Challenge
The O'Hara Group, a dynamic and expanding hospitality organisation, faced a common challenge of growth: how to deliver consistent, high-quality training to a growing number of staff across multiple locations. They needed a streamlined and accessible way to manage everything from onboarding and compliance to professional development. Their search for a modern solution led them to Allara Global.
Their main challenge was ensuring consistency and compliance at scale.
As the O'Hara Group expanded, its traditional training methods became less effective. The leadership team identified a critical need for a centralised system that could provide every team member with the same foundational knowledge, regardless of their location. The key challenges were:
Geographic spread: Delivering uniform training face-to-face across different venues was logistically complex and time-consuming.
Time-intensive onboarding: Managers were spending valuable time repeatedly conducting the same onboarding training for each new hire, a process that was difficult to scale as the team grew.
Compliance assurance: Ensuring every employee was trained and up-to-date on critical compliance topics, like Work Health and Safety (WHS) and Manual Handling, was a significant administrative burden.
Solution
The O'Hara Group chose Allara Global to build its new training framework. The implementation process was described as "excellent" and highly collaborative.
"The team listened to what we had in mind, talked through what was required to set up, and then they just sorted it out behind the scenes. It only took a couple of short meetings and some detailed emails to put everything in place." said Kerrie Peters, Group HR Manager at O’Hara Group.
What began as a solution for basic training quickly evolved. During the setup, the O'Hara Group discovered the platform's versatility and worked with the Allara Global team to expand its use for:
- Digital policy sign-off: Streamlining acknowledgment of company policies.
- Comprehensive inductions: Creating a consistent onboarding experience for all new staff.
- Targeted upskilling: Assigning additional training modules where needed.
- Compliance recaps: Using RSA/RCG refreshers to keep staff knowledge sharp.
Kerrie added, "Nothing was too much trouble for the team at Allara Global, and we have been able to use the platform for so much more than we originally intended".
Results
Since implementing Allara Global, the O'Hara Group has seen a significant positive impact across the business.
- Enhanced efficiency: Managers have reclaimed valuable time previously spent on repetitive training tasks, now confident that every team member receives the same high standard of onboarding.
- Improved staff engagement: By incorporating training requests into performance reviews, the group actively supports the professional development goals of its team.
- Strengthened compliance: The platform provides a clear, auditable trail of completed training for WHS, armed holdup procedures, and more, adding a crucial layer of risk mitigation. The ability to push out policy updates and track sign-offs ensures everyone has the latest information.
- A pathway for growth: The group now leverages Allara Global's extensive library of leadership and management courses to upskill its team, assess ambition for formal training, and support career progression.
Keys to driving engagement
The O'Hara Group cultivated a strong learning culture using a few key strategies. They made core training modules mandatory upon induction with a clear completion deadline, tracked via weekly reports. Crucially, the group demonstrated a tangible commitment to their team's development by scheduling time for employees to complete training during paid work hours.
Furthermore, learning was linked directly to opportunity; for team members seeking promotion, voluntarily completing extra training became a way to demonstrate their commitment to a hospitality career.