From the Frontlines: A Conversation With Colin Markey

In this series, Harri is highlighting members of our team who are up to big things and have big insights. This week we have Colin Markey, Senior Account Executive at Harri, discussing the market happenings he is seeing. As restaurants across the country experience closures and limited occupancy, we’re discussing employee communications and what businesses can do to keep up health and safety practices in these difficult times.

Q: So Colin, as someone who focuses primarily on organizations that are heavily franchised, how do you see these second rounds of closures affecting the day-to-day operations for restaurants in other parts of the country?

A: This is an opportunity here to reignite conversations around sunsetting manual health checks and leaving less to chance. Employees and customers are going to continue to fall down with adhering to all safety procedures as task forces become more stringent in how they enforce compliance at the restaurants they visit. Mandates are not going anywhere any time soon but becoming more common making it increasingly difficult for franchise owners who have to rely heavily on dozens if not hundreds of managers without any rollup reporting. Controlling the controllable and going above and beyond with a full paper trail of employee health is a great way for restaurants to show officials they are doing everything they can to keep their customers and employees safe.

Q: How do you see changes in occupancy rules affecting the way these businesses operate?

A: As far as occupancy, restrictions could continue to be loosened and tightened for a while based on the patterns we are seeing. Groups will have to keep a better cadence of employee communications to earn back the trust of workers who have been furloughed multiple times already. This calls for a rapid response technology, like CARRI, to keep those members of your team engaged and encouraged. People are looking for clarity, emotional guidance and need to feel that they are supported before they can return to work. With a service like CARRI, you are proving that you are willing to put in the extra work to combat government indecision with open communication.

Q: Some people think that employees should be tested consistently for COVID-19, do you think this will prove to be effective / helpful in the reopening processes?

A: Constantly testing employees is expensive and may be a deal-breaker for groups with less capital who are already dealing with thinner margins. If you have the ability to consistently test, go for it, but that is not the situation for every restaurant operator. As far as reopenings go, many groups may sit out the next potential green light the government gives them due to uncertainty and risk of restrictions tightening back up leading to losses. It is a fine line, but one that many restaurants are having to navigate through.

Q: Some states are clearly more lenient than others, how can operators handle objections?

A: Operators in other states do not have it as bad as they think when you compare it to states like California. The laws are constantly changing and they are the biggest example. Operators can be at the mercy of these lawmakers, and that is incredibly trying for some. Sharing stories of California operators is a great way to pivot into conversations around how they are leveraging our solutions to be resilient and not make excuses. My job is to help these companies bounce back as much as possible to overcome any uncertainty. 

Q: How do Harri’s solutions help restaurant operators looking for answers to the constant law changes, furloughs, and reopenings/reclosings that COVID-19 has brought on?

A: Harri’s guiding principles and commitment to providing frontline managers and workers who are on their feet all day the ability to execute daily tasks and make adjustments without stopping and starting has never wavered. Our response to COVID-19 was quick, efficient, and proved to our clients that we have their backs 100%. 

Even before COVID-19 watching us evolve to provide a more holistic approach to labor has exceeded what I originally hoped for when I joined. Before Harri I gained a ton of exposure to restaurant operators and got to hear about the impact different problems we’re having on their organization that my current company was not intended to solve the root causes of these problems.  Turnover, compliance, forecasting, scheduling, employee communications, productivity, high costs, time punches and getting new employees optimistic about their first day were the things people in HR, operations and finance were always looking to solve. Not having a smooth way to interview and on-board is a massive roadblock to executing these tasks especially my friends in operations departments who I’ve always had an affinity toward.  Employee communications start as early as that pre-hiring process! When you also factor in a wasteland of digital systems that don’t integrate with one another and are not specific to hospitality coupled with all of the new safety procedures it makes their job arguably one of the hardest in the world! 

These companies need someone they can trust so that they feel they can make the smartest decisions moving forward. Harri helped and supported me and I hope to pay that forward to our clients.