Case Study
From flagship hotels to gaming arcades: how Mikhail Group manage their people
Company Name: Mikhail Hotel and Leisure Group
Mikhail Overview
Mikhail Hotel and Leisure Group started working with S4labour at the beginning of 2018 to help them best manage their dynamic workforce of over 250 team members, across a variety of different types of venues. From their flagship hotels to gaming arcades, Mikhail Group boasts 14 sites and two head offices.
Before switching to S4labour, Mikhail were relying on a server-based workforce management system, which was outdated and no longer allowing the business to be its best.
“We’re a very accounts-led company, so having the numbers and the data there ready to review every single day is key to the ultimate success in the business. The business has been successful over the years, we’ve gone from 1 venue in 2015, to sitting at 14 now.”
Time and attendance
Commercial Director at Mikhail Hotel and Leisure Group, Geoff Wareham, told S4labour: “It was all very manual. There was no till links. I had to put sales in every day. The clocking in and out was temperamental at best and at worst case scenario you risk of underpaying staff quite significantly or overpaying them because the system wasn’t fit for purpose, it was probably a system that was 20 years old.”
For such a diverse and growing business, getting actual hours recorded for every employee to ensure they could process accurate payroll. Finding the right tools that would allow them to do this efficiently, and across all of their different venues, was a top priority. Geoff commented: “there was always that risk of staff being underpaid or overpaid. So obviously last year when S4labour launched big TAPS, that was a real key feature.”
Visibility of labour costs
Mikhail Group also find a huge amount of value in having accessibility and visibility of their labour costs: “we’re a very accounts-led company, so having the numbers and the data there ready to review every single day is key to the ultimate success in the business. The business has been successful over the years, we’ve gone from 1 venue in 2015, to sitting at 14 now”, said Geoff.
For Mikhail Group, it’s important that at each level, their team have the right tools in place to be their best. General managers can access key financial KPIs, which is essential to making key decisions and plays a part in making the business thrive.
Speaking of the key role Mikhail’s GMs play in the overall business, Geoff said: “when they’re managing their cost, to be able to just log onto their phone and see: what’s my forecast today? What’s is my wage percentage looking like this week? is massively beneficial.”
People management
Mikhail Group also use S4labour’s HR tools, which help them to save time and ensure they are GDPR compliant, without any of the stress. As a young company, they didn’t always have systems in place for everything, so contracts were something that used to be a manual process.
With the help of S4labour, their people management has become even more effective: “the HR solution as an add on was essential. It just gives everything in the same place”, Geoff commented.
In terms of cost vs benefit, Geoff told S4labour that “the benefits far outweigh the cost.”
