Hotel Indigo needed a solution to their retention challenges.
The hospitality sector has struggled with retention for many years, a problem that was made significantly worse by the pandemic. Hotel Indigo, like other hotels in the industry, has felt the effects of a turbulent hiring climate. Tom was concerned that if staffing was to become too inconsistent, then customer experience would suffer. Other challenges included:
- Managing recruitment costs while maintaining exceptional service
- Adapting to upcoming changes in business rates and potential hotel tax policies
- Attracting and retaining talent in a competitive market
- Inconsistent communication and a lack of staff incentivisation
This was the picture that Tom presented us when we first met to discuss Mo’s role in his employee engagement strategy. Over the next few years, our in-house Customer Success team worked with Hotel Indigo to tackle these challenges from the bottom up.
“Before Mo was introduced, there was no official, on-the-spot monetary recognition. If Mo wasn’t here, I would have implemented something myself anyway, because it’s something that I would have done in past hotels. But Mo is a tool that makes it very, very easy to actually make it work.”
Tom Orange General Manager, Hotel Indigo Durham
Mo was the answer to Tom’s needs.
When Tom introduced Mo to his team in April 2024, he wanted a system that would empower him as General Manager to reward hard work instantly and meaningfully.
Using Mo, Tom introduced:
- Day-to-day verbal recognition to reinforce a culture of appreciation.
- Monthly monetary Mo rewards, including birthday bonuses.
- Employee of the Month voting process to encourage peer-driven recognition.
- Annual Employee of the Year award.
- Instant monetary rewards, particularly valued by employees before payday.
“It’s very engaging and easy to use – I love the gifs and the way you can respond with emojis. I like the way the recognition is instant, and I love seeing people’s reactions. To me, it’s like a workplace Facebook.”
Tom Orange on Mo’s platform
Tom chooses to oversee the Mo rewards centrally to ensure fairness and maintain an equitable recognition system. He believes this has been key to improving employee engagement while balancing the books.
Since financial impact is an important driver for Tom, and other hotel managers like him, the ability to keep track of his Spending Pots on Mo has been game-changing.
Mo has been one part of Tom’s wider approach to making his employees feel appreciated and listened to.
“I think it’s just by being there for the team and being very approachable. I like to create fun in the workplace,” Tom told us. “I think it gives energy to the team if it feels like you’re a human and you’re treating them like humans. You’re all there for the same end goal — but you actually demonstrate that, rather than just talk [about] it. I think that’s the key to engagement.”
“Everyone likes to get a notification on their phone that their GM is shouting them out for delivering great customer service.”
Tom Orange General Manager, Hotel Indigo Durham
Today: clear signs of success.
After working with Mo, Tom reduced his labour turnover rate to just 15-20%, significantly lower than the 45% industry average.
Hotel Indigo Durham has built a high-performance workplace culture that attracts talented staff and keeps them. Tom consistently receives high numbers of job applications for every opening, demonstrating the hotel’s positive reputation.
“We have very high engagement. We just had our engagement score back from Aimbridge and got the highest in Aimbridge again.”
Tom Orange General Manager
See how Mo could work for your team
Book a call with one of our experts to understand how Mo could help you reach your culture goals.
