Hello!

Dufry has been rolling-out Beekeeper, an app-based employee communication platform that permits information sharing across all levels of the organization – from offices to stores and warehouses. All Dufry staff finally connected!

By Jorge Muñiz

Have you heard about the latest product release? Did you know we are selling a product that is only available worldwide in our store? Do you know sherry can be mixed with tonic water – the sherry-tonic? Have you heard about the latest promotion available for Red By Dufry members?

These are some examples of information that flows around our stores every day. Our business depends on the successful sharing of information. Information that may be critical for closing a sale and increasing productivity, to give more selling arguments to our sales-floor colleagues or simply to align global processes across locations, hence, contributing to delivering a consistent customer experience across all 64 countries where Dufry is present.

Making this information available to every one of our employees however is not always an easy task. Out of over 20,000 employees in Dufry, just a fraction of them – less than a third – have access to a corporate email address. These non-desktop colleagues receive information through very different channels: during the staff briefings that regularly happen, via posters and notes pinned on information boards... or simply because a colleague knew something and is sharing the information.

Connecting the Digitally-Unconnected

Dufry has been rolling-out a solution to bridge this gap with non-desktop employees and to ease the flow of information: Beekeeper. Beekeeper is a simple app that any of us can download onto our mobiles and then permits instant communication with all the layers of our organization: from sales floor and warehouse staff to office employees.

Any Dufry employee – who is in Dufry´s HR Platform Dufry Connect – can activate their account and gain access to a platform that permits top-down and bottom-up information sharing, connecting via chat with any colleague, access to relevant information (from procedures to the latest product presentations) or shortcuts to relevant tools and links – from accessing the local payroll platform, to airport guides or training modules.

Main Features

Beekeeper is made up of four blocks:

Streams - Streams are newsfeeds where users can post content and announcements. Users have access to the global streams – which can be seen by any Dufry Beekeeper user – and the local ones, which include relevant information for the specific locations in which they work. At this second level, and depending on the operation, Beekeeper users can find country streams or location streams (either for one or several airports… or even for one single terminal). Depending on the stream, users can find information about latest developments in their airport location, information relevant to their workplace, achievements of colleagues, or news about the latest contract signed by Dufry.

Chat functionality – similar to your preferred messaging service, Beekeeper has its own one. The main benefit? You don´t need to know anyone´s mobile number to start a chart conversation. You simply look-up their profile in the agenda... and you´re done! Simple, direct and efficient! You can also create group chats, which is really helpful for those involved in the same project!

Document Library – An online repository for relevant information: from training manuals to procedures linked to the latest Covid-19 protocols, all accessible in the palm of your hand.

Shortcuts – Just as your internet browser bookmarks, you can gain quick access to important resources, such us your link to Dufry Connect or to your payroll platform - all these are easy to find.

Local + Global

Although Beekeeper is a global tool – and one of the purposes of Beekeeper is to keep all employees connected through the same platform – the main purpose is to be a “relevant” communication tool. This means that it must serve the purpose of offering a balanced blend of local and global communication.

Most of the content available in Beekeeper is local and relevant to the operation: recognition of the sale made by one of our colleagues, a new route that starts operating in the airport, or the latest fragrance to land in our store.

News and novelties affecting several operations or a whole country is the second layer of content: from organizational changes to career opportunities and product releases, or just sharing best practices happening in other locations.

Global content is focused more on corporate news, global training, global marketing campaigns…

Just for Shop-Floor Employees?

Although Beekeeper primarily aims to fill for communication gap for non-desktop colleagues – mostly frontline and warehouse employees – Dufry is rolling out Beekeeper globally, including in office locations, as the intention is to have a truly global and unique communication channel with all employees.

Beekeeper brings a new information sharing and communication option which isn’t available through other existing channels and which complements other existing communication tools. There are endless possibilities that the different Beekeeper leads are exploring and evolving, based on the experience gained by operations that have been using Beekeeper for more than two years now.

Where is it Available?

The first operation to test Beekeeper was Switzerland – for the Basel and Zurich airports – a few years ago. The Beekeeper community was then expanded and today includes: Sweden, Finland, UK, Basel headquarter, US, Canada, the Miami office, Mexico, Argentina, Brazil, Uruguay, Colombia, Chile, Peru, Ecuador, Greece, Australia, Hong Kong, Macao… Together with these countries, another 6 countries are in the adoption phase and shortly will be joining the community. Dufry aims to reach around 80% of its workforce by year-end – and to cover all the organization as the roll-out of Dufry Connect is completed.

If you are in one of the countries where Beekeeper is available, but you still have not activated your profile, please get in contact with your local HR representative – the account activation takes just a few minutes. If your country is not in the list… watch this space! We will be looking forward to welcoming you on board very soon!