Anne&Max

“Our communication has improved a lot. Our colleagues have a much better understanding of what's going on at Anne&Max as an organization, not just at their own location.”
– Quincy Roos, HR Manager at Anne&Max

About Anne&Max

Anne&Max is a hospitality concept with 31 locations across the Netherlands, where guests can visit seven days a week for breakfast, coffee, lunch, and drinks. The organization operates a mix of company-owned and franchise locations and employs over 700 people in total.

Each location has teams working in service, behind the bar, and in the kitchen. Most employees work on the floor in shifting schedules, which makes communication more challenging.

The challenge

For a long time, internal communication at Anne&Max involved several steps. “From head office, we shared information through an intranet with our franchisees, who then passed it on to their teams,” says Quincy, HR Manager at Anne&Max. “But we didn’t really have visibility into whether everything reached everyone, or if it was shared on time.”

On the floor, communication also relied heavily on WhatsApp groups, posters, and separate documents. That worked in practice, but made it difficult to keep an overview or find information later.

Onboarding and training could also be improved. New employees received a paper onboarding booklet with information and checklists, while most of the actual training happened on the job. “It gave a basic structure,” Quincy explains, “but we didn’t really know what someone had already completed or still needed to do.”

At the same time, employees were mainly connected to their own location, with limited visibility into the wider organization. “Within their own team, people know exactly what’s going on,” Quincy says. “But much less about what Anne&Max is doing as a whole or where we’re heading. Some didn’t realize how many locations we have.”

Together, this created a clear need: one central place for communication, onboarding, and feedback that works for both head office and teams on the floor.

The solution

With that need in mind, Anne&Max started looking for a platform that better fits day-to-day operations. One place for the employee experience, where not only head office shares information, but franchisees can also actively use it within their own locations.

“That was really important to us,” Quincy explains. “It couldn’t be a tool where only head office communicates. Franchisees needed to be able to use it themselves in their own location.”

Their main requirements were:

• direct communication with employees on the floor
• a dedicated environment for franchisees
• clear and practical onboarding and e-learning
• better insight into feedback and employee satisfaction
• the ability to target communication by role and location

After evaluating multiple providers, they chose Oneteam because it brought all these elements together in one platform.

The approach

Anne&Max introduced Oneteam to the organization step by step. They started with a pilot group of six franchisees, followed by a phased rollout to the rest of the locations.

“We looked at each group individually to see who was ready,” Quincy explains. “Then we scheduled demos with Oneteam that focused on how to use it in practice and how to successfully involve employees.”

Experiences from the pilot group helped convince others. Franchisees who were already using the platform shared how they applied it and what it brought them.

At the same time, the platform was set up to match the operation. Communities were created for franchisees, store managers, and specific roles such as kitchen staff and baristas. The timeline was used for updates from both head office and the locations themselves.

Onboarding was also fully digitized. New employees now go through onboarding modules where they get introduced to Anne&Max through videos from both the franchisee and the founder, combined with house rules and short quizzes.

Role-specific e-learning modules were developed for service, kitchen, and barista roles. “We quickly noticed that video is essential,” says Quincy. “Our audience is young, and for this type of work, you need to see how something is done.”

The results

Faster communication on the floor

Since implementing Oneteam, the way of working at Anne&Max has clearly changed. Communication is now more direct, which helps teams on the floor respond faster.

In practice, this means teams can act immediately. For example, if an ingredient is temporarily unavailable, the kitchen team is informed right away. They can respond instantly or discuss alternatives, without information having to pass through multiple layers.

This results in:

• better-informed employees
• less miscommunication on the floor
• less time spent relaying information
• more clarity in daily operations

Stronger connection across locations

The platform also helps employees feel more connected to the wider organization.

A good example is the annual latte art event, where live updates were shared through Oneteam. Colleagues who weren’t there could still follow along and engage.

“You notice that people still feel involved, even if they’re not there themselves,” says Quincy. “That creates more connection between colleagues and locations.”

More structure in onboarding and training

Onboarding and training have become more structured and consistent. Instead of paper checklists and ad hoc explanations, there is now one clear starting point in the app.

New employees first complete onboarding modules and basic training, after which practical training on the floor builds on that foundation. “It makes it much clearer what someone needs to learn in their first period,” Quincy explains.

In practice, this leads to:

• more consistency in how people work
• clearer guidance for both employees and franchisees
• less dependency on individual trainers

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Feedback that leads to action

With the introduction of pulse surveys, feedback has become much more accessible. Instead of one annual employee survey, Anne&Max now uses pulse surveys, where employees receive two questions every week on different topics. This makes giving feedback easier and provides faster insight into what’s happening across the organization.

“That makes it much easier to complete,” says Quincy. “Our first pulse survey already had a 30% response rate without any promotion, which I think is very positive.”

For Anne&Max, this means:

• continuous insight into what’s happening
• faster identification of signals
• the ability to act more quickly on key topics

A platform that grows with the organization

Oneteam is now used for much more than just communication and continues to evolve alongside the organization. “We keep looking at how we can make it as practical as possible for the teams on the floor,” says Quincy.

You can see that in how the platform is being used day to day. From HR forms to checklists for opening and closing shifts, it helps make everyday work just that bit easier and more structured.

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Conclusion

For Anne&Max, Oneteam has become a central place where communication, onboarding, training, and feedback come together. It brings more clarity and calm to the operation, while helping employees stay better informed and more connected to what’s happening across the organization.

“What I really appreciate is that Oneteam genuinely listens,” says Quincy. “When I share ideas or requests, they’re taken seriously and often acted on quickly. It doesn’t feel like you’re just using a tool, but like you’re building something together. And that really helps the platform keep improving in a way that fits what we need.”

That combination is what makes the difference: a platform that doesn’t just support the organization, but actively grows with it, both now and in the future.