"Colombo Coffee is a 100-year-old business, it sells to corporates and direct to the public and it has a café that serves what we'd like to think is one of Durban's best coffees. We serve coffees from flat whites to siphon, pour-overs, V60 and chemex. As one of the owners, I like Hi5 mainly because I come from a corporate background and had to do 6-monthly HR reviews and anyone who's done that knows how "rubbish" those are. Having my own business now, Hi5 has been a breath of fresh air - it's easy, it's quick and gives immediate feedback and the guys [staff] appreciate getting a Hi5... there's proactive feedback rather than reactive.
"The changes we've seen in using Hi5 is that it promotes positive behaviours and gets the guys [staff] competing against each other, but in a fun way. If I think of an environment like this [coffee shop] it's very unstructured and as easy as Hi5 is, it's actually a little bit scientific... because there's a metric: there's a Hi5, and in these sorts of environments you can sometimes get lost; your feedback can be very unstructured. The one thing that has helped us in using Hi5 is that it's very expensive in the coffee industry to lose staff, because your coffees have to be consistent and if you've got different people having to retrain people to make your coffee it can get very inconsistent, and then your regulars are not going to come back.
"So I think by adding a bit of a fun element with a tangible reward, the guys [staff] are a lot more engaged. We tend to have a very low staff turnover - for a coffee shop that's actually quite a thing, because the turnover in the industry is generally quite high. So we make it fun and the guys [staff] tend to hang around and I think Hi5 definitely adds to that dynamic." - Geoff Noble, Co-owner
"What I like about Hi5 is the ongoing recognition and the encouragement that comes along with it. Everybody likes being recognised for the good work they have done. Nobody wants to think "I did extra work and nobody noticed." Everybody wants to be recognised and encouraged to move further." - Sammy Mbata, Runner
"What I like about Hi5 is that it's really easy to use and it seems to create a cool vibe in the shop where guys [staff] are keen to get through tasks and show a lot of initiative. I think the staff like Hi5 as they do get recognition for what can range from something really small to a big task that's been completed, and I think a little pat on the back or a "high five" in a sense is a great way for them to see that and be able to get that from their co-workers." - Ryan Moore, Co-owner
"What I like about Hi5 is that it's one of the apps which encourages me [at] work all the time. Everyone is excited to earn a Hi5 because it's something huge, I can say, to know that we're not just doing it for Hi5's we're doing it for the company, but Hi5 is there to support us - to know that we are actually getting to an action every time and that we complete the task that is required to be completed." - Patrick Mtembu, Admin Staff
"Hi5 has made an enormous difference to us in our performance review process. We use it to get 360 degree feedback on all of our team members."
"Hi5 can be used to drive different streams of employee engagement... it's become a part of our culture and enabled us to reward people who really deserve to be rewarded."
"Everybody loves recognition and that was something that was lacking in our business."
"We use Hi5 because we believe in the power of recognition & showing gratitude to people who do great work and contribute to team members and building their careers."
"It’s very easy to get Hi5 kick-started in a couple of weeks ... really rich insights & data that we can use to better understand our own people."
"What I love about Hi5 is that it creates a sense of cohesion, so it brings the team together."
"People are happier and they are willing to give each other feedback, which we didn't have before."
"It works for our business and it really has driven an amazing culture through the team."
"Hi5 motivates us; it gives us a positive outlook about ourselves, because other people are seeing it."
“It pushes you to actually give recognition, which you wouldn’t usually do.”
"The app helps them, reminds them, to actually say thank you."