Streamlining Pre-boarding, Onboarding and Off-boarding in the F&B Industry
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This case study examines how a mid-sized company, operating a chain of casual dining restaurants across multiple cities in North America, addressed their workforce challenges with Qualee's employee experience solutions.
With a staff of over 3,000 employees, including front-of-house staff, kitchen teams, and management, the company prides itself on delivering exceptional dining experiences.
However, like many businesses in the Food and Beverage (F&B) industry, they struggled with high attrition rates and the constant need to hire, train, and retain talent. Their objective was to streamline processes, enhance employee engagement, and ultimately improve retention rates.
The Need
To tackle their workforce challenges, the company identified three key areas of need:
1. Automating Repeatable Processes
The manual processes involved in pre-boarding, onboarding, and off-boarding were time-consuming and inconsistent, creating administrative burdens. They needed streamlined, automated processes to ensure consistency and efficiency in managing these crucial stages of the employee lifecycle.
2. Customization
With a diverse workforce spread across different roles, languages, and locations, the company required personalized onboarding paths. These paths needed to deliver relevant and engaging content to new hires, tailored to their specific job functions and settings.
3. Employee Retention
High turnover among hourly staff was driving up hiring and training costs. The company sought strategies and tools to support continuous engagement, clear communication, and professional development from the outset, aiming to foster a more connected and motivated workforce.
The Challenges
Before implementing Qualee, the company faced several significant challenges:
High Attrition Rates
The frequent turnover among hourly staff led to increased costs associated with hiring, training, and onboarding new employees. This cyclical nature of turnover created a continuous strain on resources and impacted service quality.
Manual Processes
The company's pre-boarding, onboarding, and off-boarding processes were largely manual. This not only made them time-consuming and prone to errors but also led to inconsistencies in the employee experience, affecting overall satisfaction and engagement.
Engagement Gaps
Maintaining engagement across a large and diverse workforce was a constant challenge. Low morale and reduced productivity were common, as employees often felt disconnected from the company’s mission and values.
The Solution
To tackle its challenges, the company implemented customizable Qualee Journeys to improve the employee experience from the start. The solutions offered by Qualee included the following:
With Automated Pre-boarding, new hires received welcome messages, essential information, and an introduction to the company culture through Qualee’s automated feature. This approach helped new employees feel prepared and valued, reducing anxiety and creating a positive initial impression.
Through Customized Onboarding, the platform provided personalized onboarding paths based on roles, locations, and languages. This ensured that new hires received role-specific training, compliance checklists, and access to an employee directory, helping them integrate seamlessly into their teams and understand their responsibilities.
For employees leaving, Smooth Off-boarding offered a structured process that included exit interviews and feedback collection. This helped maintain positive employer branding and provided valuable insights for continuous improvement, enhancing the overall employee experience.
Qualee Feature Focus
Each of the following Qualee features played a critical role in the company’s transformation:
Journeys
Qualee’s Journeys module includes sequential steps which provided the backbone for the customized x-boarding experiences. The company was able to repurpose their existing multi-media content, such as videos, documents, quizzes and surveys. By segmenting Journeys to different roles, seniorities and locations, employees received relevant training and information. This increased their time to productivity, confidence and competence in their new positions.
Digital Forms & e-Signatures
The automation of administrative tasks through Qualee’s digital forms and e-signature capabilities streamlined the paperwork involved in the x-boarding processes and compliance. This not only saved time but also reduced the likelihood of errors and improved record-keeping.
Identification
Qualee’s identification feature enabled new hires to complete necessary identity verification processes digitally, simplifying what would traditionally be a cumbersome part of the pre- and onboarding process.
Employee Directory
The inclusion of Qualee’s employee directory allowed staff to connect easily with colleagues across the organization. This feature promoted a sense of community and belonging, especially for new hires and shift workers, which is crucial in high-turnover environments like the F&B industry.
Implementation
The implementation of Qualee’s platform was swift and efficient, with a rapid rollout completed within just two days. Integration with the company’s existing HR technology systems was seamless, ensuring that all data flows were consistent and up-to-date. Qualee’s intuitive mobile app contributed to high adoption rates among staff, and ongoing dedicated support ensured that any challenges were addressed promptly, further enhancing client success.
Results and Benefits
By choosing Qualee, the company experienced the following key benefits:
1. Enhanced Operational Efficiency
The automation of pre-boarding, onboarding, and off-boarding processes streamlined operations, reduced administrative burdens by 40%, and ensured consistency across the employee lifecycle. This allowed HR teams to focus on more strategic initiatives, ultimately driving better business outcomes.
2. Reduced Attrition Rates
The customized onboarding and engagement strategies provided by Qualee led to a 30%reduction in turnover, particularly among hourly staff. This not only saved on hiring and training costs but also fostered a more experienced and reliable workforce.
3. Improved Employee Engagement
With Qualee’s solution for continuous engagement and clear communication, the company saw marked improvements in employee morale and a 20% boost in productivity. Staff felt more connected to the company’s goals and more supported in their roles, contributing to a positive workplace culture.
In Summary: Why Qualee?
This case study demonstrates how Qualee’s employee experience solutions can address common challenges in the F&B industry, such as high attrition rates, manual processes, and engagement gaps. By automating and personalizing key aspects of the employee lifecycle, Qualee helped this restaurant chain improve retention, boost engagement, and enhance overall operational efficiency.
If your business faces similar challenges in managing a frontline workforce or high turnover rates, explore how Qualee’s solutions can help you transform the employee experience. From pre-boarding to off-boarding, Qualee offers a comprehensive platform designed to engage, support, and retain your most valuable asset—your people.
Contact us today to learn more about how we can tailor our solutions to meet your unique needs.
Power your people. Every day.
Our A.I. enabled solution allows the creation of interactive workflows, automates compliance requirements, and measurably improves engagement. Qualee is a diversity-led organization and our platform is offered in twenty of the world’s most widely used languages.
