Picture-perfect vision of communication and collaboration
With 50 cinemas and over 430 screens, HOYTS is the second largest cinema chain in Australia and New Zealand. Though easily accessible to moviegoers, the distance between HOYTS cinema locations proved challenging for the company’s internal communications.
Workplace enabled HOYTS to effectively transform communication and collaboration in just 90 days.
HOYTS employs over 3,300 people - 90% of whom are part-time employees working varied shifts. And the majority of these team members are millennials. Many of these employees don't have work email, which means that they had no way of communicating directly with the head office, or with their colleagues in other cinema locations. HOYTS aimed to better integrate their frontline workforce with the rest of the business, and unleash open communications across the company.
Cinema
3,000+
APAC
"Workplace has helped remove the barriers in communication, allowing for a two-way flow that we have historically not had visibility to. Now everyone is sharing news and important announcements and working collaboratively – this has widened our transparency across the organisation."
Results
Communicating more efficiently
In the past, it was the responsibility of location managers at each cinema to disseminate information to their team. This meant that each location was effectively operating like an independent cinema. But with Workplace, HOYTS has brought all 50 cinemas together, and paved the way for unprecedented connectivity among the cinemas and head office.
Team members across all cinemas can now easily access company updates from HQ in company-wide groups or in the News Feed. They can also get in touch instantly via Workplace Chat. The Workplace mobile app makes it easy for frontline employees to stay in the loop by viewing updates and messages on their mobile devices from wherever they are. Millennials’ familiarity with Facebook has made Workplace a big hit with them, and it meant that no training was required.
Cultivating better standards and experiences through collaboration
Beyond sharing news and updates, Workplace has become a central collaboration hub. Employees share tips, best practices and fun ideas through team and cinema-wide groups. One of the most popular discussions among these groups revolves around promotional ideas for movie launches and merchandising in cinemas. Employees who otherwise would never have had the opportunity to raise their ideas in front of a large audience can now put forward suggestions to the wider community, and get feedback and encouragement from their colleagues. This allows HOYTS to cultivate a culture of innovation, consistency and superior customer service across cinemas.
Bringing employees closer together
More than improving processes at HOYTS, Workplace has quickly become the go-to channel for employees to learn more about each other. This sense of community has boosted team morale and established a stronger, more productive culture within the business. It's even brought out healthy competition among cinemas.
Leaders from the head office who were once perceived to be out of reach can now communicate directly with frontline team members in cinemas, and vice versa. The company hierarchy now feels flatter and more connected. Employees use photos, GIFs, videos, and Live Video to communicate with each other, making work more engaging and fun.
