Home to the world-revered Peppa Pig World and welcoming more than one
million visitors every year, Paultons Park was voted TripAdvisor’s number
one UK amusement park for the fourth year running in 2019. Head of HR,
Darren Vann explains how they keep it ticking with precision
The OurPeople app helps visitor attractions such as Paultons Park run smoothly behind the scenes
The family-run theme park had been looking at how it communicated with its 640 staff for some time. Employees work across 11 different departments from the more obvious catering, retail and park operations to engineering, grounds and gardens and livestock; the park, originally a country park and bird gardens, first opened in 1983 and still boasts impressive themed gardens with exotic birds and animals, which were a feature of the original estate.
With most staff not desk-based, easy and effective communication was a challenge and Paultons Park explored a range of methods to appeal to its diverse workforce with no particular joy, until two years ago, when the company partnered with smartphone-driven workforce management platform, OurPeople.
Traditionally the park had communicated with staff through email, notice boards, screens in staff rooms and its extranet, but as Vann explains: “OurPeople has improved the way we engage with staff. It’s given us a more immediate means of communication, particularly as the app is phone-based and the majority of our staff aren’t sat at a desk with constant access to a computer.
“As a seasonal business, only 120 of the 640 staff are permanent team members, but they all perform extremely diverse roles and work different patterns. Most don’t have access to IT as part of their role. In fact, less than 10 per cent of our overall staff have their own email account, which was proving a challenge when trying to find a communication method that would engage everyone. We needed something that would work easily on the go.
“OurPeople grabbed our attention because it’s more than just a messenger app. We’re able to post files, such as rotas or policies and procedures, as well as being able to message staff in small groups or individually and send broadcasts to larger groups of staff, such as internal vacancies, events and surveys.
“The fact we can send targeted messages to specific staff is a real bonus. We can make sure people only receive relevant content rather than bombarding them with messages that don’t apply to their role.”
Staff at Paultons Park are truly engaging with the App, with an impressive 83 per cent on average of broadcasts ‘seen’. Since January 2019, Paultons has sent 158 ‘cards’ to staff, such as team briefing notes, schedules, cover requests, special offers and job vacancies, which have received almost 17,000 swipes from staff that have engaged with them. The 115 files Paultons Park has been uploaded have been downloaded more than 10,500 times.
“OurPeople has been extremely helpful when it comes to bad weather too,” continues Vann. “As the OurPeople console is web-based we can log in to the app from outside the office and send messages before people start work and hopefully before they even leave for work. In these situations it also helps us to be clear about who we would like at work, if possible, and who isn’t required, by being able to send targeted messages.”
About OurPeople
OurPeople is a smartphone-driven workforce management platform. Content is delivered to team members via cards, which can be anything from simple text or images, to quizzes, video or training and event invitations. Staff simply tap to interact.
Paultons Park also uses the app as a diary and an educational tool, enabling staff to enlist on education programmes, including surveys and quizzes, as well as search and view operating procedure manuals and action plans.
Real-time reporting means management can see which team members have read and engaged with content at the touch of a button.
OurPeople is an easy-to-use workforce management app
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Home to the world-revered peppa pig world and welcoming more than one
million visitors every year, paultons park was voted Tripadvisor’s number
one UK amusement park for the fourth year running in 2019
Home to the world-revered Peppa Pig World and welcoming more than one
million visitors every year, Paultons Park was voted TripAdvisor’s number
one UK amusement park for the fourth year running in 2019. Head of HR,
Darren Vann explains how they keep it ticking with precision
The OurPeople app helps visitor attractions such as Paultons Park run smoothly behind the scenes
The family-run theme park had been looking at how it communicated with its 640 staff for some time. Employees work across 11 different departments from the more obvious catering, retail and park operations to engineering, grounds and gardens and livestock; the park, originally a country park and bird gardens, first opened in 1983 and still boasts impressive themed gardens with exotic birds and animals, which were a feature of the original estate.
With most staff not desk-based, easy and effective communication was a challenge and Paultons Park explored a range of methods to appeal to its diverse workforce with no particular joy, until two years ago, when the company partnered with smartphone-driven workforce management platform, OurPeople.
Traditionally the park had communicated with staff through email, notice boards, screens in staff rooms and its extranet, but as Vann explains: “OurPeople has improved the way we engage with staff. It’s given us a more immediate means of communication, particularly as the app is phone-based and the majority of our staff aren’t sat at a desk with constant access to a computer.
“As a seasonal business, only 120 of the 640 staff are permanent team members, but they all perform extremely diverse roles and work different patterns. Most don’t have access to IT as part of their role. In fact, less than 10 per cent of our overall staff have their own email account, which was proving a challenge when trying to find a communication method that would engage everyone. We needed something that would work easily on the go.
“OurPeople grabbed our attention because it’s more than just a messenger app. We’re able to post files, such as rotas or policies and procedures, as well as being able to message staff in small groups or individually and send broadcasts to larger groups of staff, such as internal vacancies, events and surveys.
“The fact we can send targeted messages to specific staff is a real bonus. We can make sure people only receive relevant content rather than bombarding them with messages that don’t apply to their role.”
Staff at Paultons Park are truly engaging with the App, with an impressive 83 per cent on average of broadcasts ‘seen’. Since January 2019, Paultons has sent 158 ‘cards’ to staff, such as team briefing notes, schedules, cover requests, special offers and job vacancies, which have received almost 17,000 swipes from staff that have engaged with them. The 115 files Paultons Park has been uploaded have been downloaded more than 10,500 times.
“OurPeople has been extremely helpful when it comes to bad weather too,” continues Vann. “As the OurPeople console is web-based we can log in to the app from outside the office and send messages before people start work and hopefully before they even leave for work. In these situations it also helps us to be clear about who we would like at work, if possible, and who isn’t required, by being able to send targeted messages.”
About OurPeople
OurPeople is a smartphone-driven workforce management platform. Content is delivered to team members via cards, which can be anything from simple text or images, to quizzes, video or training and event invitations. Staff simply tap to interact.
Paultons Park also uses the app as a diary and an educational tool, enabling staff to enlist on education programmes, including surveys and quizzes, as well as search and view operating procedure manuals and action plans.
Real-time reporting means management can see which team members have read and engaged with content at the touch of a button.
OurPeople is an easy-to-use workforce management app
People profile: Tom Hennes
Tom Hennes discusses how he has transformed the Empire State Building's visitor experience
People profile: Dimitrios Pandermalis
The Acropolis Museum has just celebrated its 10-year anniversary. Its president, Dimitrios Pandermalis, talks about his plans to take the museum forward in the next decade and beyond
People profile: Gus Antorcha
SeaWorld's new CEO Gus Antorcha on the company's new direction as it starts to recover following several years of turmoil
Museums: A museum in motion
The Australian Centre for the Moving Image
is undergoing a AUS$40m renewal. CEO
Katrina Sedgwick talks about the plans
Tourism: The dark side
With locations like Chernobyl increasing
in popularity, Kath Hudson looks at the
dark side of the global tourism sector
Promotional feature: Whitewater
WhiteWater thinks outside the box to create memorable,
immersive experiences that go beyond the thrill
Rides: Monsters, myths and motorbikes
We take a look at some of the biggest ride
openings for visitor attractions worldwide,
including Universal’s new Hagrid coaster
Promotional feature: OurPeople
Home to the world-revered peppa pig world and welcoming more than one
million visitors every year, paultons park was voted Tripadvisor’s number
one UK amusement park for the fourth year running in 2019
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storytelling with cutting-edge audiovisual technology to bring the sta
San Antonio Zoo has reported a US$283 million economic impact for 2025, following a decade-
long transformation programme that has seen almost US$200 million invested into the Texas
attraction.
Plans for the AU$180 million redevelopment of Reef HQ Aquarium in Townsville, Australia, are
progressing, with the project set to transform the attraction into a global centre for reef
education and conservation.
Abu Dhabi-based investment firm Mubadala Capital has made a binding, fully financed
€1 billion
offer to acquire Pierre and Vacances SA, the European holiday resort operator behind the
continental European Center Parcs business.
Disney has reaffirmed its commitment to investing US$30 billion in its US parks and cruise
business by 2033, using new America250 celebrations to underline the role its attractions play
in supporting jobs, tourism and economic growth.
Expo 2030 Riyadh is being planned as a permanent visitor destination, with organisers
confirming the six-million-square-metre site will become a Global Village after the event closes.
The owner of one of Australia's best-known waterparks has acquired a major competitor,
creating a new attractions business spanning two of the country's largest visitor destinations.
The Toverland theme park in the Netherlands has announced a €98m expansion programme
that will add a resort, new attractions and staff facilities as it pursues plans to become a multi-
day destination.
Hotel de France, located on the British Isle of Jersey, has created a wellness retreat package
that includes a hot yoga session that will take place in Jersey Zoo’s butterfly sanctuary.
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