Jobhop Jobhop's blog : Can Nando's Staff Get a Nando's Black Card?
Recently I had the privilege of interviewing a fantastic panel of speakers for Glassdoor. The event was The Best Places to Work Tour, (London) and the panel was made up of a few of the 2018 winners. Some of the winners I got to interview were Sam Goode Talent Acquisition at Nando’s, Quivah Shephard, Employer Brand Manager at Facebook, Jenna Colley, Recruitment partner at EasyJet and Michelle Adams, Talent and development manager at o2 ( Telefonica)
I was fascinated by what Sam Goode had to say about Nando’s, and since I’ve been back in the office, I’ve delved into Nando’s the employer brand a bit more.
When I heard that someone from Nando’s would be at the event I got excited, now was the time to find out about the black card, or so I thought! In case you don’t know about the elusive Nando’s black card it's supposed to give you access to limitless Nando’s, and Ed Sheehan says he has one. I made a beeline for Sam and after I’d introduced myself the first question that I had for him was “Have any employees ever received a black card?” His answer was “I don’t know what you’re talking about” I kept pushing him about the Nando’s black card, but he just looked at me like a mad woman, this is obviously top secret stuff! In the end, I decided to lay off the interrogation in case it ruined our relationship before it even got started. While interviewing Sam he started to talk about Nandockers, what the hell was a Nandocker? Now, this was something he was happy to talk about, and he quickly forgot about the black card interrogation.
Nando’s Language
A Nandoca is someone who works at Nando’s; there’s a Patraos and many other words in the Nando’s language which I can’t remember, you try learning a new language in a few minutes! Wouldn’t it be good if there was a Nando’s language guide so we could all learn it? Sam Goode from Nando’s assured me (and over 1,000 people in the audience ) that Nando’s do have their own language, pretty cool ay!
Nando’s Work Attire
Nando’s don’t have uniforms for its employees, Sam explained that they ask staff to get clothes they like to wear and feel comfortable working in, Nando’s will then add its logo. Now, this bit is interesting, Sam went on to say that Nando’s places its logo just above the employee's heart, that way they will always know that Nando’s is close to their heart! To me, that was rather romantic! I fell in love with Nando’s for that. Nando’s recognises its people is made up of many personalities and Nando’s celebrates each one of their uniqueness, it encourages its employees to be unique and never fit a mould. If you want to wear electric orange, then that’s fine, and if you want to wear gothic black that’s also fine.
Nando’s Work Ethic
All Nando’s staff are encouraged to work in the restaurants, it doesn’t matter if you’re HR, marketing, IT, everyone needs to understand who their customers are and it’s good to bond and get to know other employees. Nandos don’t have a “them and us” culture because everyone mucks in, everyone knows the kitchen, and the restaurant and many started as a Nandoca and worked their way up.
Nando’s Opportunities
A new Nandoca has a thorough training period to learn all the necessary skills while being supported by Nando’s Legends (I’m assuming that’s another name for mentors). Once the initial training period has ended trainees move onto a workshop where a development plan is put together and future work goals put in place. Nando’s prides itself on the many training programs it offers its employees as well as the many opportunities to climb the career ladder fast.
Nando’s Benefits
Many employee benefits are on offer at Nando’s; free meals on shifts, flexible working, staff events, eyes tests, travel allowance, healthcare and a cycle to work scheme to name a few.
Nando’s staff benefits also benefit family and friends; when you work at Nando’s you can take up to six people to any Nando’s restaurant on your day off and get a massive discount! It’s good to know someone who works at Nando’s; I now know Sam!
Nando’s transparency
Nando’s encourages its employees to leave reviews on Glassdoor, not only because it wants 5-star reports but because it strives to be better. If a Nandoca has suggestions or feedback, then Nando’s wants to know. Nando’s Glassdoor reviews were used in a recruitment campaign on the London underground; Sam told us that this was a huge success in attracting candidates.
Nandockers app
Nando has its own app for its employees! The app brings employees closer together by sharing all the latest Nando’s news, new career opportunities and general Nando’s information. The app also allows employees to see their restaurant rota and check their shifts, now that’s cool!
There you have it, many reasons to work at Nando's and become a Nandoca!
Sam believes that all of the above as well as the brilliant culture they have at Nando's helps to keep employees engaged in what they do and loyal to the Nando's brand.
Also, the word on the street is that Nando’s has its own band called “The 1987” probably called that name due to the first restaurant being opened then in South Africa. Does anyone know if the band is made up of talented Nandoca’s?
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Julie Bishop Jobhop.co.uk
- Career