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January 21, 2025

How hospitality management chain OTG boosts engagement with its frontline workforce

Discover how OTG is replicating that experience of knocking on HR’s door for a frontline mobile workforce. It starts with using streamlined communication to create a better employee experience and more efficient operations. 

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When was the last time you’ve called a helpline and been stuck in a series of pressing numbers trying to get something done? All you want is someone to give you the information you need. It can be frustrating to negotiate the trade-offs to using technology and offering a humanized experience.  

For many businesses, efficiency has become a top priority to contend with tight, set budgets. Without the right communication, employees don’t have the information they need to get the work done or awareness of their organization’s priorities – and that breeds inefficiency.   

But there are organizations who have found ways to strike the right balance between efficiency and employee experience with the help of technology. Here is an example of how Dayforce customer OTG Management is navigating this balancing act successfully.  

Recreating the experience of knocking on HR’s door 

OTG is an industry leader in developing and operating restaurants and retail markets in airports across North America. OTG’s business moves at a fast pace, with a complex frontline workforce. They’re managing people who are always on the go instead of stationed at desks, so they’re challenged with making their employee experience as efficient and seamless as possible.  

Having a central hub is essential for sharing information and creating a two-way channel to generate ideas from their Crewmembers. Kelly Licciardi, SVP Talent Management spotlights how, “Sometimes Crewmembers are coming on shift at 5am and may not see their manager until later.” As an HR team, they’re responsible for managing a lot of information online for employees, from handbooks to benefit guides. OTG tapped into Dayforce Hub and was an early adopter of Co-Pilot, a new suite of Dayforce AI-powered features that help transform work by automating repetitive tasks and serving as a personalized guide for employees. 

“We always try to replicate that experience of knocking on HR’s door,” says Brett Byers, Director of People Services. “A Crewmember has a question and gets that information sent right back to them on their phone because we’ve interspliced information from our company intranet into Co-Pilot. There’s no set-up for the hub at all on their end.” 

This airport and restaurant retail chain company has 350 locations at 11 airports, each with their own unique footprint and local challenges. Each airport has its own individual hub, with deeper personalization for functional roles. “It’s a great place to check schedules, know they have to complete enrollment by Thursday etc.,” says Licciardi. “With personalized hubs, we've been able to map out as an HR team what we want to focus on and celebrate at a time.” 

Getting your people to use the platform is critical. But how do you get that employee buy-in without having managers pester them about it? “Keeping it current is key,” Licciardi shares. “People want to see fresh information, they want to see their pay, their schedule, not irrelevant information about other airports or a promotion about things they don’t care about.”  

Putting data-driven decisions front and center 

Many leaders know leveraging data is important, but the path of turning potential into real progress isn’t always a straight line. Organizations are constantly navigating how they balance innovation and privacy, and managing the actionable data they have and their limited IT resources.   

Reporting can help identify workforce trends and patterns to make smarter decisions for your operations. But you need more people across your business using that data every day. OTG is putting their data strategy into action by using the same communication tools for their managers as their workforce.  

Byers starts with “What are some really important data points we want our managers to know? A common struggle we have is we provide lots of data to our management team, but it can be hard to get them to use it.” Managing dashboards can often require different levels of training and analysis. OTG found leveraging their company intranet was an easy way to keep the crew in the loop with what’s going on. “We have this cool communication tool to have that front and center and promote important information.” Having a data strategy becomes valuable once that data pipeline is regularly feeding your leaders the right information at the right times.  

Taking on the job training to the next level 

Many employees need to be trained on numerous types of compliance, from TSA requirements to food and alcohol safety, as well as soft skills. Licciardi details how, “In an airport, every Crewmember acts as an ambassador of that airport. If a passenger has a question about finding the bathroom or their gate, helping people get where they need to go regardless of the role they're in is critically important.” 

Learning and development is important but there’s not always a lot of time for frontline workers to devote to it. Not to mention how much of role-based training like food and beverage happens on the job. Licciardi shares OTG’s “Flight Plans” that they have in their LMS to help new Crewmembers take off right from the start. “It’s handy for Crewmembers on the go and managers who don’t have time to sit on a laptop. It gives each employee a self-guided tour of what they need to know on the first 5 days. It’s also an easy way for managers to check in to see how onboarding is going.” Crewmembers also receive personalized role-based training or manager-based learning in the LMS. Leveraging mobile learning has allowed OTG to secure 100% training rates in key areas.  

From an employee experience perspective, upskilling is an important element of selecting an employer, in addition to accurate pay and a fair schedule. “It’s transitioning into, how do I continue to learn?” says Licciardi. “Upskilling can include conversational English skills, learning more about wine, or valuable soft skills. More people are comfortable saying ‘How are you going to help me learn and grow?”  

Often time, there are many opportunities to change roles or even departments, but your people may not necessarily know about it. Licciardi shares how the knowledge that people are looking for better opportunities encouraged them to increase their communication around career pathing. “Our CareerGPS tool is designed with the user in mind. You can click into different airport departments and learn about what jobs are available, such as moving from above wing to below wing.”  

Focusing on the employee experience can have big benefits. OTG has seen a 13% decrease in turnover since 2021 – an impressive measure for industries like retail and hospitality which historically have high churn.  

Clear communication sounds straightforward. But having a concise and targeted communication strategy can help organizations balance their business priorities and workforce strategy so that everyone comes out ahead. Your people will have the information they need to make the best decisions and the job as well as appreciate the efforts towards their expectations. And that’s helping pacesetters like OTG soar above the competition.  

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