About the Customer

7shifts is an all-in-one restaurant team management platform – helping them schedule, pay, and retain employees in one app! They are on a mission to streamline team management and improve restaurant performance, with a long-term vision of elevating what restaurant teams can achieve together. And wow are they doing it!

On top of that, they’ve been voted #1 on the Best Places to Work list not once, but four years in a row (2020-2023). If you want to learn more, check out the full list of all their Great Place To Work awards—there are a lot for a reason!

It’s not just employees saying this - it’s also partners like us who see the amazing work their team is putting into building great culture. Their dedication to fostering connection and belonging among employees is something we couldn't keep quiet about. With a growing employee base of 300+ Shifties, keeping their remote-first team engaged and connected is a top priority. So, we partnered with the People Operations team to bring their vision to life!

Challenge

Keeping morale up in the winter months is hard - whether employees are remote, hybrid, or in-person. January 15, known as Blue Monday, is considered to be the most depressing day of the year. Acknowledging and addressing the challenges of days like these can be tough, making it crucial to support your team and meet them where they are. This task is already challenging in itself, and the added complexity of remote work can make it even harder.

The 7shifts team knew this was not a day to pull away from, but rather lean into and be there to support their team. With a goal of increasing connection across both remote & in-office teams, they saw this as an opportunity to try something new!

Solution

The People Operations team partnered with Wavy to design a program that focused on sparking connection while promoting wellness practices in its many forms. 💙

One of their first initiatives? Planning a ‘Wellness Week’, with a series of wellness-inspired events hosted online and in-person.

They got really intentional about the program design for Wellness Week, making it inclusive to all Shifties - regardless of their location and timezone. Here’s how it worked:

🤣 January 15: Pyjamas & Laughs (Online)

🐶 January 17: Happy Pet Hour (Hybrid)

🌱 January 19: Folks had the option between 3 virtual offerings – all hosted simultaneously, but allowing folks to choose what wellness practice they resonate with the most!

• Yoga Class with Good Space
• Creative Chaos: No Rules Art Class
• Reset & Relieve Stress Mediation

Impact

Running this ‘choose your own adventure’ style of programming was a huge success for the 7shifts team.

Our Shifties (what we call our team members) have diverse interests and needs when it comes to recharging. That’s why we wanted to ensure that options were available for everyone, while still encouraging a shared break time to connect and refresh together.

Sara Sadler

Director of People at 7shifts

Let’s dive into the numbers:

• 115 Shifties engaged across 5 events, with an average satisfaction rating of 4.8 stars
• 94% of Shifties reported feeling more connected to their colleagues after taking part in these events
• 97% of Shifties felt that Wellness Week positively impacted culture at 7shifts

The hardest part about planning anything is coming up with the initial idea for the event. Wavy solves that completely. With a large range of hosted events and templates, the guesswork is taken out of it and it becomes a much more enjoyable process.

Janelle Marcotte

People Operations Specialist at 7shifts

What’s next

Building on the success of their first multi-day-themed event, the 7shifts team is excited to announce more initiatives like this throughout the year! Each quarter will feature a week-long theme, offering several ‘choose your own adventure’ activities for Shifites to enjoy. Following a successful Earth Week theme in April, the next will be a Shiftie Sunshine Week in August, with activities that encourage folks to get outside and soak up the joys of this season!

I loved having a full week dedicated to wellness. While self-care should be a regular practice, we often forget to put our mental health first in the busyness of work & life. I was so thankful for 7shifts taking a stand for our mental health, especially during the dark month of January! The activity options sparked joy every day, from seeing my coworkers adorable pets to taking time out of my day to stretch in a yoga class - January blues, who?!

Anna Marriott

Shiftie at 7shifts

Key takeaways

Here’s what worked well for the 7shifts team, that you can apply towards your own culture initiatives:

1. 🌱 Getting intentional with the purpose of events. By focusing on Wellness throughout a week-long program, the 7shifts team reinforced their dedication to employee wellness in many forms.
2. 🗓️ Giving Shifties a variety of options to choose from. Practicing wellness looks different for everyone, so giving your team a choice of activities is a great way to go. It’s hard to make everyone happy - so offering a variety of options under one theme is a great way to make things more accessible and inclusive.
3. 🎨 Offering a mix of professionally hosted & and internally-hosted events! There are many ways to get together with Wavy – and the 7shifts team are champions at mixing things up and creating unique events. From their internally run Happy Pet Hour and Pyjamas & Laughs get-togethers to their selection of pro-hosted wellness sessions from our Wavy marketplace – their team knew how to make this week a success on Wavy!
4. 🎨 Creating Memorable Events on a Budget: The 7shifts team excelled at blending internally-hosted and professionally-hosted events, showcasing a mix of cost-effective, unique experiences tailored to their company. From their creative, employee-led Happy Pet Hour and Pyjamas & Laughs get-togethers to professional wellness sessions from our Wavy marketplace, they demonstrated how to highlight internal talent and make the most of available resources for a successful week with Wavy!

7shifts has proven that with a little creativity and intentional planning, any organization can foster a strong sense of community and well-being among its employees! Their success with Blue Monday's ‘Wellness Week’ is a testament to their team's innovative, inclusive, and budget-friendly programming strategy. Ready to transform your workplace culture and boost employee morale? Take a page from the 7shifts People & Culture team!