Director of Customer Success FranceRémi Mathurin
What attracted you to working at Mapal Group?
In 2018 I was working in another company where I was consulting for big HR technology projects- mostly implementing new technological systems in these companies. We won a contract to implement Mapal’s Workforce product for Five Guys in France. After implementing the solution for Five Guys and seeing how satisfied the client was with the results of the technology- how it saved them time and resources, and made their life easier, I was sold. My previous experience with implementing this type of technology had always been that it was going to be a constraint and a burden on the user, something that the management wants to be implemented but that won’t actually make the users life easier. After we ran the optimisation engine for the first time to create a schedule and I saw how amazed the client was I was really impressed and wanted to be part of Mapal to help other clients succeed as well.
What is your favourite thing about working with hospitality brands?
The mood of the people, their attitude. I find that most of the people who work in hospitality are direct, fast efficient and don’t overcomplicate things. I used to work with big pharma and banking companies and I never enjoyed the overly corporate attitude. I enjoy working with restaurant staff daily because they are hardworking people and at the same time they are still relaxed and easy-going.
What restaurant technology trends are you most excited about?
I am very excited to see where our talented team can take our products. I’m looking forward to some of the product updates that would enable employers to schedule breaks automatically as well as see how we develop our predictive technology for sales forecasting.
What projects are you working on at the moment?
We’re working on an exciting pilot project for Paris airports retail stores which when the pilot is successful, means our Workforce solution will help to schedule more than 2000 employees. It is a new industry for us and thus it’s a bit more challenging project than some others. The last months of 2020 we were validating the design of the workforce module, currently we’re developing integrations with their other systems and in March the pilot should start with one terminal.
What customer challenges do you enjoy the most?
The challenges our customers come to us are usually the same- they are looking to save time on scheduling their employees and optimise the schedules for sales. For me the most interesting and satisfying aspect of this is when I see we have succeeded- we’ve been successful in configuring the work tables which means our client will be saving time and money with our tool.
What areas of your role give you the most job satisfaction?
When client says that the solution helped him save money, schedule smarter and follow their labour cost with accurate numbers.
It was during a piece of due diligence work that I was introduced to Jorge Lurueña, the owner of MAPAL. After sitting down with him for a couple of hours I was utterly convinced of his vision for the future of hospitality software and when he offered me the CTO role it took me about 30 seconds to say yes.
Where do you see Mapal going in the future?
Looking back at the past 12 months there have been many changes which I am very happy to have been able to experience. I wish Mapal will continue growing globally and at the same time keeping the “Mapal” mindset what for me means being hardworking, humble and customer oriented. In addition, I hope the company culture won’t change too much- I enjoy that everyone is accessible from the top management team...their door is always open.
I have a dream that Mapal Workforce will be number one workforce management provider in France in hospitality with the biggest market share. Everyone is accessible and I hope it will be the same in the future.
Why do you like to work at Mapal?
I love to be part of the team at MAPAL because I can work with an international team from all over Europe. The work atmosphere is nice, colleagues are super friendly and there is a nice team spirit. The ambition of the company is big, which is challenging but at the same time also exciting. It’s not always easy but it definitely is fun!! :)
