Customer story

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St Helens: The Challenges of Communicating Over Multiple Sites Now Solved

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Posted in: Health and Fitness

Overview

St. Helen's Go Active, a part of the local council's leisure facilities, conquered communication challenges across their three UK locations with the introduction of OurPeople. They eliminated paper forms, improved class scheduling, and ensured training compliance. The platform facilitated seamless communication across all staff levels, resolving previous communication hurdles.

Headquarters

Go Active part of the St Helen’s Council’s Leisure Facilities

Locations

3 locations northeast of Liverpool, UK

Team size

81 employees

Turnover

£92m

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Challenge

The management team at Go Active found communication in the past quite difficult as getting information to be shared between staff, over three sites, was challenging. This was made more difficult as one site would often get more information than the other, leading to conflict. They tended to rely on using the telephone, texting, and WhatsApp but none of these were really the right fit. Far too much time was spent managing this communication challenge especially when it came to covering shifts. Using text messages to try to get someone to cover a shift was problematic as each staff member would have to be sent a message individually and it wasn’t always easy remembering to message every appropriate member of staff. Even if the right number of messages were sent, these were often ignored which created an even bigger problem. 

Solution

Whilst a few staff were reluctant to use it as they were worried that they wouldn’t have enough storage on their phones and a handful didn’t have smartphones, the management team overcame these issues by buying staff tablets. The most useful aspect of the platform is how they can utilize Cover and Broadcasts, as well as booking staff training. The audit trail also allows there to the accountability that was missing in the past.

Results

After a successful outreach approach which included a demonstration of the features and benefits, Go Active decided to introduce the OurPeople platform to their employees. They have been using OurPeople since 2021 and have found it hugely beneficial, especially as it allows them to communicate with everyone in the business. Everyone across the business uses it daily from managers to leisure assistants, and receptionists to gym instructors. The fact everyone can be contacted, no matter what site they’re at, or if they change phone numbers, has solved the communication challenges of the past. As OurPeople has been such a success they are now looking to develop the use of Smart Forms. 

Key stats

50+

Paper forms removed from the workplace

1,700+

Fitness classes filled

180+

Training sessions logged for compliance

“It is a staff communication tool which has the ability to do checklists and become a staff hub where people can access files, folders, and everything they want. It’s a good tool, so useful and easy to use. It’s fantastic.”

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Victoria Smith

Duty Manager at Sutton Leisure Centre