Tanda Blog

Rosie Ramirez

6 May 2019    |   

Think back to the last in-store purchase you made. Were you promptly welcomed or was the store too busy for you to get their attention? Did staff assist you while you were looking for items, and given advice on deals or discounts? Was the cashier polite or uncommunicative? These small interactions with frontline employees often shape their opinion of a brand, regardless of how good the product is. They perform all kinds of customer service roles. This includes answering phone inquiries, assisting clients who visit a store, performing consultancy work, and fulfilling installation or maintenance jobs. At the end of the day, clients remember the experience that staff create. Frontline workers are vital to any business. But as the face of your organisation, they face high levels of pressure and stress. They juggle time pressure and quality of work to deliver the customer promise. If frontline employees are highly motivated, they are able to provide great customer experience, increase customer retention, elevate the brand, and grow the business. That’s why at this year’s Workforce Success Conference, we are inviting students to propose ways to motivate frontline employees. Read on to know more about why frontline employees matter and sign up for the student cup today! Providing Great Customer Experience Making sure the customer experience is stellar should guide all business decisions and methods regardless of industry or size. When businesses, especially large ones, go out of their way for customers, it doesn’t go unnoticed. Businesses need to leverage their ability to deliver the customer promise and surprise the customer with extra care and support. In fact, consumers are willing to pay up to 16% more for better customer experience. This underscores the fact that customer experience isn’t just a small part of the sales process, it’s a genuine gamechanger. Conversely, PwC suggests that globally, 60% of consumers would stop doing business with a company due to unfriendly service. Many consumers (46%) also would not patronise a company with poorly trained employees. Due to this, companies are increasingly relying on chatbots and artificial intelligence (AI) to answer customer concerns. But the same survey suggests that a balance between human interaction and automation is what customers actually desire. It seems the verdict is in: consumers still value the human element, perhaps because great customer care is hinged on empathy — something AI cannot emulate. Read more: Keeping up with the Customers: Why feedback matters for every business Elevating the Brand According to a survey by PwC, 65% of respondents find great customer service more influential than great advertising. Getting customer service right is actually a better investment than spending millions on ads, because it becomes an advertisement in itself. In the age of social media, interactions with sales staff, cashiers, customer support, and other frontline staff make their way onto posts, stories, and tweets. This becomes even clearer when we consider that 84% of millennial consumers do not trust advertisements anymore, especially when making an online purchase. Instead, they seek third-party validation, whether through reviews left in the comments or through mentions on social media. Unsurprisingly, many comments left on websites are not about the product, but about the company’s customer service. When reviews about customer service are positive, they can create advocates out of customers. At this stage of the customer journey, they are already a valuable ally in maintaining the popularity of the brand. When negative, however, it can result in boycotts and massive losses in profits. Consider the United Airlines incident, where musician Dave Carroll saw baggage handlers damage his custom-made guitar from his airplane window. His band made a song about it which went viral, and reportedly cost the airline $180 million (10% of share value) in 2009. Social media has given consumers the power to be heard instantly around the globe. Harnessing it makes a successful modern business; failure to do so means losing out to more tech-savvy companies. Free download: Empowering Frontline Staff with Modern Technology Increasing Customer Retention “The most important customers are those that come back consistently and invite their friends,” says Michael Barnard, Workforce Success Champion and General Manager of consultancy firm Customology. Customer retention, or the ability of a company to retain its customers over a period of time, is impacted by how many new customers are acquired, and how many existing customers churn. It is important because it costs 10 times as much to obtain a new customer as it does to retain an existing customer. According to a survey by PwC, 73% of global respondents say that a positive experience is among the key drivers that influence their brand loyalties. The phenomenon is intuitive — why would you go back to a company that didn’t treat you with urgency, empathy, and importance? That’s why businesses need to invest just as many resources in retaining existing customers as in selling to new customers. A big part of this is making sure that frontline staff is empowered to deliver the best services so that customers feel they are a priority. Putting customers first through excellent customer service allows brands to make a lasting connection with them. Read more: Michael Barnard’s Step-by-Step Guide to Creating Customers for Life Expanding the Business Frontline staff have access to a wealth of information when it comes to understanding your customers and how the business is really doing. Owners and managers don’t always make time to converse with frontline workers, but they should. Being the first point of contact, they have unique insights that can improve how business is done, whether it’s about the product or the way stores are constructed. Keeping the lines of information open is not something all businesses currently do. According to a Gallup study, only 17% of workers strongly agree that they are able to freely voice their concerns and suggestions. Leveraging the knowledge, experience, and skills of frontline staff are key to expanding businesses. Without them, managers will not have a real pulse on the clients and what they want. The impact frontline workers have on customer experience, business branding, and customer retention cannot be understated. They can make or break your reputation. Managers on the frontline are also allies in growing the business and training new staff members in the company’s values and goals. When frontline workers cater to customers’ interests, they are contributing to the success of the overall business for years to come. Ready to forge the workforce of the future by motivating frontline employees? Form a team of 3-5 students and sign up today. A cash prize and internship awaits!

Rosie Ramirez

30 April 2019    |   

Successful workforces always have an effective HR team at the helm. They are responsible for everything from recruitment to training and development. This entails many processes and paperwork that can be too much to keep up with. In fact, creating and tracking documents is difficult without templates. Templates let you save valuable time so you can focus on more important tasks. Tanda’s free HR templates for workforce planning cover a variety of tasks and situations across industries. They provide a basic framework that you can customise them to your needs. Check out the list below to learn more about free templates for workplace planning! Position Descriptions Hiring the right candidate starts with a position description. You can use it to establish expectations and screen applications. Recruiters often underestimate how important the position description is. If the description is too abstract, both employer and applicant may have a hard time assessing it. If it’s too specific, qualified applicants may be discouraged from applying because they lack one or two requirements. Use our free HR templates as a baseline and edit them for your organisation. We have templates for several occupations like retail store manager and public relations coordinator. You can pool the best candidates faster with a great position description. Then you can offer them roles that best fit their personality. Read: 5 Restaurant Hiring Mistakes You Should NEVER Make Interview Kits Conducting an interview is crucial to finding the best talent for a position. CVs only tell you a part of the story. Ultimately, personality and culture fit will determine a candidate’s success in their role. Asking the right questions during an interview will help avoid wrong decisions in the hiring process. The position description, along with the candidate’s CV, will provide the context you need. But whether you’re hiring for a telesales agent or a hotel manager, you need an interview pack that will guide you through the interview process. A successful interview is a two-way conversation between the employer and candidate. Structure your interview so that each has a chance to learn from the other. Read more: 5 Rules for Hiring “Perfect Fit” Employees Employee Handbook Content An employee handbook is typically given to a new employee during the onboarding process. It contains employment information like working hours and leave policy, duties and performance reviews, and dismissal and resignation procedures. The handbook, along with the rest of the onboarding process, has a great impact on how the new hire will approach their role. It helps ensure retention and productivity not just for individuals but also for entire teams. The employee handbook is something the employee can keep going back to, so it’s important to make sure that it contains the right information. Read more: Onboarding: The Employer’s Checklist Employee Performance After the employee is welcomed to the organisation, it is the manager’s job to make sure that the right mechanisms are in place to monitor performance. Part of the onboarding process is involving the new hire in setting their own short- and long-term goals. Goal setting in the workplace is an important part of individual, departmental, and company-wide success.  Make sure that the goals are easy to measure, set against specific tasks, and aligned with personal aspirations. Continuously monitoring employee performance helps ensure that every employee is empowered to contribute to the organisation. Read more: Giving Employee Feedback: 7 Ways to Constructively Deliver Bad News Employee Letters Finally, there are many documents used throughout the work week in any organisation. Any warnings or changes in the nature of someone’s employment must be officially communicated. This is to protect both the employer and employee from any liabilities down the line. However, crafting letters for these situations can become tedious. You can use our late attendance warning letter to address tardiness or absenteeism. You can also send notices of promotions or changes to working hours as the case arises. For shift workers, use the shift swapping form to adjust rosters according to the availability of your employees. Read more: Should you approve shift swaps at work? Unlock more HR Tools with Tanda Free HR templates are a good way to streamline your HR processes. However, they have proven unsustainable for growing companies. The more employees you have, the more administrative work it takes to keep up. Besides, free HR templates cannot provide the data you need to optimise your workforce.  Many companies today invest in workforce automation to free up their managers’ time to focus on more important tasks. Whether it’s onboarding, rostering, or payroll integration, automation does all the work and more at a fraction of the cost. The right workforce automation software takes you one step closer to increasing profits and growing into new markets. Ready to discover how to take the work out of running your growing workforce? Start your free trial today!

Rosie Ramirez

16 May 2019    |   

Managers juggle different roles throughout the day. They set goals, coach employees, monitor performance, and control budgets and expenses. When they don’t do it effectively, employees become frustrated and can’t perform their best. In fact, a worldwide survey revealed that 40% of employees are dissatisfied at work due to a lack of help and support from their boss. Uncertainty about the workplace’s vision or strategy and heavy workload also factor into employee dissatisfaction. You can bet that this is because of an ineffective manager who doesn’t spend time on the frontline with employees. There are a couple of reasons why this is bad for any business. When managers aren’t on the frontline as often as they should be, they’re left guessing about day-to-day operations. They miss out on observing team dynamics and employee satisfaction. Engaging customers or responding to complaints about products and services is harder. And they become increasingly out of touch with both their team and customers. As a consequence, they don’t see why costs blow up and can’t figure out how to increase sales. The bottom line is that managers need to spend a significant amount of time on the ground. Few problems in service-based industries can be solved from behind a computer. So how can you keep your managers on the frontline? 1. Keep your managers mobile Don’t let your managers get stuck behind a desk. Keep admin tasks short by bringing it right to their smartphones. Tanda’s employee scheduling app gives managers the information they need to run a shift through their mobile device. It features automatic notifications and tools to respond to changes throughout the day. Managers can see who’s coming in for the day and when they start work. They can edit shifts without needing to sit down at a computer. They can even notify staff when new schedules are published, or when there are vacant shifts to fill. It doesn’t matter how many teams and venues a manager is handling because they can all be accessed from a mobile phone. They will be able to adjust rosters based on the flow of customers and other observations on the ground. Read more: Peak Season Rostering: How to use data to meet demand and raise profit 2. Keep an eye on staffing in real time Monitoring late staff and breaks, substituting unavailable staff, and calling in extra help are all part of running a shift. That’s where Key Alerts comes in. Key Alerts helps you make sure that staff stick to their rostered hours. It lets you know who clocks-in or out late, doesn’t take breaks, or takes breaks too long. Key Alerts, which comes for free with Tanda’s mobile scheduling app, also flags managers if staff are approaching overtime. Managers don’t have to sit at their desktop or constantly check their app to see who’s not in. The alerts come automatically every time. All bases are always covered with Key Alerts so managers can focus on helping employees identify ways to improve the business. 3. Lessen paperwork with Time Clock Questions Are employees clocking in too early without informing their supervisor? Are they consistently staying back into overtime without a known reason?  Instead of manually contacting staff about this and clarifying why, Time Clock Questions does this automatically. The feature asks staff relevant questions about their shift when they clock-in and -out of their rostered hours. You can customise questions and answer options to facilitate the process. Now there’s no need to call up staff manually to verify their reasons. The faster managers can complete timesheets or timecards, the faster they can get back to the frontline. Free download: Overcoming Employee Challenges in Shift Work Industries 4. Stay ahead with Shift Replacements Absences are inevitable, and good managers know that every unfilled shift adds burden to other team members and compromises overall performance. With Shift Replacements, managers can see which employees have indicated they won’t be able to work a shift. Once a replacement has been requested by an employee, the manager can go into Shift Replacements on their app. The number of replacements that need action is shown as a red bubble. Managers can offer these shifts to all available people on that team or just to specific people. Overtime, hours, and other information is shown to managers so that they don’t get any nasty surprises in payroll. With calling for replacements out of the way, managers can devote time and effort to other more important tasks. Keep your managers on the frontline Managers need reliable data to get their work done. Looking at the numbers after a day’s work is good. But looking at what’s behind the numbers is better. Ideally, managers should be able to address issues in real time rather than at the end of the day. Rosters, sales, demand, and staff engagement all affect how well the team does. But many managers are swamped with paperwork. They’re spending more time in the back office than on the frontline with their staff. Managers who are unable to spend time training employees and engaging clients will not be able to have a clear idea of how to improve the business. Indeed, time spent in your office as a frontline manager is wasted time. Tanda helps keep managers in the frontline with several features made with shift work in mind. Gone are the days when managers are burdened with hours and hours in the back office. And the less time you spend on paperwork, the more time you have to pay attention to things that really matter. Managing staff, engaging customers, and growing the business are easier with the right technology. No matter how competitive the business landscape is, managers on the frontline will make a difference. Investing in workforce management technology to empower your managers gets you closer to cementing your place in your industry. Want to eliminate tedious tasks and keep your managers on the frontline? Start your free 14-day trial with Tanda today! No credit card required.

Monic Del Rosario

10 May 2019    |   

Every year, problems with tracking time and attendance (and ultimately, wages) cause governments to apprehend and collect millions of dollars in penalties. Planning shifts, creating rosters, managing leaves, and keeping track of employees’ clock in and out are some of the most important things a business manager does on a regular basis. While some still use paper and punch cards in order to get these done, it can easily become tedious and prone to errors — especially if the company is growing at a steady pace. Luckily, with the age of technology comes automated solutions in the form of time and attendance software. Here are some reasons why it’s worth investing on: Whether you’re in need of a solution for simply creating rosters, or something that already integrates with your POS system and payroll software, or perhaps all of the above, an all-in-one platform is guaranteed to cut down admin work from hours to minutes. One of these software is Tanda, which provides an automated solution that covers ground from onboarding down to paying employees for the hours they worked. Read more: Why Fingerprint Scanners Don’t Work for Time and Attendance Find out what Tanda can do for your business. Get your 14-day free trial today — no credit card required.

Emerson Domingo

3 May 2019    |   

What’s new in Tanda: April 2019 Every organisation needs to adapt and evolve alongside rapid changes in technology, customer attitudes, and the competition. It’s easier to do that if staff have buy-in to your business goals. And we know from plenty of case studies that treating employees like your best customer turns staff into your greatest brand advocates.   ‘Treating your employees like your best customers turns them into your greatest brand advocates’   This month, we released 7 brand-new features to help you build partnership with your staff, and be on your way to lower turnover rate, increased revenue, and higher profitability. 1. Protect your employees’ privacy by choosing which managers can see costs Cost is a sensitive topic in a lot of workplaces. Some managers are averse to others seeing their pay information, especially if it’s not relevant to their jobs. You can now restrict costs information to managers of your choice, ensuring privacy and avoiding potential conflict. This feature only works if ‘Allow managers to see staff costs’ is turned off. After doing this, you can go to the staff profiles to give individual permission. 2. It’s now easier to ensure leave requests have accurate hours On opening an existing leave request, you can now edit hours so they match part-time staff work hours. This means it’s quicker to achieve accurate leave hours in rosters and timesheets, and correctly pay staff in the process. If you need more help, here’s a detailed doc on how it works. This is phase one of building fully automatic leave. 3. Custom Permissions: Have more control on who’s in control Decide which roles can approve leave requests, add time clocks, or add or remove employees. For example, staff with team manager permissions can typically create rosters and add employees. But for some organisations, hiring is left to a general manager. Custom permissions allows you to customise Tanda and reflect how your organisation works. Where to find it. Head to general settings. Choose who can add/remove employees on the general tab, who can approve leave requests on the time off tab, and who can add time clocks under the clock-in/out tab. 4. Stay on top of rostering issues as they happen with Key Alerts Make sure employees are following rostered times without getting stuck on the back office computer. Key Alerts lets you know through the mobile app if an employee is late to clock-in or clock-out; did not clock their break; or is at risk of overtime. It gives you information only when there’s something to be done. We won’t alert you of staff who are following rostered times and breaks. Key alerts is only sent to the mobile app (not desktop/web). Download the app on your iOS or Android smartphone. Read more about key alerts, including how to set up, on our help docs. 5. Create up to a month’s worth of rosters on one page   When we launched Roster Overview a month ago, you were able to view shifts up to a month in advance. Now, you can view, create and edit shifts like you would in the typical weekly roster view. This is useful to those who manage big teams, multiple teams, or prefer to look ahead in terms of scheduling. See how to find it in your rosters page. 6. Find out why some staff are working outside their roster If you want to know why staff have clocked-in early (or late), clocked-out late, or why they clocked-in at all, you’d have to go to the individual to clarify. But now, you can create your own questions and set it to show up during the above situations. Learn more about how to use it on our help page. 7. In a rush? Clock them in now, onboard later. If you need staff starting ASAP, you can add them straight through Time Clock. All you need is their name and email. They’ll receive their unique 4-digit passcode and can clock-in straight away. Read more. Keep up to date with our latest updates on our full changelog.

Emerson Domingo

11 April 2019    |   

From today, every payroll system you can think of, as long as it has an import function, can now work with Tanda. And it won’t cost thousands of dollars in custom integration costs. In fact, it won’t cost anything at all. Introducing Custom Export Builder With this feature, you can export all your timesheet data into a CSV file. It’s fully-customisable, and can work with the format any payroll software in the world requires. Change data terms, date formats, or eliminate information you don’t need to export. It’s all up to you and your requirements. Get started by watching the video below, or go straight into the deep end and create your own integration now. Why release this feature? Because at Tanda, our highest goal is empowering our customers to succeed. Higher than sales targets. Higher than revenue. And we’re true to our word. To see what else we do, check out our features overview, or book a free 20-minute product tour with one of our Workforce Success Executives.

Rosie Ramirez

23 May 2019    |   

John is 5 minutes late for work every day while his colleague Martha is late for 30 minutes once a week. Do these late clock ins really matter? For many businesses, they do. In shift work industries and frontline roles, frequent tardiness can mean disruption and loss of profit. Even just 10 minutes of being late accumulates over time and eats away at the bottom line.  But in a 2017 CareerBuilder survey, 29% of respondents said they came in late at least once a month. 49% blame the traffic for their tardiness, 32% blame it on oversleeping, while the rest blame bad weather, procrastination, and “too tired to get out of bed.” How can managers discourage lateness among employees? How to increase employee attendance Many traditional managers believe that harsh sanctions are the best way to eliminate lateness at work. However, sanctions lower employee morale. They can drive productivity down and result in a high turnover rate. That’s why at this year’s Workforce Success Conference, we are inviting students to propose ways to increase employee attendance in Australia. Read on to know more about the tried-and-tested ways to increase employee attendance. Get the chance to improve on these methods by signing up for the case competition today! An internship and cash prize awaits the winner. 1. Track time and attendance accurately The first step to making sure that proper clock ins and outs are observed is by tracking them accurately. Otherwise, your company will be exposed to a risk of time theft, or employees being paid for the hours they did not work. Lax monitoring systems make companies vulnerable. Manual time clocks are no longer reliable, as they are susceptible to time theft. Investing in cloud-based time and attendance software saves you time and energy on processing employee timesheets. Download a clocking system app for free and give it a try. Read more: Time Theft: Top 3 ways employees steal time and how to stop it 2. Address frequent lateness ASAP Feedback and coaching are important parts changing behaviour. Those who fail to meet time and attendance targets could be doing so for any number of reasons, such as single parenthood, chronic illness, or even financial instability. Understanding what they are going through is instrumental to helping them perform better. Managers should be able to empower employees to comply with their work hours. Schedule consultations with them to identify the issues and address them accordingly. Download and customise: Written warning – Late Attendance 3. Reward good employee attendance Deducting pay for frequent lateness is one solution and is a common one. But employee incentives for punctuality serve to underscore the importance of time and attendance in a more positive way. There are many ways managers have incentivised coming in on time. They require some work for managers, but the effect on morale and productivity cannot be understated. Here are some of the most frequently used strategies to increase employee attendance. Provide free breakfast once a month One popular way to reward punctuality is to provide free breakfast. This can be done once a month on a set day, or even more frequently, but on random days. Those who have good attendance will feel the benefits of coming in early, while those who don’t will start thinking about it. Give out tokens to multiple employees Gift cards, lunch vouchers, and company apparel cost little but are always appreciated. Keeping the rewards budget-friendly will allow you to give them out to more people and more often. It’s also a great way to keep attention on the program. Create a “Hall of Fame” for time and attendance Publicly recognise employees who consistently come in on time and do not have unexcused absences. It will boost their morale, and hopefully inspire others to follow suit. Give consistent performers time off Don’t think of this as an additional expense, because a consistent performer will have more than made up for it. This can be the high value reward given out during your end-of-year party. Include a plane ticket and hotel accommodations if you can afford it! Read more: Only a Matter of Time: Punctuality and attendance in multicultural workplaces Forge the workforce of the future Modern managers are people-centric. Many of them want to create a work culture built on trust, respect, and balance. When employees are constantly late to work, there are usually reasons that lie below the surface. Empowering them through attendance programs are more likely to increase morale and productivity. Sanctions and punishments for lateness are sometimes necessary, but there is plenty of room for creativity in this area of management. In the end, increasing employee attendance will benefit not just them, but also their team and the company as a whole.   Ready to forge the workforce of the future by increasing employee attendance? Form a team of 3-5 students and sign up today. A cash prize and internship awaits! We’ll email you more details and provide consultation once you sign up.

Rosie Ramirez

23 May 2019    |   

“Anywhere and everywhere you go, people need hospitality people. So it’s kind of like a ticket to ride, it gives you a fantastic experience to not only travel through different cities or countries for that matter, but along the way, you get the skills, you gather experiences, you gather knowledge,” says Gary Johnson, National Food Manager for Spirit Hotels. From his first job working at the back of the house, he is now an internationally recognised and award-winning chef. With over 40 years of culinary experience and leadership in restaurants, pubs and hotels, he is a force to be reckoned with in hospitality management. Managing Chefs, delivering hospitality “Hospitality is as diverse as it is a potpourri not only of different dishes, skills, nationalities,” Gary shares, “but any country, anywhere you go, everybody loves great food and everybody loves hospitality.” Drawing on his vast experience, this 2011 Australian Hotel Association (AHA) “National Chef of the Year” currently manages 88 hotels nationally. With thousands of staff, 5 million meals, and $80 million of food sales annually, how does he keep up? Below are Gary Johnson’s five tips for success in managing chefs and making the most out of the hospitality industry. 1. “Trust always comes back to you” “I believe that if you give people the respect that they deserve, it always comes back to you,” he begins. Gary’s collaborative management style is hinged on honest communication with his teams. He wants them to understand how important their roles are and trust them to get the job done. “Some of the chefs can misbehave [but] they’re the ones that don’t last very long in our industry. They probably don’t get the best out of their people in the long term anyway. And if it’s only a short-term thing, well you’ve wasted your time and money so that can only end in sadness,” he quips. Read more: Revolutionising Employee Engagement with Pragmatic Thinking’s Mikey Ellis Chef Gary Johnson (middle) with Chef Kenneth Bryce (left) and Sam Burke (right) at Red Meat 2018 in Canberra. Source: Farm Online 2. “Understand what people want from the leadership team” A 2017 survey from hospitality software provider Impos found that more than half of Australian businesses had difficulty hiring and retaining staff. Gary had the same experience when he first joined the Spirit Hotels group. “We had a turnover of around 150%. Katrina Gill in the HR department and I put plans together instead of wasting time and money from both sides of the fence. We really got down to being in touch with our people and learning how to understand what they wanted from us as a leadership team and what the business could give back to them long-term for their careers,” he says. Now their turnover rate is hovering at 40%, a huge improvement from what it used to be. Read more: How to Achieve Culture by Design with Career Culture Lab’s Amanda Lutvey “In the seven and a half years that I’ve been with the [Spirit Hotels] group we still have the same people who started as kitchen hands who are now head chefs,” he adds. Gary also employed staff who started casually waiting on tables while they were in university who have now diversified. Some have even done a hospitality degree and ended up running the hotels. “There was a really great career path and a trajectory from the beginning. If you’re a people person if you love hospitality, then it will be very good to you.” 3. “Find out what works best with which people” Gary has worked in both small restaurants and big hotels in several different countries. The secret, according to him, is blending in and learning along the way. “You have to be somewhat like a chameleon: draw on those managerial experiences and your own resources to be able to find out what works best with which people.” The key to having people stay is having genuine conversations about where they see themselves going and adapting your management style to deliver that.  He continues, “Generally, I also find that people don’t necessarily work for a particular company. Although that definitely has a bearing but they’ll work for leaders that they respect, appreciate, and trust. That’s the big key.” 4. “Back up your intuition with big data analytics” “Culture is integral and I believe very much so in any service industry, especially in the hospitality business, if you have a progressive, dynamic, cohesive culture then you generally have a pretty healthy business,” he reflects. But spreadsheets and numbers can only tell you so much. “I also believe that from time to time deep data analytics is no substitute for intuition. You can back up your intuition with some big data analytics and it’ll give you a pretty good indication of how the business is traveling.” According to Gary, having both data and intuition honed by being on the frontline will give you a much better grasp of business culture and progress. Read more: Four Ways to Keep your Managers on the Frontline 5. “It’s better to train people regardless of their length of stay” “Training is not cheap but it’s better to have better to train people and have them not stay for a long time, rather than not train them and have them stay for a long time,” Gary says. “The most important part is definitely having somebody there that can that can mentor that new person coming,” he continues. “We’ve all been there. We’ve all started the new job and it could be a pretty nervous time. If you’ve got somebody that can look after that person at least for the first three weeks, and then follow it up yourself. And in the first quarter, make sure that you actually sit down with them. There might only be 15 minutes but it is a valuable piece of time and investment that you’ll make for that person.” He believes the best and most efficient way is to identify the people who can deliver culture, skills, and competencies that you need in a role and buddy them up with new hires. This is part of an effective onboarding process that any company should invest in. Good employee onboarding helps them perform better and determines whether or not they will stay with the company. “I generally find if you get those people through and they enjoy the first three months, you have them for three years or even longer. So that to me would be the best advice I give anybody if they’re having a high turnover [rate].” Free download: In this Tanda eBook, we discuss why onboarding matters and present a complete onboarding checklist for employers, including a way to measure success! Mentoring the next generation is success Gary Johnson’s decades of international experience in the hospitality industry is instrumental to managing hotels and training new industry leaders. At the heart of it is his people-centered vision of management. The culture of taking care of clients starts with taking care of your own employees. “You can tell people what to do and you’ll get workers. But if you show people what to do, if you mentor them, develop them, and get to know them even better and then trust them, you get leaders,” he concludes. “I think the mark of success of any good leader should be in developing other leaders, and that’s what we’re all about.” Want to manage your hospitality business better? Looking for ways to change the game in your industry? Learn from Gary Johnson and other topnotch speakers at the Workforce Success Conference on 26 July 2019. Get your tickets now!

Monic Del Rosario

13 May 2019    |   

Tel Aviv, Israel — Tanda is proud to announce that Domino’s Israel will roll out its innovative workforce management software to 57 locations after a successful 3-month trial. The Tanda platform will be used to manage rostering, time and attendance, and wage reporting for over 1,500 staff across Israel. Following an introduction from Domino’s Pizza International, and a review of existing implementations in Europe and Australia, a pilot program was commissioned across 6 stores. Rory Broadbridge, Senior Enterprise Solutions Consultant at Tanda, said that this expansion into Israel marks a significant move forward for workforce management nationally, not just at an organisational level. “This news reaffirms our belief that Domino’s franchisors (and franchisees) across the globe are the leaders in technology adoption for the benefit of their workforces. In Israel, we will see Domino’s showcasing how an investment in software can optimise their processes and their bottom line,” Arie Elbaz, Domino’s Pizza Israel COO, said that with constant changes in labour costs, creating a good and stable crew is a major challenge for multi-unit businesses such as theirs. “Tanda is the best solution to give our supervisors and store managers the monitoring capabilities they need to manage their labour budget and drive operational efficiencies” An initial trial commenced in late 2018, with Tanda representatives working alongside store managers from 4 locations to understand the platform, integrate with existing systems and providing technical support. Following a successful start and quick realisation of wage cost savings, additional stores were added to the trial. Hebrew and Arabic translations of the software were developed for complete accessibility by all staff. In February 2019, the trial was a deemed a success; leading to the decision to introduce Tanda nationally throughout March. Tanda and Domino’s Israel will work together over the next few years to optimise operations nationally, develop new features, and support over 1,500 staff. Tanda is a market leader in workforce management software, eliminating paperwork with products such as the selfie time clock, intelligent rostering system, automatic award calculator, attendance-to-payroll integration, Shift Swapping, and more. Operating in Brisbane, London, Los Angeles, and Manila, Tanda is committed to raising the quality of work around the world — one shift at a time. To learn more, visit www.tanda.co. For media enquiries please contact: Dan Etiel  |  danetiel@tanda.co

Rosie Ramirez

24 April 2019    |   

“I’m passionate about developing extraordinary places to work because we spend a lot of time at work and in a number of organisations, managers just really don’t know how to design a culture,” says Amanda Lutvey, founder of Career Culture Lab. For the past twenty years, Amanda has worked with leaders and managers to transform their workplace cultures. With experience in a diverse range of industries, she specialises in providing solutions to a host of cultural issues. Whether it’s about communication, trust, or teamwork, she believes in focusing on people. But with so many things to consider, how do you get started on a people-focused workplace? For Amanda, every company has a culture whether they focus on it or not. That makes the difference between culture by default, and culture by design. “Culture by default is when you just let things happen,” explains Amanda. Often, there are unwritten ground rules that create cultural problems below the surface. These problems will eventually reach a tipping point, and by then it will require monumental resources to resolve. A way to avoid this is creating culture by design: a culture plan that integrates company vision and everyday life. Check out Amanda’s five tips to achieving culture by design below! 1. Go back to the company vision “Going back to the vision of the organisation is where it all starts. There is no one-size-fits-all solution.” When creating a plan for any company, Amanda doesn’t have to look far. “I’m very much about tailoring solutions to the vision of the organisation,” she says. Going back to the vision of the organisation is where it all starts. There is no one-size-fits-all solution. Different challenges of organisations across industries require different solutions. And there are plenty of misconceptions out there. “A lot of people think it’s just about having a ping pong table, bean bags, an open plan office, or having a groovy work environment,” she remarks. “It’s a great environment, but you need to walk the talk.” For Amanda, walking the talk means asking tough questions. Why are we here? What are our values? Answering these questions allows leaders and managers to create a culture plan that embodies the vision. They can set clearer expectations on workplace interactions. And most importantly, they can shape individual actions to benefit the company as a whole. “It’s not just about the benefits and perks, it is about creating an environment where people want to contribute, where they understand how they can contribute to the greater good of the organisation,” she emphasizes. 2. Always hire for cultural fit Recruitment managers are always focused on hiring the best talent. However, the best talent in the world may not necessarily be the best talent for your organisation. Skills and experience are always a consideration, but personality is what determines if a hire will flourish in the long run. “Cultural fit is so important. I would rather hire on attitude and cultural fit,” she says. This is because company culture is made up of individual behaviours and how they influence others and the company as a whole. “You can teach skills. Generally speaking, you come in with a good attitude of willingness to learn and we can teach you the other stuff.” 3. Set everyone up for success before day one “It comes down to the whole employee life cycle: the recruitment, the onboarding, the way we treat people on their way out the door,” Amanda remarks. Contrary to popular belief, onboarding doesn’t begin on the first day of work. In fact, if you do this, then you’re already far too late. What you do right after a talent accepts your offer shapes their investment in your company and your ability to attract equally skilled individuals. It starts with the little things, like a personalised welcome email and a paperless document submission process. “It’s about making sure that from the minute they walk in the door they feel like part of the team. It’s making them feel like you want them there and giving them every opportunity for success,” she notes. Employee experience determines how well they will do and how long they will stay with the company. Each turnover represents lost investment. And HR is not solely responsible for making sure this doesn’t happen. “The team manager [also needs] to make sure that [effective onboarding] happens for their people.” Free eBook: Making the Onboarding Experience Work for your Business 4. Leverage tech in employee engagement “Technology plays a massive role in freeing our people up often to do what they’re actually employed to do to be able to focus on what’s really important.” Amanda also believes in empowering employees by eliminating tedious administrative tasks. “Technology plays a massive role in freeing our people up often to do what they’re actually employed to do to be able to focus on what’s really important,” she remarks. At the heart of every business is people, and technology can enable them to perform at their best. “I think we can’t lose sight of the fact that our team and our workplaces are made up of human beings,” she adds. Leaders and managers need to look at talents and strengths to see how employees can contribute. Then they need to be empowered to do just that. Amanda shares that she’s met talented young people in management roles who are constantly caught up in rostering and doing the payroll. “Their time, rather than being spent in the frontline with guests, is spent on all this administrative work. Approving timesheets, doing rosters, all this stuff that can be so simple if you implement technology.” Tanda, a workforce success platform, has a complete set of features that cuts down the time spent on administrative tasks. It rosters employees, manages leave requests, and interprets awards so employees can focus on what matters. Automation, far from being a threat, actually empowers people to grow the brand and deliver the best service. Read more: Team management should be an easy cruise, not a struggle for the surface 5. Evolve your definition of culture “Your culture is something that ebbs and flows. It is the sum of the attitudes, beliefs, and behaviours of each and every one of your team members,” Amanda says. It has to be in line with the company vision, but at the same time, it cannot be disconnected from the larger picture. The people who make up the company ultimately define its culture. And it has to respond to needs, especially generational ones. For workplaces with four generations, technology can bridge the communication gap and help retain younger talent. Bringing technology into company culture is part of the evolution. Read more: 5 Ways a Work Chat App can Boost Productivity Amanda also cautions against having a vision only at face value. “A lot of the times what I’m seeing is organisations will have these beautiful values on the wall, but they don’t actually own them or live them. And the reality is the values is something that should evolve,” she emphasises. For Amanda and Career Culture Lab, the bottom line in achieving culture by design is making sure the values don’t stay on the wall. She concludes, “It’s about embodying it and living in it every day. These values need to be real. They are going to be something that we can all buy into and understand and we can clearly articulate for our people.” Amanda Lutvey is ready to tell you more about how to achieve culture by design at at the Workforce Success Conference 2019 on 26 July in Brisbane Australia. Get your tickets here!