Case Study
| Name: | Koala Cherries Pty Ltd |
| Sector: | Horticulture |
| Employees: | Off season 50, increasing to over 1200 casual and labour hire workers |
| Region: | Yarck, Victoria, Australia |
| Products: | Cherries |
| Website: | www.koalacherries.com.au |
| ReadyTech Product used: | Ready Employ by Phoenix |
Using Ready Employ (by Phoenix), Koala Cherries saved time, increased efficiencies, reduced the admin burden of manually processing their intense recruitment drive to hire seasonal workers during their harvest season.
About Koala Cherries
Established in 1943, Koala Cherries is a family owned and operated business in Yarck, 2 hours east of Melbourne.
They have a full-time team of 50 that goes up to 1,200 labour and hire workers during peak season (harvest time).
Cousins Michael and Simon Rouget own and operate this third generation cherry growing, packing and marketing business.
The Challenge
The Koala Cherries Recruitment team relied on multiple unconnected platforms to handle their recruitment, onboarding (induction) and payroll processes. Unfortunately, the platforms they used for recruitment and onboarding lacked flexibility when it came to modifying recruitment and training content. It required the team to go through their provider every time they needed changes. The added stress of managing high-volume hiring during their harvest season pushed them to search for a more effective recruitment solution.
The Evaluation Process
The evaluation of recruitment options at Koala Cherries was carried out by a selected team comprising the Payroll Officer, Administration Manager, and members of the Recruitment Team. During the evaluation, the following criteria were top of mind for them:
- user friendly platform for both recruiter and candidate
- ability to manage their own recruitment and onboarding content edits
- ability to configure their recruitment workflows for faster time-to-hire window
- secure electronic signing for government forms and contracts
- ability to generate QR codes to allow candidates to apply directly by scanning the code was an important consideration
The Solution
Koala Cherries, a current customer of Ready Pay by HR3, had the opportunity to explore Ready Employ by Phoenix in a webinar. They were highly impressed with the recruitment platform’s functionality, which aligned perfectly with their selection team’s requirements.
The implementation process was remarkably smooth, thanks to the consultant’s thorough understanding of Koala Cherries’ needs and requirements. There were no unexpected issues or deficiencies with the system, allowing Koala Cherries to go live within a few months of starting the implementation.
Koala Cherries received comprehensive training during the implementation and training period, enabling their recruitment team to use the Ready Employ system effectively from day one.
The results
This year (2023) was the first time Koala Cherries used Ready Employ to support their intensive seasonal hiring requirements. By doing so, they gained ongoing benefits that will positively impact their operations for years to come:
- Time saving – The implementation of QR codes for self-service registration and efficient training of labour hire staff during harvest season resulted in substantial time savings. This functionality not only minimised the workload of the Administration team as they didn’t have to individually send induction packs but it also enabled contractors to hire flexibly outside of office hours.
- Reduced manual handling due to automated workflows – Koala Cherries leveraged Ready Employ’s automated workflow (from pre-screening to hiring) functionality to streamline their recruitment process. The system automatically advanced each new applicant once they met the pre-defined criteria. This eliminated the need for constant monitoring and enhanced efficiency allowed the recruiting team to swiftly move candidates through the process, reducing stress and increasing productivity.
- Seamless transition from recruitment to onboarding – Koala Cherries used the employment packs and templates provided by Ready Employ to cater to the unique requirements of each job type. This enabled Koala Cherries to efficiently hire and train a team of 50 workers within a single day, thanks to the streamlined onboarding workflow offered by Ready Employ. Each new worker seamlessly progressed through the onboarding process, following a predetermined set of criteria.
- Improved recruitment tracking – Koala Cherries effortlessly tracked each candidate’s application stage using the user-friendly single-view dashboard in Ready Employ.
What’s next?
Koala Cherries is planning to use Ready Employ for their permanent staff recruitment requirements as well.
ReadyTech is actively working on further deepening the integration between Ready Pay by HR3 and Ready Employ. This will have advantages not only for Koala Cherries, who currently utilise both platforms, but also for other ReadyTech customers. The goal is to significantly improve the seamless flow between recruitment, onboarding, and payroll processes for all users.
“We rely on all aspects of the Ready Employ platform. This allows us to efficiently recruit staff for immediate start, such as during harvest season (where labour hire can peak at 1,200!). The platform allows us to allocate candidates an automated workflow. We can move them seamlessly through each recruitment stage without the need for constant monitoring. This results in increased efficiency and less stress for our team.”
Amanda Futcher
Koala Cherries Recruitment Officer
Want to understand how Ready Employ can help you during your intense recruitment drive for seasonal workers during harvest season?
Smooth Transition for New Starters
Onboarding a large group of season workers during harvest season can be daunting. It is important that the new hires are trained and inducted quickly. Our platform captures all the important details such as digital employ contracts (that includes secure electronic signing), policy agreements, e-learning training for new starters.
This allows for an effortless onboarding candidate experience through Ready Employ’s automated self-service processes.
