YAPPING WITH CHRIS WYLES

What can we learn about 'Performance Communications' from a professional athlete turned hospitality-entrepreneur?

Those who have been following Yapster for a while will know that our company mission is to ‘Make Work Meaningful’, which we do in retail, hospitality and supply chain businesses by teaching (and providing technology to enable) Social Leadership. 

Social Leaders use digital platforms like Yapster to reach previously unimaginable numbers of employees on a two-way basis, allowing them to align and inspire colleagues to achieve great things together. For example, they might regularly post selfie videos giving trading and vision updates or initiate group chats after site visits to ensure all relevant colleagues receive their encouragement and feedback.

This year, we are taking Social Leadership to the next level by introducing and focusing our energies on what we call Performance Communications.

Performance Communications are messages sent and received by (or automatically on behalf of) Social Leaders specifically for the purposes of hitting organisational objectives. Because they are focused on specific metrics, Performance Communications are different to culture or vision setting communications, which can be more general in nature.

One expression of Performance Communications is Yapster’s new Site vs Site KPI Gamification module, which we’ll be talking a lot about throughout 2022. Using this module, Social Leaders can configure Yapster to turn site-level point of sale data into dynamic, sports-style ‘scoreboards’ and create ‘matches’ between different sites or teams to boost targeted sales or service KPIs across the organisation.

Given the inspiration we have drawn from elite sports for this module, we’re excited to have recently struck up a working friendship with Chris Wyles, co-founder of Wolfpack Lager, who we’ll be collaborating closely with this year. 

Prior to co-founding his brewing and multi-site pub business, Chris played rugby for many years at the highest level domestically (winning multiple titles with Saracens RFC) and internationally (Captaining the USA World Cup team).

Below is an excerpt of a recent discussion between Chris and Yapster co-founder CEO, Rob Liddiard.

Rob: Hi Chris - thanks for making time to speak! To kick off, what are the similarities between running locker rooms and tap rooms?

Chris: During my time at Saracens I was fortunate enough to be part of a club that went through significant changes which revolutionised how to run and manage an elite level rugby team. Essentially, after several years of under-performance, a new Director of Rugby and CEO (Brendan Venter and Ed Griffiths) came in, released a large number of players and reoriented the whole organisation around a set of values. With this clearly articulated set of values we became a tight group of team mates driving towards a common purpose. We focused on enjoying the journey and not just the outcome. As a result the performances began to take care of themselves.  

I think there’s a large amount of overlap with creating a business, communicating your values clearly, employing the right people and then driving your team towards aligned goals with a heightened purpose. 

Rob: What is your vision and what are your values for Wolfpack Lager?

Chris: Wolfpack Lager is all about creating experiences and memories with friends and family. Our brews are designed to be high-quality, but accessible. Al and I talk about ‘camaraderie’ and ‘community’ as the essence of the Wolfpack brand and the soul of our organisation. We want to build mutual trust and friendship between a growing number of colleagues and customers, as we continue to grow and open more bars and supply more venues.

Rob: How does that contrast with the Saracens’ values?

Chris: At Saracens we had four values: Honesty; Discipline; Work rate; and Humility. It was a bit different to Wolfpack in that camaraderie at Saracens was a byproduct of the effort and accountability we committed to each other - the organisational goal was living in the moment and enjoying the process. At Wolfpack our goal is building camaraderie and community by creating remarkable experiences which customers want to enjoy with family and friends. 

For Wolfpack, there are some pretty clear ingredients that need to go into building a harmonious organisation which delivers good times to colleagues and customers. Being organised, putting others first and being committed to service all matter a lot to us and those are things we’re really focusing on for 2022. In that sense, I expect there will be a huge amount of overlap with what we experienced at Saracens - particularly being disciplined in recruitment, measuring what matters and expecting the best.

Rob: Are you very KPI oriented - or was a career in professional sports enough measurement for a lifetime!?

Chris: Al and I certainly have had our fair share of KPI’s! Luckily in hospitality there isn’t a focus on missed tackles or metres gained…

As we continue to grow and scale we are aware that KPIs will form an important element of keeping us accountable and focused. As founders we feel it is important to remain flexible and creative but within a framework. 

Rob: What advice would you give to a Hospitality Leader who wants to get more out of their team in 2022?

Chris: I believe a crucial trait in successful leaders that I’ve worked with or witnessed is selflessness. In almost every situation these leaders focus on others and the needs of the business/team rather than themselves. This fosters immediate respect and trust from your teammates. 

In hospitality, where there are long hours and stressful situations I think this trait can be extremely impactful in creating an energised and committed team - particularly when some layers of leadership can’t be in every venue all of the time. 

Rob: After such a ‘physical’ career where you could always look teammates in the eyes, how are you thinking about digital leadership?

Chris: As mentioned before, the challenge with owning multiple venues is you can’t be everywhere at once! We feel digital leadership will help us to continue to create the camaraderie and community within our teams. We can continue to reinforce the language and habits that are important to Wolfpack - all at the click of a button!