Famous for 15 minutes
We care about technology-enhanced human systems. So we thought we would share regular thoughts and opinions about why we think they matter so much.
We care about technology-enhanced human systems. So we thought we would share regular thoughts and opinions about why we think they matter so much.
Ever heard of Harris and Hoole? Or H+H? If you haven’t, you soon will, as their coffee shops are coming to a town near you. They’re a family affair (it’s a case of “meet the Tolleys” – a very lovable bunch) with ambitions to bring their back-street, artisan coffee to the masses. Their plans are big. Huge in fact. And most recently backed by Tesco then they’ve got some big style backed to help deliver to big dreams. And when you’ve got those kinds of plans, you need people to make them happen.
And what do they call the people that work with them? They’re fondly known as Hooligans. They’ve even called their head office in Ropemaker Street, EC1 ‘Hooligan House’ (describing it as where the ‘suits’ work). Why am I telling you all this? Well, I’m trying to build a picture. Because when you’re trying to recruit the best baristas and the best anyone-brilliant-in-the-coffee-industry across the country, competition is fierce.
This is why H+H are rewriting the coffee table recruitment book. And it’s why they asked us to get involved. The largest part of their recruitment drive is for baristas and store staff. They understand who they need to talk to and then know that they’re passionate, savvy, ‘about-town’ kinds of people. That’s why H+H are keeping it real when it comes to how they treat their people. It’s the bedrock of their approach and how we came up with a plan to make their career site tactile, responsive and immediate.
In short, they wanted a site and a process that worked for people with busy lives. So it needed to work out in the real world. And we mean out, we mean out and about. This is why we’ve worked so hard to make it look particularly great on mobiles and tablets. It’s friendly, comprehensive (without being laborious) and most of all it’s relevant to the people they want to reach out to.
Neat functionality like an ‘availability matrix’ has been added so that they can match requirements without wasting anyone’s time. There’s also a snazzy personality test that helps define (in a very relaxed, H+H way), where someone’s strengths lie and whether they’d be happy there. As it goes the execution is particularly tactile on a mobile device too.
From the recruiters perspective we’ve added in neatness too (of course ;). We worked hard with the H+H team to ensure that the processes for different categories of recruitment are as efficient as possible for today’s needs, but also building in the capability to evolve with the projected processes for longer term as the business grows. We’ve also brought key candidate information upfront so that the screening process is efficient to administrate - some times it’s the simplest things that can make the biggest difference to the day-to-day user.
Harris and Hoole are going places. And we’re pretty proud that we’re helping (in our own small way) to get them there.
PS…. They’re not stopping there. Watch this space for how we’re helping them to tackle assessment centres. More on that very soon.