Bianca Angelico, Director and Chief DayMaker at facilities services company On Verve discusses the benefits of fast-tracking candidates to interviews if they already fit the company culture, as well as the methods to attract them to the business.
The importance of soft skills cannot be underestimated in any industry, but they are particularly sought after in hospitality to support employee and visitor satisfaction. Employers value skills like communication, teamwork, and problem-solving to enable staff to interact effectively with both customers and colleagues.
Culture calls are a key part of the recruitment process as they determine how applicants will fit within the culture of the organisation. But why hold a culture call if you already know that a potential recruit suits the business? Whether you’re served by a charismatic waiter, or helped by a friendly receptionist at the gym, it’s useful to have a resource that turns the connection into an opportunity.
It’s all very well to leave a business card or write your number on a piece of paper, but it’s easy to lose these and there’s no real incentive for anyone to take the next step. We’d hear repeatedly from our colleagues; “I wish I had something more to give them.”
The Pink Ticket
At On Verve, we believe in making every interaction count, especially when time is short. That’s why our front-line staff, known as DayMakers, use visually appealing ‘Pink Tickets’ to fast-track a pathway to recruitment. These tickets are a powerful way to convey our message quickly and effectively.
This physical ticket contains the message ‘You’ve Been Spotted’ and a link to a hidden landing page on our website. The recipient enters their details and recruiters from On Verve can contact them when we have a position available. If they are interested in being hired, then skip straight to the interview stage without the need for a culture call.
By using this ticket, our DayMakers not only create a sense of belonging from the start, but also turn the interaction into an opportunity to showcase our brand. Even if the ticket recipient isn’t successful, or doesn’t follow-through with the link, they may become a future customer or recommend our business to others in the industry.
Creating change
When setting up a similar scheme, it’s important to consider the user experience from start to finish. Make the pre-interview steps as accessible as possible to enhance the experience. The information that is given to the recipient needs to balance being understandable and interesting, while also not overwhelming. Ideally, it should spark a conversation.
It’s important the branding is attractive. The benefit of a Pink Ticket is that it’s eye-catching and makes the potential recruit feel like they’ve won something before they even apply. The landing page that the ticket sends them to contains the core message of being a ‘maker of someone’s day’ and reminds the reader that they are valued for even getting to this stage.
Who gets to hand out a ticket needs to be planned carefully. This scheme is ideally suited to someone who already has recruitment skills. Someone who lacks these skills might give the ticket to anyone that they like, even if they don’t fit the exact role. To measure success, it’s important that a select number of people are allowed to hand out the tickets.
A case study: Ellie and Bella
DayMaker Ellie experienced some apprehension when using a new gym. But after meeting Bella, who greeted her with a warm smile and struck up a natural conversation at her local gym, she was put at ease. Ellie knew Bella would be a great fit for On Verve because she could read the room and strike up a natural conversation. She gave Bella a Pink Ticket and Bella is now a fully-fledged DayMaker, and she and Ellie have continued to keep in touch and support each other in their roles.
A tailored experience
Ultimately, this initiative must be designed in a way that works for your business. The initial problem should be clear and definable, so that the solution addresses the challenge. For us, the initial problem was spotting talent out in the field and not having resources on hand to entice them to apply. Our Pink Ticket scheme has been carefully considered to address this.
With a successfully recruited DayMaker, as well as other candidates on file waiting for the right match, we’re looking forward to rolling out this scheme to a wider base of DayMakers and welcoming more fantastic talent into the business.
