North Texas Bells, LLC
Improving employee retention and engagement for the frontline workforce
- 63 locations
- 1,000+ employees
- 10+ years of serving happiness
About The Client
North Texas Bells, LLC is an award-winning Taco Bell franchisee. It was established in 2011. The company is headquartered in Colleyville, Texas. It has around 5,000 employees. The company is well-known for its growth, culture, food service, and operations. In addition, its dedication to employee development and creating opportunities for its workforce are noteworthy, contributing to its reputation as a leading employer in the region.
The Challenge
The client, a successful franchise with 62 units, faced various communication challenges. One of the main issues was the manual process of communicating important announcements between corporate and frontline staff, who were almost 80% of the employee strength. Regional heads had to visit each branch physically as most of the frontline staff also don’t have dedicated email addresses. Hence, the system was complex, making timely and accurate communication difficult. This challenge was critical since effective communication is essential to the smooth functioning of a franchise.
Another significant challenge was the retention of new hires. Despite building a large volume of talent pipeline (from college students to retirees) who were seeking part-time and full-time work, manually onboarding and communicating with them wasn’t easy. In addition to the lengthy and complex onboarding process, there were several other issues that new employees faced. For instance, the manual training process was inefficient and difficult to scale for a large number of employees. It was challenging to ensure that every new hire received proper training and understood their role and the franchise’s product offerings. This lack of proper training and understanding led to a lack of motivation and a sense of belonging among new hires, further exacerbating the turnover rate issue
This eventually led to struggles to fit in and establish a sense of belonging within the organization, which made new hires feel disconnected from the workplace culture. All these factors combined resulted in a high turnover rate of around 60 to 70 percent within the first 90 days of joining the franchise.
The client wanted a unified modern intranet solution to address these challenges and increase their retention rates.
The Solution
The client’s team was keen to find a comprehensive digital solution, and that’s when they came across Coventus’s PeopleOne. The team was impressed with the platform’s capabilities and its potential to transform the workplace culture. So, they decided to partner with Coventus and implement PeopleOne to address their challenges and improve their operations.
Engagement
The PeopleOne mobile app offers a variety of communication widgets, such as news, announcements, and access to documents. It also allows employees to connect with everyone within the franchise, boosting engagement and a sense of community. In addition, PeopleOne includes surveys, polls, and discussion boards to help employees share their thoughts and feedback.
The client also uses the Kudos feature to reward and recognize employees who excel at the quick service restaurant chain. In addition, the client utilized the PeopleOne web-based platform for corporate staff use. They share vital information, such as introducing new benefits, company policies, employee handbooks, and health and safety guidelines to the workforce. The structure of the platform allows for a clear hierarchy of information sharing. For example, specific announcements and news items can be restricted to be seen only by employees in select locations or regions. This helps the area coaches and restaurant managers to share relevant information based on the regions.
Communication
The solution also improved communication among restaurant managers, area coaches, and the corporate team. To accomplish this, content widgets were added to the platform, allowing restaurant managers and area coaches to efficiently receive notifications and send messages during adverse weather conditions. This enabled rapid and efficient information dissemination across all locations, ensuring the safety of all employees. This also eliminated the need for regional managers to travel back and forth between the corporate office and the working sites to convey information.
The web portal also serves as a platform for announcing vacant positions, while employee onboarding is handled through the PeopleOne mobile app. In addition, the corporate team uses the web portal to create and set up quizzes, polls, and surveys for the frontline staff. These enhancements have significantly improved communication, streamlined operations, and enhanced the overall functionality of the platform.
Customization
The client recognized that the out-of-the-box PeopleOne solution was a great fit for resolving their challenges. Still, they also wanted to include some custom widgets and make it a unified and comprehensive solution for the organization. Since PeopleOne is a highly customizable solution, the Product team was able to meet their needs in a short span of time.
Onboarding is a key feature of the solution, customized to suit the client’s needs. When an employee joins the franchise, the manager or supervisor in the restaurant location could directly onboard the candidate using the PeopleOne mobile app. The employee’s information from the app is synchronized with the web portal, enabling the corporate office to access the data.
Coventus also developed a unique feature to facilitate the onboarding process that included a video message from the franchise’s leadership team that spoke about their values. This helped new employees feel like they were already part of the team.
The Badges widget is custom-built for the client to motivate and encourage high-performing employees, improving loyalty with the organization. Another custom-built widget that contributed to employee engagement was Pulse Surveys. This feature was specifically designed for new hires to assess their feelings and experiences on the job. The survey allowed the organization to gather feedback on the onboarding and training process and identify areas for improvement. This helped address their 90-day retention challenge at the organization. By addressing any concerns or issues early on, the organization created a more positive experience for new employees, which increased the likelihood of them staying with the organization long-term.
Culture
The PeopleOne platform also facilitated a culture of peer-to-peer recognition. Through the Kudos feature, employees can recognize and reward their colleagues for going above and beyond in their work. This has created a positive and supportive work environment, boosting morale and employee engagement.
Another culture-enhancing feature is the Leadership Speak. This feature allows the franchise’s leadership team to post messages and updates to the entire organization. It is an effective way to share the company’s vision, values, and objectives with all employees, helping to align everyone towards a common goal.
Additionally, the platform provides a way for employees to provide feedback on company policies, initiatives, and other matters. This feedback helps the leadership team make informed decisions that benefit the entire organization. This has helped to create a positive and productive work culture that values employee contributions, fosters collaboration, and promotes continuous improvement.
Deployment
The deployment of PeopleOne utilized Joget Enterprise On-Prem deployment, catering to the needs of frontline users who did not use Microsoft 365. With a focus on speed and efficiency, we opted for the open-source approach. We included a mobile number and OTP-based authentication feature to secure and streamline the onboarding process. As a result, new hires could quickly get started with the platform without any hassle. One of the noteworthy aspects of our deployment was its quick turnaround time. We went live with the platform in just six weeks for the initial set of users, and within the next two weeks, the organization started using PeopleOne. This swift deployment ensured that the client’s operations were not disrupted for an extended period while the implementation took place.
Support
After deployment, the client organization underwent onboarding training sessions to ensure staff members could utilize the platform effectively. To ensure smooth adoption and continued support, the client was provided with a dedicated Client Partner who regularly meets with the client’s team members to address any concerns. The Product Support team handled any questions or concerns raised at any time.
Immediate Impact of the Solution
The results of the onboarding feature have been impressive. Since the PeopleOne mobile app was implemented, the client has been able to significantly lower the employee turnover rate.
Moreover, the onboarding process has become much smoother and streamlined, with employees accessing all the necessary information through the app. This has helped reduce the waiting time for new hires to be onboarded.
Value Delivered
- Increased employee retention rate
- Improved employee engagement
- Streamlined onboarding process
- Fostered a strong employer-employee relationship
- Elevated workplace morale
- Cultivated a sense of belonging & inclusiveness
- Optimized operations for corporate staff
- Enhanced accuracy of data across systems
Future Enhancements
Looking toward the future, the client has expressed interest in expanding the app’s functionality with a two-way communication feature. A lot more features and customizations are being added to the roadmap to enhance both the web and mobile aspects of the solution.
The Timeline for Success
We understand your needs and work around your schedule
Meet
The client aimed to create an engaging work environment by fostering a sense of value, inclusion, and belonging among employees.
Analyze
The client faced inefficiencies, including time-consuming and complex onboarding processes due to a manual approach. The client also encountered difficulties with communication between corporate and frontline staff.
Solve
A mobile and web solution to modernize the onboarding process and streamline communication channels.
Configure
The solution was customized to enable mobile app-based employee onboarding, and the integration of custom-built widgets like Badges and Pulse Surveys.
Success
The solution streamlined organizational communication to one platform, resulting in a remarkably lower employee turnover rate.
“Our client wanted a mobile based application to modernize their intranet portal to encourage collaboration, enable personal blogging, sharing and other social capabilities. PeopleOne was a perfect fit.”
