Guzman y Gomez automates its HR processes with Docusign

Docusign streamlines Guzman y Gomez's HR and recruitment processes

Singapore is the second biggest market for Guzman y Gomez (GYG). Since its inception in 2006, the Australian casual-dining chain has continued to grow in popularity for its Mexican-inspired dishes nationally and internationally in Singapore, Japan and the USA.

Apart from Australia, where GYG currently has around 140 restaurants and expects to open another 20 to 30 in the next 12 months, Singapore is its next major market with 15 restaurants.

Under the helm of Josh Bell, the General Manager at GYG Singapore, the business hopes to open another two restaurants this year and three to five next year.

When GYG launched in Singapore, its objective was to focus on the expat community in the CBD. But after three years of trading and expanding in the area, GYG was ready for further growth.

Such expansive growth means more lease agreements and hundreds, if not thousands, of employment contract agreements will need to be signed. “Agreements are critical to stabilising the future of our business,” says Josh.

A turning point

Three years ago, GYG began to move away from paper-based operations and integrate digital processes with existing tools like Office 365. During this period, the company searched for a technology partner that would provide support, innovation and scalability opportunities.

This led GYG to Docusign.

“One of the primary reasons we chose Docusign was because of its web-based interface. It was simple for our team to understand and implement without needing much onboarding. We increased our productivity very quickly,” says Josh. The solution also helped ease the onboarding process and training, especially when someone in HR chose to resign.

The second driver was the features in addressing leases, human resources and contracts. “It feels like Docusign was customised specifically for our business,” shares Josh.

The other positive was the functionality of the software. Josh explains that there are no bugs or errors. “We’ve never had a function or connectivity issue,” he confirms.

Docusign has helped Guzman y Gomez Singapore increase its onboarding productivity and easily send branded onboarding documentation to employees, enabling the restaurant franchise to stay ahead of the competition and attract top talent.

Investing in company development

Before its partnership with Docusign and the integration of the e-Signature solution, GYG had a manual system of sending or exchanging physical paperwork and documents to get them signed. But things often went astray.

“The worst part about agreements is when they go wrong, and you have to try and find the copy to fix it,” says Josh. “It can get ugly.”

The international franchise found signing documents a challenge due to human error and last-minute modifications in franchisee or supplier agreements. It was “time-consuming and frustrating, often delaying the execution of new partnerships,” explains Josh.

“Now that digital documents are binding, and more people are accepting digital agreements, it is a no brainer,” Josh further notes. “Anyone that is not embracing this solution is stalling their own development.”

GYG’s digital journey

When GYG Singapore moved the business towards digital solutions, it focused on integrating its platforms to improve communication, reduce paper usage and minimise manual administrative work.

“We had to push people to embrace digital solutions and cloud-based software like Google Drive and Google Suite,” says Josh. “And some partners weren’t yet comfortable with digital contracts even though they were binding.”

But when COVID-19 hit, these negotiations had to become a reality. “The pandemic supercharged people’s timeframe on implementing digital solutions,” Josh adds.

Fortunately, the company’s corporate office was well-equipped to deal with lockdown and remote work. GYG had already made the change from paper-based audits of its operations, food, safety, training and restaurants to digital auditing.

Continued automation with WhatsApp Delivery

Guzman y Gomez is among the early adopters of WhatsApp Delivery, starting from the product's beta testing phase. Since doubling their footprint in Singapore, the company has increased the number of lease agreements and employment contracts to about two hundred per month. The company welcomes the option to share these agreements via WhatsApp, and have witnessed great results during the beta testing phase.

"We truly value DocusSign’s ability to request signatures through various channels, and now, the added convenience of doing so via WhatsApp. The significant reductions on time-to-sign and ease of signing anywhere allows us to offer partners, prospective employees, and our HR team a seamless journey, improving overall satisfaction and accelerating efficiency,” said Josh.

“This is especially important for the younger generation, as they often lack the patience to deal with the snail mail of our era, which now includes emails. At Guzman y Gomez, our employees can now sign a contract as quickly as we can roll a burrito!'

The secret sauce

Aside from enabling the business to operate seamlessly, the digital solution has also helped GYG’s workforce to feel more confident, comfortable and efficient. Docusign now handles all the paperwork, which is accessible at any time.

“That’s morale-boosting in the current environment,” says Josh. “It’s rewarding for our team to be so productive and feel good about their role. They no longer have to do the horrendously repetitive tasks that involve paperwork.”

Docusign has significantly impacted GYG’s workforce – the critical secret sauce of the whole business – as it helped employees reduce concerns around hygiene in handling paperwork and provided them with transparent and personalised contracts.

“With Docusign’s help, our business is 90 percent paperless, agreements get signed within two hours and our staff feels empowered and confident in our brand. This is why we’re one of most successful restaurant businesses,” concludes Josh.