Virtually every growing company has experienced several challenges in the last couple of years caused by the transformative impact of the pandemic. The hospitality industry, perhaps more than most, has seen significant strain, with many companies forced to close their doors until health-focused restrictions were lifted. 

Even now, two years after the pandemic began, many hospitality companies are still struggling to pick up the pieces of their business, following issues from employee engagement to diminished profits. Having the right communication technology in place is quickly becoming an essential part of ensuring the survival of these brands. 

Honest Burgers, a rapidly-growing hospitality and food service company in the UK, faced significant problems when the pandemic hit. However, with the help of Meta from Workplace, the brand could survive, with locations now available all around the UK. 

Let’s explore how Honest Burgers and Workplace from Meta worked together.

Taking Full Advantage of the Meta Bot Platform

When the pandemic first hit in 2020, hospitality businesses were under significant pressure. Restaurants and hotels around the UK suddenly shut down overnight, leaving growing companies like Honest Burgers with a complex problem. The executive team set out with a goal to save the frontline jobs of all of its employees and ensure they had something to come back to when the panic subsided.

To achieve this ambitious goal, in a time of complex regulations and rapid change, the company knew it needed to act quickly, creatively, and bring people together while still protecting its teams. Fortunately, Workplace from Meta was already an essential component of the communication and collaboration ecosystem in the organisation. This meant the team already had a powerful way to stay connected in a distributed world.

However, the leaders at Honest Burger also quickly decided it was time to implement even more features from the Meta environment, addressing the new challenges introduced by the pandemic. As a result, the team turned to the automation capabilities of Workplace, with the support of the innovative “bot platform”. 

The bot platform gave the organisation the tools to boost time efficiency, enhance employee experience, and unlock new growth opportunities. After building several custom bots, such as the “collaborator bar” to keep everyone on the team on the same page, and other bots for boosting HR and learning management opportunities, leaders recognised a chance to use these solutions in response to the pandemic. 

The ability to reach all team members immediately and provide personalised experiences for each user meant Honest Burgers could deliver relevant, real-time updates for everyone in their team, address problems quickly, and enrich the experience of each employee.

Thinking Outside the Box With a Quick Pandemic Response

Honest Burgers started their transformation in Workplace from Meta with a mission of retaining their entire workforce by the time the pandemic was through. To enable this, the brand created a new “Honest College” environment on Workplace, where users could access simple and practical training to keep them up-to-date with their chosen industry.

Aut5omated training sessions included a variety of lessons, promoted alongside short quizzes and skill development options for roles in various sectors of the business. The new system allowed the organisation to automatically assign relevant content to employees according to their experience, location, and current position. The training even transformed 150 waiters into chefs!

Aside from paving the way for continued training and development opportunities, Honest Burger also focused on finding ways to improve the employee experience. Leaders in the team acknowledged how important it was to continue supporting employees during a difficult time. Using bots, the supervisors in the workforce reached out to all frontline staff and asked them to share their circumstances and workplace preferences.

The information collected by the bot allowed Honest Burgers to allocate each employee a specific number of hours of work at a restaurant within a thirty-minute distance from their home so that everyone could avoid crowded spaces and public transport at the peak of the pandemic. The approach created a sense of belonging and safety among the team members. 

Implementing Creating Solutions for Teams

An additional step taken by Honest Burgers during the pandemic involved revisiting outsourced roles. Many regular contractors connected with the company could no longer fulfil their routine jobs. 

To respond to this, rather than looking for new third-party staff, the team launched a “Craft Exchange” strategy to make the most of the skills of their existing workforce. Bots and groups enabled maintenance tasks to be shared, allowing employees to take on additional work for extra pay. 

As part of the overall strategy for employee engagement and wellbeing, the company also implemented Workplace Live to create two-way conversations. The Live sessions included everything from workplace updates to live activities like radio shows, HIIT classes, cooking classes, and quizzes. This gave all employees more opportunities to stay involved in the team. 

The two-way communication also helped Honest Burger to identify a growing need for mental health support across all parts of the business. As a result, a mental health chatbot, “People Guardian”, was built to assist staff members in dealing with everyday issues at home. 

Achieving Amazing Results

During the pandemic, Honest Burgers built a total of more than 50 custom bots, achieved a consistent activity level of 92% among all users, and an activity level of 89% among frontline users. After seeing the impact Workplace from Meta had allowed them to have on the organisation, Honest Burgers has grown increasingly focused on integrating all processes, communications, and strategies into this environment. 

According to the Honest Burgers team, the goal they have right now is to ensure their entire workforce can always find the things they need on Workplace. This single pane of glass environment should even eliminate the need to remember multiple usernames and passwords, while enhancing internal communication, resource access, and messaging consistency. 

 

 



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