Appèl Catering

How Appèl digitally connects employees and ensures happy guests

At almost 700 locations in the Netherlands, Appèl provides catering for companies, schools, catering and events. The successful Brabant-based family business has almost 2,000 employees and is a leading organization in the Dutch catering market.

In their mission to make people happy together, Appèl experienced that not all colleagues could easily find the right information. As a result, colleagues also did not really feel ‘part’ of the bigger picture. After all, many colleagues only know colleagues from their location, and have never seen most of their other Appèl colleagues in real life. As a result, Appèl found it difficult to encourage mutual interaction. Together with Plek, they wanted to explore how to connect colleagues more (online).

Challenges and objectives

Since 2017, Appèl has been using Plek, internally they call the platform ‘Greet’. Because Appèl's locations are spread throughout the Netherlands, it was difficult to reach and engage all colleagues. Important operational information was missed, communication from the service office did not arrive and there was no insight into what was going on in the organisation. This led to a lot of inefficiency, unnecessary questions and was to the detriment of service delivery. This was especially true for colleagues working in one or more locations. In the search for a new platform, the following objectives were formulated:

Provision of operational information
- To easily provide all colleagues with the necessary (operational) information.
- Involving them in what else is going on in the organization.

Connecting employees
- Connecting employees with each other via a user-friendly digital platform.
- Giving them space to share their own fun tips, recipes, ideas or other inspiration via their mobile.

Encouraging mutual interaction
- By sharing personal and professional content among themselves.

Solution

To achieve these goals, Appel started a collaboration with Plek. The interactive platform was a success for Appel from the start. All teams were given their own space to share information, and the service office also immediately benefited from the introduction. Through messages on the timeline and (1-on-1/group) chats, they could easily reach colleagues in the locations. Thus, new menus, protocols and product changes were immediately shared in the right places.

Greet is the central digital information point where employees find everything they need during their working day. Greet is available on both desktop and mobile: thanks to this combination, colleagues have full control over how they want to stay informed. They can easily find operational information and always stay abreast of the latest news within the organisation.

Thanks to the user-friendly nature of Greet, there are now many active user groups where colleagues find each other. Besides the user groups in which people work together, there are active theme groups such as a ‘Marketplace’ and ‘Inspiration & Recipes’ group. Colleagues can decide for themselves whether to participate in these groups, to connect with other Appèl colleagues from across the country. Thus, besides being a very nice colleague you can also message yourself, Greet is a place where social and business information come together.

Implementation

Implementing the platform within Appèl was relatively straightforward. The project group from within Appèl researched in advance what colleagues needed and took input from different business sectors within the organisation. With that input, guided by an Implementation Consultant from Plek, Appèl started working on the structure and filling the environment. The launch of Greet was celebrated big across the organization.
Periodic evaluations with Plek checked whether the platform still matched changing needs. With the launch, the Communication department in particular played a major role, but now HR also plays an increasingly important role within Greet. Because in addition to activating and informing colleagues, Greet is now also used to offer (new) e-learning modules.

Results and benefits

When the corona pandemic hit in early 2020, Greet took on an even bigger role witin the organization. Colleagues could easily find each other and lend a helping hand, or just share what's on their heart to each other. Greet also offered the communication department a way to communicate directly about new measures, which created clarity and understanding among employees. Partly because of this, a number of clear results and benefits emerged for Appèl:

1. Greet creates a ‘us-feeling’ among all colleagues. Before the introduction, it was difficult for an on-site employee to stay informed, let alone know what is happening at another location. By introducing Greet, colleagues stay informed and know what is going on, which makes them feel more involved. Greet has been with Appèl for a while now, so the communications department now knows how best to communicate with their colleagues. Namely: a clear message, sometimes supplemented with a photo or video, without fuss. This way, colleagues on location can focus on the most important part of their work: making guests happy with delicious food and drinks.

2. It is remarkable how easily colleagues find each other, despite the fact that they may have never met in person. On the platform Greet, it is easy to share a photo or video of what you are working on, respond to someone else's tips, or ask a question. With almost 2,000 colleagues, there is always someone who can help you or someone who has had a similar question. That makes it fun to participate yourself and at the same time makes work processes more efficient. Colleagues first look for the answer themselves before inquiring at the service office.

3. Via Greet, a close bond is created, where people support each other and share their concerns. Through Greet, people reach out and encourage each other when necessary. This is reflected in the messages people post, and the reactions to them. But there is also room for expressing stress and worries, and especially for empathising with each other. Greet provides a platform for that, and it feels very close.

4. Effective onboarding. Colleagues on location are of course primarily occupied with their main task: happy guests. And even though happy guests are the most important part of a working day, Greet makes sure that colleagues know how to ensure that. For all (new) colleagues on location, all documents, instructions, protocols and sign-off lists can be found on Greet.

What’s next?

Information is now well found, which is why Appèl goes one step further. Employees are actively involved and activated via Plek's Employee Journeys. For example, when they first come into contact with Greet, or if they have to take e-learnings in a separate learning environment. Colleagues know that such important messages are only communicated via Greet. Convenient and clear, so everyone can remain effective in his/her work.

Due to the takeovers of existing catering locations, it is difficult for Appèl to make on-site employees really feel part of the organisation. Some of them have been working at the same location for years, and have been through different employers. By looking at the work processes and necessary integrations together with Plek, the onboarding of new colleagues will soon run entirely through Employee Journeys on Greet. This way, new colleagues immediately experience what Appèl stands for, how the organisation works, who their colleagues are and they can immediately view and complete all necessary forms and documents (e.g. for safety, HACCP).

Do you also want to improve communication and connection within (and between) your teams? Find out how Plek can transform your organisation: contact us today for a demo, and experience the benefits for yourself!

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