Implementing bots for training, internal communication, and beyond

Honest College is a personalized learning program that’s integrated directly into Workplace and can be easily accessed by all Honest Burgers’ staff, whether they be on desktop or mobile. The bot includes bite-sized training modules related to a range of topics, from those directly related to the various roles and responsibilities at Honest, through to training relevant to life outside of work, such as time and money management or mental or physical wellness.

Training can be automatically assigned to staff based on certain attributes such as their location, experience or current position and has led to 150 waiters upskilling to become Chefs.

Honest Burgers created Collaborator as one of their main digital assistants with the bot housing a wide range of content including HR Guidebooks, employee benefit information, company news, help and support. Collaborator is also used to send regular pulse surveys to all staff over the course of the year.

Collaborator also acts as Honest Burger’s onboarding assistant, welcoming new employees to the company, introducing them to Workplace and directing them to relevant new starter information and helpful resources. During the onboarding process, Collaborator also sends out surveys to check in with new employees over time and to improve the onboarding experience for future hires. As well as onboarding new starters, Collaborator also asks new hires to provide some information on their interests and hobbies which is used to connect them with like minded employees across the company.

During the pandemic, Collaborator was also used to send out crisis communications to staff, updating them on how COVID-19 and new government rules and regulations would impact the restaurant industry and, specifically, Honest Burgers. Collaborator was able to answer questions relating to statutory sick pay, temporary shut down policies and provide staff with temporary alternative employment options at the start of the pandemic when restaurants first closed down. After a few weeks, Honest Burgers were able to re-open through a delivery only model and Collaborator was used to allow the operations team to decide which stores to open up first based on the location and willingness to come into work of their staff.

As the pandemic settled down and restaurants were allowed to re-open fully, Collaborator was used to manage the reopening process so staff were clear on the timings and new rules in place for the restaurant and hospitality industry.

Ops Larder is an operational assistant that staff can use to perform a number of tasks including ordering restaurant menus and supplies, report delivery mistakes, perform compliance training, recording absences or overtime and log risk assessments.

Ops Larder has also been crucial for digitizing processes that were previously done in more traditional and offline methods, such as shut down checklists. Previously, at the end of each day, a restaurant manager would run through a paper shut down checklist but there was no electronic log of these activities taking place. Using Ops Larder, managers are able to digitally log each shut down task which not only saves paper and ensures consistency, but also guarantees an electronic log of every shut down that’s taken place along with time stamps and staff IDs.

Honest Burgers also have a number of other bots that help with technical support, company events, payroll and employee profile gathering, merchandising and restaurant displays ordering, knowledge sharing and craft exchanges between staff.

To reward staff when Honest Burgers’ restaurants reopened after the pandemic, their One Big Lunch bot arranged a company wide remote feast where staff were able to order a free burger, have it delivered to their address and join a giant online remote lunch with their colleagues before they all returned to work.