Paid Team-Vote Hiring Day
Let candidates work with the team before colleagues vote on the hire
- Difficulty
- Moderate
- Time to result
- ~weeks to results
- Steps
- 5
- Confidence
- 99%
Pret used a structured paid trial to distribute hiring judgement across the people who would work with a candidate. After central screening, a candidate spent a day in a shop that needed staff. The team created multiple short interactions so colleagues could observe the person in a realistic setting. At the end of the day, staff privately voted yes or no, originally on napkins, and the candidate received a prompt decision. Metcalfe says the system responded to cases where unreliable managers hired people they personally wanted, damaging the team, culture, and customer experience. The mechanism combines realistic exposure, multiple observers, private input, and frontline authority rather than allowing one manager's preference to dominate.
Origin
Metcalfe says he introduced the system after seeing how a single unreliable manager could abuse hiring authority. Pret screened applicants, paid them to spend a day in a shop, then asked the shop team to vote privately on the appointment.
Core principles
- 01Future colleagues observe fit that one manager can miss
- 02Candidates deserve a realistic view of the work
- 03A paid trial respects the candidate's time
- 04Distributed votes reduce one manager's unchecked influence
- 05Early responsibility can build trust and ownership
How to run it
- 1
Screen the basics
Confirm that the candidate meets the role's essential requirements before asking a team to invest in a trial day.
Pro tip Use consistent job-related criteria for every candidate.
Watch out Do not let informal fit replace lawful, non-discriminatory hiring standards.
- 2
Pay for real exposure
Invite the candidate into the actual workplace for a paid period that reflects normal interactions and duties.
Pro tip Tell the candidate in advance what will be observed and how the decision works.
Watch out Do not use trial candidates as unpaid labour.
- 3
Distribute interactions
Arrange enough short conversations or shared tasks for several colleagues to form their own evidence-based view.
Pro tip Ensure quieter team members also interact with the candidate.
Watch out A popularity contest is not a substitute for role competence.
- 4
Vote privately
Collect a clear yes-or-no view from each participating colleague without allowing a senior voice to set the room's answer.
Pro tip Gather votes before group discussion to reduce conformity.
Watch out Investigate job-related concerns rather than accepting unexplained bias.
- 5
Decide and respond
Apply the agreed decision rule and tell the candidate promptly whether they were selected.
Pro tip Record recurring reasons for rejection to audit the process for unfair patterns.
In the wild
Candidates were paid to spend a day in a Pret shop. Staff members each spent time with the candidate and voted yes or no at about four o'clock, giving frontline colleagues direct influence over who joined their team.
→ Hiring authority was distributed beyond the manager while new staff experienced the workplace before joining.
Common mistakes
Letting one manager dominate
The system was created because one manager's personal preferences could harm the wider team and customer experience.
Running an unpaid audition
Metcalfe specifies that candidates were paid for the day; removing that protection changes the model materially.
Voting without job criteria
Team input should supplement consistent role requirements, not legitimise vague preference or bias.
Is it for you?
Best for
It is best for collaborative frontline roles where candidates can safely experience representative work during a paid trial.
Not ideal for
It is not ideal where a trial would expose confidential work, create safety risks, or replace a lawful and fair assessment process.
From the transcript
“they would spend the whole day there paid”
“at four o'clock all the staff would vote on a napkin yes or no”
From the episode
Pret & Itsu Founder: How I Built TWO Billion Dollar Brands At The Same Time!: Julian Metcalfe