Throwback Thursday to a transformative era in our Founder of GMZTalent’s journey and exceptional leadership from Simon Gomez, during his tenure at wagamama. The transformation was based on our Talent & Employer Brand Audit & Diagnostic Tool where you can learn more here. Or take a look at the video below:

This journey down memory lane highlights some of the significant milestones achieved under Simon’s guidance:

1. Diversifying Candidate Attraction: Simon initiated the implementation of an innovative inploi candidate application process. This advanced system broadened wagamama’s talent pool by incorporating social platforms, aggregators, and pay-per-click advertising. The approach to recruitment became more comprehensive and efficient.
2. Efficiency with Talos360: The introduction of the Talos360 applicant tracking system was a game-changer. It drastically expedited wagamama’s recruitment process, ensuring top talents joined our team more swiftly. Talos seamlessly integrated with inploi’s conversational apply, allowing them to tailor the application process based on candidate personas. In addition, Talos bought wagamama’s first ever internal careers page. This forward-thinking approach redefined wagamama’s talent acquisition efforts.
3. Reducing volume of applications, increasing quality & quality of hire, leading to cost reductions: A popular brand among customers and candidates, received over 92,000 applications in 2021, to make in the region of 6,500 hires. To reduce the number of applications and increase quality, initiatives were taken to bring the culture to life, understand the personas of people within the business, and introduce a skills-based hiring approach with Spotted Zebra. Initially for restaurant management roles. This helped attract the right people, reducing the risk of damaging the brand while raising the profile of the Employer Brand.
4. Bringing Our Culture to Life: Simon and the teams collaboration with the marketing led to a captivating employer branding campaign. This campaign vividly portrayed wagamama’s unique culture and core values. This can be seen today in the souls of wagamama channel on instagram and across the wagamama careers page.

Reflection

Simon’s time at wagamama was a period of personal and professional growth, leaving a lasting impact. The friendships formed during this time remain cherished, and we know he is grateful for the lasting memories created, as well as the nourishing bowls of noodles that fuelled the shared success! 🍜 🥢

This phase in Simon’s journey exemplifies the values that drive GMZTalent. The expertise gained during this time continues to inspire our commitment to enhancing talent acquisition and employer branding for our clients. It’s a privilege to look back at these significant milestones that pave the way for the future successes we create together.