From Firefighting to Future-Proofing People Strategy, with Rachel Masing, Pool House

Tech on Toast, The Hospitality Tech Podcast

This series, Business in Better Shape, was born from new research by Tech on Toast and Square, The Long-Term Case for Smarter Tech Investment.We spoke to more than 150 hospitality leaders across the UK, uncovering an industry stuck between ambition and hesitation. Most hospitality teams buy tech only when something’s on fire - Square’s research shows just 6% plan purchases, while 94% react. That insight inspired this series, real conversations with operators who are finding ways to move forward, to simplify, to modernise without losing what makes hospitality human.Download the research here;https://www.techontoast.community/researchIn our second episode, Rachel Masing, People Director, Pool House - from the minds behind Topgolf & Puttshack, lays out how to flip that script and design people-first systems before opening day and use tech to create space for human leadership.Episode HighlightsTech-infused experience: ball & cue tracking, digitized scoring, and player-levelling to make pool competitive and inclusive.People blueprint: values → behaviours → role profiles → always-on feedback loops; hire for skill and behaviour.Scale by design: choose tools that work cross-city/country, not just for site #1.Noise killers: clear comms rules + project visibility (e.g., Slack for HQ, ClickUp for projects) so work doesn’t vanish into silos.Tech as strategy: not “keep the Wi-Fi up,” but a leader who scans the market and briefs teams on what to adopt next.AI where it helps: recruiting at scale and emerging AI-enabled coaching/L&D—augment humans, don’t replace them.GM = business owner: elevate GMs to run people, finance, sales, and ops—then upskill them to coach on site.Ownership mindset: equity for core teams and day-one employee ownership to hard-wire culture and commitment.Big missing piece: a light, continuous performance conversation tool (voice notes, auto-pull shift/attendance/peer signals, simple scheduling).This series is powered by Square - helping hospitality operators put their business in better shape through connected commerce, payments, and restaurant technology.https://squareup.com/gb/en