We’re changing the rules of how guest services are delivered in the corporate world. For so long front-of-house (FOH) teams have been stationed behind reception desks, welcoming employees and visitors as they enter and leave a building but providing limited support beyond the front desk.

Our DayMakers are disrupting this established norm. A prime example of this is how we have supported a major investment firm in London.

A successful trial period

The investment firm has a clear ambition of the environment it wants to encourage in its workspaces, one of which is providing an outstanding employee experience and a unique atmosphere for all to thrive.

The firm invited Chief DayMaker and director Bianca Angelico to share her thoughts on a workplace solutions proposal and DayMakers were appointed in for a six-week trial period.

The objective was to create and sustain a seamless return to work as employees reacclimatised post-pandemic. DayMakers were tasked with fostering an environment of inclusivity and help re-establish a sense of belonging.

Embedding DayMakers into the building

We had one week to design, resource, and train, but proving the DayMaker concept was an unmissable opportunity. We ran a recruitment day to create excitement around the project, selecting four DayMakers for Go Live and continued to recruit for three additional staff to deliver the entire project.

After week one we’d opened four of six floors. We found the best processes to exceed our KPIs and implemented a DayMaker expert ensuring consistency of data in our reporting.

We implemented DayMaker floor walks to identify issues and report them to the facilities team so colleagues in the building had an enjoyable and productive time in the office. This allowed us to get first-hand feedback about the building and their experience so we could evolve and improve. Our daily floor walks delivered a huge impact with the reduction of reactive tickets, so we increased them to twice a day.

Our DayMakers initiated a range of projects which brought varying impact to the workspace. This includes office refurbishments to help reduce noise and improve meeting spaces, and LGBTQ+ celebrations, working in harmony with the client’s Pride committee, to improve engagement and inclusivity.

Weekly project meetings enabled data sharing, feedback from the DayMakers and the client. We saw trends developing so remained agile to the demand. We aligned resource to the busier days of the week to support colleagues better. This meant we could extend the project PO to support the client longer using the agreed budget.

Evidence of the impact 

We created KPIs around:

• Repatriation of personal and departmental belongings
• Destruction of confidential waste
• Desk booking
• Clear desk policy
• New locker allocation and management
• New hub management

When the initiative started over 300 issues were highlighted on floor walks and 200 general issues were registered during the reoccupation, with an emphasis on personal  belongings. To help combat concerns over security, our DayMakers implemented a clear desk policy and activated lockers for personal belongings. Just three months later floors issues were reduced to circa 100 tickets.

Other key results included bringing the building back to full occupancy six months into the project and returning over 2,500 bags of items to individuals, with a 16% enquiry rate resulting in only 1% of complaints.

This reduction in pressure points enabled the client to focus on the strategic direction of the business, while entrusting On Verve to concentrate on enhancing its workplace experience.

As with any new initiative, data was key in measuring the true impact DayMakers were having on the employee’s workplace experience. The client used its internal app to capture feedback, including how employees found the arrival experience to their feelings throughout the day. This feedback provided insight into the value of DayMakers and helped the project evolve. When new requirements and challenges arose, rather than seeing these as barriers, we put innovative solutions and processes in place to overcome them.

What was an initiative that started with a single DayMaker has grown into a team of seven across the client’s nationwide portfolio on a permanent contract. It’s clear that there is an undeniable connection between improved workplace experience and performance, and DayMakers are now an integral part the company culture.

Glowing feedback

DayMaker Dori Houston explains how the team quickly won over the building occupants: “The concept in the beginning was unfamiliar to most. People would ask ‘what does a DayMaker do?” They don’t ask anymore. In fact, every day I hear “I don’t know how to do that, I will ask the DayMakers!”. We have very quickly become the fountains of all knowledge, the home of answers and the team who take away the strain.”

We received this great testimonial from the director of workplace solutions:

“DayMakers provided watermelon and ice lollies to colleagues during the hot weather recently. The following week I kept getting stopped by colleagues telling me about it and what a fantastic thing it was for me to do. Tempted as I was to take all the praise, I said it was all down to our fantastic DayMaker team. The feedback has been brilliant, and I just wanted to say thank you. You are all doing a fantastic job. Everything you do helps colleagues feel valued and enjoy being in the office so please feel empowered to keep coming up with ideas and have that continue the passion in making our offices a wonderful place to work.”   

In a survey sent to 132 of the client’s employees, 100% of individuals said they felt welcomed to the building when they arrived. Some of the written responses included:

“It was great, they made everyone feel welcome with such a friendly smile.” 

“The team on arrival were super helpful and very pleasant. Really lovely experience.” 

“Very welcoming, they remembered me each day.” 

A flourishing partnership

The client wants to lead the industry in terms of employee experience and embraced an innovative approach; giving permission for the DayMakers to try things and if they didn’t work, move on and try something else. It’s our belief that this openness to disrupting norms is how we learn. There is nothing comparable to DayMakers and we continue to exceed expectations of how we can make someone’s day.

Since becoming permanent partners we have further enhanced the scope of our delivery to become recognised as the employee experience experts. We introduced our employee events calendar with inclusive events such as Easter Egg hunts, themed days and D&I awareness events, and are expanding to event management for anchor days to ensure we enhance every touch point of the building users.

Our scope now covers additional elements:

• Locker Management and auditing
• Lost property management
• Clear desk management
• Proactive ticketing logging
• Stationery
• MFD management
• Site inductions

For a client’s new building, three DayMakers supported with welcoming 1,000 colleagues to the space and additional services such as post, couriers, scheduling shuttle busses and reception management.

We also added a Thames Valley office to our scope. The driver for this was the employees based there who were asking why they didn’t have DayMaker services. This led to a quick decision by the client to implement a DayMaker.

We are constantly looking at how to keep trailblazing the industry by testing new ways or enhancing the experience.

Creating workplaces of the future

Breaking norms is also integral to staying relevant as an employer and as a brand. On Verve is seen as part of the client’s Workplace Solutions Team and the DayMakers positively break down barriers between employees and procedures to improve the overall workplace experience.

Corporate businesses like this case study can see the tangible value in the DayMaker concept and how it adapts for their cultures. The traditional receptionist behind a corporate desk is becoming a thing of the past and On Verve is setting a new standard for being the makers of someone’s day.

Want to discuss how we can enhance your workplace experience? Contact our team on makers@on-verve.com.