The industry is constantly being moved by new trends – we track them down. In our series 'A Ladle…' we regularly present projects and personalities from the food and gastronomy scene. Today we dive into the world of Gofer, a staffing platform that really cares about its community of workers. To understand the app and its purpose even better, we talked to Marc Tessier, CEO of Gofer.
What challenges should Gofer tackle?
Hiring temporary workers in particular is even more risky and time-consuming for hotels, caterers and restaurants than recruiting is already. Staff is the number one reason for bad reviews on booking sites. Nevertheless, hoteliers, for example, must continue to respond flexibly to seasonality, special business events or more recently Corona. There are 3 main requirements for staffing in gastronomy: service quality, punctuality and how quickly a team member can adapt and act independently. Current and confirmed references help with hiring candidates quickly and safely.
What solution does the app offer?
Gofer simplifies hiring and paperwork for short-term and permanent employees. In addition, Gofer – as a staff platform – takes care of their community. After the job, the employer and employee assess each other so that other potential employers are able to get a strong impression of what a candidate is capable of and whether they would be a good fit for their team. In this way Gofer offers staff that is verifiably certified in dealing with guests for a wide variety of businesses. The attendance and punctuality rate of our employees is 98%, the industry average is between 50 and 70%. For permanent positions, our platform has been able to fill positions three times faster than with regular job exchanges or via social networks.
How is the application designed?
Gofer is a very playful app. Each part of the onboarding process is explained with tips and examples. Users who get to the final 'acceptance phase' are carefully selected and curated. Hotels, caterers and restaurants just have to publish their job offers – which is done within a few minutes. The companies only receive the information they need, such as experience, soft skills and competences. This, and especially the verification by other employers, allows restaurateurs to make faster decisions than by looking at a traditional resume. For permanent positions, the process is very similar to that for temporary employment until the company selects a profile. Then the provider has the opportunity invite the candidate to an interview.
Gofer was founded in 2017. CEO Marc Tessier believes that technology and data will bring confidence back to the work environment. Co-founder Isabel Yus, CMO, lives by the motto: "Where there's a will, there's a way." Nicolas Delahaye, COO and Product Manager, thinks: "Why does work have to be complicated?" The Gofer team went through the METRO Accelerator powered by Techstars (now METRO Xcel program) and is supported by the METRO mentor community.
New trends are shaping the food and catering and hospitality industry. The focus is on inspiring projects and personalities. They show what's trendy, what's moving and what's successful.
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