Rococo Chocolates | Streamlined HR for growth & success

Rococo’s story

The lowdown

Rococo Chocolates, a beloved British brand since 1983, is renowned for its artisan chocolates sold in prestigious stores like Selfridges and Harrods. Recently acquired by the Prestat Group, part of Gruppo Illy, Rococo continues to thrive, embracing innovative HR solutions to manage its diverse workforce. We spoke with Jenny Ryan, Head of HR, about how Employment Hero has revolutionised their HR and payroll processes, preparing them for a seamless merger.

Life before Employment Hero

Previously, Rococo Chocolates grappled with disjointed HR systems, struggling to manage onboarding and offboarding across various staff roles efficiently.

“It’s a fast business and we react quickly to things. I don’t want the systems or the admin part of their job to be the difficult part,” says Jenny.

The disparate systems led to inefficiencies and hindered their ability to maintain a vibrant company culture. Jenny highlighted the challenges of managing diverse needs from the shop floor to the office, emphasising the complexity added by their extensive product range which all staff needed to familiarise with.

“Our customers feel really passionate about what we do, and we want our team to feel this too. One of the key things that everyone needs to learn is what’s in our range of chocolates,” says Jenny.

This adds a layer of complexity to onboarding, but it’s an important part of getting new team members ready for the role. “We send all that information out ahead of time and it gets people really excited about what it is that they’re going to do.”

With employees from the retail team working across multiple locations and the production team working from one place – it can be challenging to stay on top of who is working where.

“Each site and location has a slightly different setup in terms of how they check in and how they check out. And also in terms of how they’re set up on rosters,” says Jenny.

How it’s going

Onboarding and offboarding, simplified

Since partnering with us, Rococo Chocolates has streamlined its HR operations, enhancing both employee experience and operational efficiency. The platform has simplified the onboarding process, enabling quick integration of new staff and ensuring that exiting employees return company assets smoothly.

We have also helped improve visibility across the organisation, ensuring all team members can see who is on leave, thereby preventing scheduling conflicts. This new system supports Rococo’s commitment to staff well-being, allowing employees to easily manage and take their leave without the stress of potential overlaps.

“Employment Hero has helped make basic administrative jobs really simple. Whether it’s onboarding someone that has to be super immediate so you can get them onto the shop floor, or offboarding where you have to make sure that you get company items back like keys and laptops, it’s taken away the thinking and potential for mistakes to happen.”

Unintended benefits

Jenny was pleasantly surprised by the additional capabilities of our platform, particularly in generating reports and pulling order reports efficiently. This feature has enabled her to provide a more rounded experience for both customers and employees, underpinning their service excellence with robust data insights.

“Employment Hero has shifted where I spend my time. Rather than doing it in terms of business as usual or admin paperwork systems, chasing things – everything is now accessible so I can spend the time having meaningful conversations to allow for growth and strategic conversations to be the focus,” says Jenny. “That just didn’t happen before because our previous systems were manual.” 

Those benefits aren’t just for Jenny though. They’re felt by everyone in the company.

“One of the key benefits that the team have conveyed is the amount of information visible to them,” says Jenny. “So instead of asking how many holidays I have left, or where their contract is – they all have the ability to do that on their phones.” 

“I used to receive a lot of email requests on how much leave people had, and all of that went away. They could look at a leave calendar and make a conscious decision to put that leave in which made things simpler and faster for our team.”

Get time back to focus on the things that really matter

Rococo Chocolates has successfully integrated our platform into their daily operations, turning HR challenges into opportunities for growth and employee satisfaction. As they continue to expand and merge under the Prestat Group, Rococo is well-equipped to maintain its high standards and unique company culture. Jenny praises the platform’s efficiency:

“I’m noticing how fast it is, and how frequently I can pull order reports and things like that. I feel that we’re able to give a more well rounded experience, and are able to do our job better because it’s easier for me to get the information to make sure it’s reviewed regularly.” 

Our platform has streamlined crucial HR tasks, allowing Rococo to focus on strategic goals rather than administrative chores. And we’re delighted that Jenny appreciates the exceptional support provided during the setup…

“I found the service and experience that I have had setting up Employment Hero incredible and super supportive. Every part of that process has been really easy. It was almost as if someone internally in the company was working with me.”

If you’d like to learn more about how we can help your business and be there for you as you grow – speak to one of our business specialists today.

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