Client
The Wendy’s Company
Industry
Quick-service restaurants
Primary goal
Modernize legacy HR systems
Technologies
Cloud-based Oracle HR and Payroll
Make HR matter
Battling for talent in the food service industry is hard enough without battling your Human Resources (HR) systems, too. For Wendy’s, which prides itself on its commitment to quality in every aspect of its business, managing pay and benefits with its legacy HR systems was starting to challenge that commitment. Here’s how KPMG helped Wendy’s make the difference for its highest-quality asset — its people — by deploying a significant HR tech upgrade powered by Oracle’s leading-edge cloud Human Capital Management (HCM) system.
Client transformation journey
- Before
- During
- After
A complex patchwork of legacy HR systems
Keeping the line moving is important in the quick-service restaurant industry, and that means giving your teams all the ingredients they need to succeed, including an efficient HR system.
Wendy’s HR “system” was a patchwork of different technologies, a few of which were highly customized and vendor dependent. Besides the drag on staff time in the restaurants, this technology gap also complicated strategic decision-making and supporting new unit growth opportunities.
The HR user experience lagged well behind Wendy’s focus on quality — and behind the times. Company restaurant employees and managers had limited to no self-service capabilities, and digital self-service and mobile options were sparse. Additionally, the lack of features like streamlined onboarding for new employees was a growing risk in a fiercely competitive talent market.
A reimagined employee experience
Wendy’s was committed to upgrading its legacy HR systems by investing in Oracle’s cloud-based HCM platform for employees at its corporate offices and 400-plus Company-owned restaurants. After a competitive review process, Wendy’s chose KPMG US to design, build, and deploy the new system based on our deep experience with Oracle systems, including many successful HCM deployments of considerable complexity.
The powerful new HCM platform went live across all locations in Q3 2023, with tightly integrated modules uniquely designed for Wendy’s needs on payroll, compensation, time and labor, benefits, performance, onboarding, and more. The modern, user-friendly interfaces include easy web and mobile access and feature “Patty,” a chatbot that manages HR-related questions. The KPMG team also handled integration with Wendy’s related enterprise data management cloud services (EDMCS).
The result was a vastly improved HR experience for every employee across the company — and more time to focus on delivering Wendy’s signature quality recipe for great food and service.
From legacy to leadership in HR
Done right, leading-edge technologies like Oracle’s cloud-based HCM platform can rapidly transform nagging gaps into competitive advantages, as Wendy’s demonstrated with its deployment of their new people-first system. The enhanced employee experience is a significant improvement on its own, especially in today’s hypercompetitive labor market.
The new system offers a future-ready enterprise talent management technology system that delivers real-time data decision-making tools, consistent workflows, and digital-first capabilities. Additionally, it significantly reduces the potential for high-profile errors (for example, miscalculated wage payments or missed tax deductions) while streamlining compliance management and reporting.
Perhaps most important, the Oracle HCM system is highly adaptable and scalable, making it easier to add new features like Oracle's Generative AI (natively built within the platform) to keep businesses on the leading edge.
How we make the difference for The Wendy's Company
Some companies have all the capabilities they need to launch established technologies like the Oracle HCM platform. But many don’t. One of the primary reasons Wendy’s chose KPMG US for this project was our depth of experience with Oracle systems overall and the HCM platform and related HR processes specifically. We’ve seen what makes these projects work — and where they go off the rails.
Please reach out to us if we can help you think about how to select, design, and implement established systems that can transform your organization.
KPMG. Make the Difference.
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Make the Difference with KPMG
At KPMG, what sets us apart isn't just what we do, it's how we do it.
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