIVE for rostering and TeamHUB solution, which features facial recognition technology, a ‘happiness/feedback’ function for employees, together with training and compliance software.”

Peter Willis, Commercial Director at Harri UK, commented:

Teaming up with Vagabond is a really exciting partnership for us because it’s such an inspiring time to find out more about wine and discover new favourites. One of Vagabond’s partners, Winemaker, predicts that English wines will be the next big thing. They tell us 2018 was a great harvest and the rise of the English wine-making sector will only continue. In addition, Winemaker sees a rise in the price of Prosecco – up to £35-40 a bottle. Operators should consider natural sparkling wines too. Free of preservatives, these are a fresh and vibrant choice, fermented in the bottle in a slightly unusual style. However, this minimal processing helps to keep the price down so it’s certainly one to consider for the wine list.

Here are five top tips from Winemaker to help customers get the best out of wine:

• Don’t be afraid to ask for advice – if there is a sommelier, use them. Tell them the wine you like and the budget you have. Even if you feel you don’t know how to pronounce a place of origin – ask away.

• Don’t get stuck in a rut – try something different. Nobody wants to taste mediocracy so be adventurous – try something new and different.

• Smell the wine – stop and really smell it instead of taking a sniff. Most of our taste comes through our nose – the trick is to get those aromas back through the nose.

• Spend a bit more – just a little bit more. Most of the price of cheap wine is duty and tax. Add an extra £4 and there’s more room for the producer to make a better wine. Think £10-12 retail and £20-30 in restaurant – that gets you a good wine.

• Come and try some English wine – the quality has improved dramatically. We’ve learnt what works in a particular area. We’ve got a better climate than we’ve had traditionally. The English wine industry is an exciting place to work and the producers are pioneers. 

 For further information about Harri visit https://harri.com/uk. 

HARRI & HOSCO ANNOUNCE INTEGRATION PARTNERSHIP TO BRING FRESH, NEW TALENT TO THE HOSPITALITY INDUSTRY

Harri, the leading workplace management solution for the hospitality industry, has announced a partnership with Hosco, the hospitality network operating across the UK, Europe, Middle East and Africa. The two businesses have joined forces to launch an integration for hospitality operators which will provide them with access to Hosco’s innovative and interactive job platform of over 500,000 qualified hospitality professionals.

The integration comes at a time when according to The Society for Human Resource Management, 60% of job seekers abandon an online job application in the middle of completing, due to the length or complexity of the application process. The integration between Hosco and Harri will solve this issue as it uses ‘one click apply’ to ensure the process is quick, easy and seamless for candidates resulting in limited applicant drop off.

With the implementation of a one-click apply integration, candidates will now be able to apply for a job via laptop, tablet or the Harri app, in a matter of clicks. Harri’s intelligent software also gives operators access to valuable tracking and reporting data on jobs posted to the Hosco platform, indexing each job posted against the all-important application, hire, and time to hire metrics as well as the ability to benchmark Hosco against their own cost per applicant and cost per hire KPI’s.

Peter Willis, UK Director at Harri, commented: “We’re absolutely thrilled to be partnering with such a global giant in the jobs platform space to bring operators an abundance of much-needed, unique and qualified talent to our industry. Hosco is so much more than a job board – it’s engaging and interactive, whilst also allowing candidates to create social profiles. We’re absolutely committed to reaching the new tech-dependent generation of candidates and we believe Hosco, with their new, social approach to online recruitment will help us do this.”

Derek Pilcher, Commercial Director at Hosco, mentioned: “Hospitality is one of the fastest growing industries on earth, representing 10 percent of global employment. However, it's also suffering from a significant talent shortage and high attrition rates. Our innovative technology, in conjunction with Harri's application tracking system will deliver a significant impact to hiring within the hospitality industry as a whole reducing, even more, the time spent by HR teams on sourcing and recruiting talent. On one side, it will reduce the application time for candidates with the goal of optimising the numbers of CVs sent into employer ATS’s, and, on the other, employers will receive greater candidate volumes with the matching experience and skills they require to meet the ever growing talent demand.” 

For further information about Harri visit https://harri.com/uk. 

For further information about Hosco visit https://www.hosco.com/en/

Only a Pavement Away's Fill A Flask Campaign

We’ve been out on the road this month, helping the charity Only A Pavement Away (OAPA), with its ‘Fill A Flask’ campaign. The charity helps the homeless, but also veterans and ex-offenders to find a job within hospitality. Dozens of operators have come forward to support the initiative, committing not only pledges to provide more funds but also much needed help on the ground to distribute thermal flasks and cold drinks.

The primary objective of the ‘Fill A Flask’ campaign which costs £40,000, is to distribute 6,000 thermal flasks to every rough sleeper on the streets of the UK. The use of flasks is environmentally friendly and, based on a minimum average usage of each flask being filled three times per week, per rough sleeper, saves 18,000 plastic water bottles in just one week. Over the 12-week period of the campaign, OAPA will have facilitated 216,000 cold drinks bought by the public for rough sleepers. 

‘Fill A Flask’ is just one of OAPA’s projects to help those in need, who can often become lost in the system once their routine is removed and they find themselves back at the start, without work or accommodation. OAPA founder Greg Mangham and his wife Gill recognised this on a walk along The Strand in London one day, seeing the evidence before their eyes as they observed the rough sleepers and those in dire need.

Between now and 2024, the hospitality industry will need to recruit around 1.3 million employees and around 300,000 of these roles will be new positions. Knowing this and with decades of experience in hospitality, Gill and Greg’s response was to found Only A Pavement Away, to highlight the plight of the people they saw that day and the thousands of others like them to an industry that is desperate 

for new recruits. The charity has since grown to such an extent that Greg now works on the initiative full time, with Gill’s invaluable help behind the scenes.

“We’re on the move again,” Greg told us this week. “Fill A Flask is going to Brighton and then on to Manchester. We need to keep going. In our first year, we’ve already helped 35 people find roles in hospitality and get their lives back on track. Our next target is to get another 250 people back into work within the next 12 months. 

“The help, encouragement and support we’ve received from operators and suppliers has been overwhelming. We’re really grateful. Fill A Flask and events such as The Cateys, where OAPA was represented recently, have produced yet more offers of funding and support. To make it work for the long term, our aim is to raise at least £250,000 a year. We will use those funds to provide support workers for the vulnerable and relationship management for all of the fantastic operators and suppliers who help us so we can do more. Society has keen and able job-seekers; hospitality has jobs. Only A Pavement Away is the conduit that will help them find each other.”

Harri provides OAPA with something of a charity recruitment exclusive – a dedicated jobs board. “No other industry has a charity recruitment set-up like this,” Greg explains. “Harri enables OAPA to offer a free jobs board and applicant tracking system for employers to advertise their vacancies. Through a personalised profile, job brokers can make applications on behalf of their members, removing the need for applicants to trawl through the process, which may seem daunting. Operators only receive applications via the job brokers on behalf of members who

, OAPA will be encouraging are ‘job-ready’, with the desire, behaviour and attitude to seek new opportunities. OAPA would certainly not be as sophisticated as it is without Harri. This is one of the ways in which the industry and its suppliers are helping us to make meaningful employment a reality for the vulnerable.”

 ‘Fill A Flask’ will continue across the UK throughout July. At Christmas operators to get involved once more and participate in its Winter Warmth campaign. The charity would like donations of warm coats and sleeping bags to give those in need some help through the cold months and, with luck, encourage them into OAPA’s support system and on to successful careers in hospitality. As OAPA puts it, it’s about stability through employment – and we’re all for that.

To learn more about OAPA, please visit www.onlyapavementaway.co.uk. To find out more about Harri’s Applicant Tracking System, please click here.

Harri’s unique integration with top hospitality job boards puts you ahead of the competition in the war on talent.

Hospitality is the UK’s 3rd largest employer, creating 1 in 8 new jobs with 3.2 million people employed directly and forecast to grow by a further 10% by 2020. With a perpetual war being waged on talent, these numbers are becoming harder and harder to sustain and operators are finding it increasingly challenging to attract and retain their most valuable asset; their people. 

In these market conditions, operators need to give themselves the best chance of being found by potential employees and then make it as easy as possible for them to complete applications. This is where technology is playing its part, ensuring a wide net is cast to bring in as many employees as possible and create a seamless application flow. 

Historically, job application processes have been clunky and inefficient - forcing the applicant to go through several tedious steps, often filling out the same information more than once in order to complete an application. Aware of this problem, Caterer.com & Indeed.com have modernised and developed ATSi Apply technology; a product designed to improve application performance by transferring candidate data seamlessly between job board and applicant tracking system. According to TotalJobs Group, this increases job board conversion by 90%. Understanding how valuable this technology is when it comes to increasing applications for operators, Harri has uniquely integrated with this technology that sits within both Caterer.com & Indeed.com meaning only with Harri do you optimise candidate liquidity and kill the dread of the drop off!

Restaurant operator Côte Brasserie use Harri to manage their recruitment process along with Caterer.com & Indeed.com as major sources of candidates across its 90-strong estate. They say the drop-off rate among applicants increases by 10% for every extra click a candidate has to make during the application process.

Kelly Davis, Senior Recruitment Manager for Côte, explains:

“Harri’s integration with Caterer and Indeed is extremely important for us. It’s about the person’s experience with our brand and making applications easier for them. Increasingly in hospitality we’re seeing a candidate-led jobs market, so when the brand speaks for itself, suitable candidates who are seeking the top places to work, will naturally come forward. We actively look for job boards that have integrated Harri’s one-click apply technology because it increases our chance of securing quality applications. In addition, many job searches now take place on mobile devices, so applying for vacancies can no longer be a tedious form-filling exercise. For us, it has to be a one-click process that ensures applying for a job at Côte is quick and easy”.

James Edwards, Digital Attraction Manager at Mitchells and Butlers has seen a huge boost to the number of applications. 

After 6 months of implementing Harri to our 1,650 sites, we have seen ROI including 89% more applications of which a 24% increase in chef applications.

To find out more about how Harri, click here

HARRI HELPS EXP101 TAKE ON THE 0-90 CHALLENGE AND KEEP HOSPITALITY HIRES HAPPY

It’s a well-known fact that more than 40% of new hires in the hospitality industry leave their jobs within 90 days, causing a genuine economic crisis for operators. To help tackle the problem, Harri has joined forces with hospitality communications and engagement specialists, EXP101, to sponsor the first meeting in London this month in support of EXP101’s ‘0-90’ initiative, designed to bring industry leaders together to face the issue head on.

At the 90-minute meeting, 10 top-tier human resource experts from some of the country’s leading hospitality brands, heard from industry insiders on how incredibly important it is to engage Gen Z in hospitality, stating that it’s time to reboot our approach to recruitment and on-boarding. It’s about making hospitality a career of choice, killing the idea of basic inductions and creating brand ambassadors amongst new, young recruits to ensure they want to stay. And it starts with the managers on the ground.

The aim of 0-90 is to equip recruiters and managers with the tools they need to find the right new hires for their business and then intelligently track the on-boarding and engagement process to ensure new employees are excited about their prospects. By adopting this approach, those who move into new roles should have a real desire to succeed with that employer and in that career. It’s a much-needed, new take for the industry, one which turns the recruitment process on its head and puts the retention factor in the employee’s hands.

Roy Walker, Associate Director at Harri, said:

“Recruitment has changed over the past 10 years. Gone are the days when a candidate showcases their CV and asks for an opportunity. The world of hiring has been turned on its head and hospitality employers must now demonstrate why a candidate should choose them. Recruiting the correct mentality is crucial to reducing the 0-90-day turnover. Recruitment is not a manager’s primary role – so they need support. Our research identified that 60% of leavers stated their main source of dissatisfaction was the rota, where there were sudden changes to shifts or additions to pre-agreed hours. At a cost of £1,000 to hire team members – and as much as £5,000 for managers – this is a real economic crisis for operators, which requires addressing.”

The EXP101 team agrees and hopes the discussions will produce a new live dashboard that operators can access without great expense or extensive set-up to combine the power of online recruitment platforms with digital measurement capabilities, in order for success to be tracked.

Using its online recruitment platform, Harri has launched their own form of Career Story pages, where employers can highlight their value proposition to prospective candidates, starting that brand ambassador process early and creating a mind-set where new hires want to stay. The Harri Hire app, now in the hands of thousands of restaurant and hotel managers, supports the recruitment process with consumer-style tech to engage users and ensure the right behaviours are followed during on-boarding and beyond to secure new hires and reduce staff turnover.

EXP101 founders Kieron Bailey and Chris Fletcher commented:

“It’s all about collaboration between these tech solutions to produce a single hub to aid in recruitment and retention. The 0-90 initiative is designed to help young people find a rewarding career in an industry we love and where they should want to stay. Our aim is to ensure it is easy for operators to attract new recruits in the places we know they spend their time – which is online – and then to harness the power of digital to assist managers in successfully creating new brand advocates in a business everyone wants to work. A great deal is spoken about ensuring operators give the customer a great experience, however, that starts with the employee experience. We want to elevate hospitality to a place where work sells itself. Great people make great brands.”

The 0-90 challenge is scheduled to be complete in 90 days. A follow-up session will look at the new approach and the strategy behind it in July, before the third meeting in August launches the tech solution into test phase.The event was captured on film by Vidleos and is shown below.

For more information about Harri, please visit www.harri.com/uk