How Shake Shack Modernized Team Member Relations into a Scalable Function with HR Acuity
The Challenge
When Shake Shack’s People team assessed their existing case management setup in 2022, it was clear the tools weren’t keeping pace with the organization’s needs and growth trajectory. Their previous system required manual data entry for every case, offered unreliable search and raised questions regarding scalability. Reporting was scattered across multiple systems, including ticketing, HRIS, email, voicemails and an online reporting tool – with no automated routing and no central place to manage it all.
The team needed a solution built to scale with them. After evaluating their options, HR Acuity stood out from the start. “HR Acuity stood out because it was purpose-built for the complexity of team member relations,” said Allison Zacher, Director, People Practices. “It’s designed by people who understand the work. I knew immediately it was what we needed to move our work forward.”
See How Shake Shack Leveled Up Their Team Member Relations with HR Acuity
At-a-Glance
HR Acuity empowers Shake Shack with:
- A single, centralized system of record for all team member relations activity
- Seamless integration with Workday Help to automate case creation and eliminate manual data entry
- More consistent documentation quality and faster time-to-close against internal service expectations
- One unified platform for speak-up reporting and case management
- Clearer reporting, with dashboards in development to replace manual data pulls and deliver periodic reporting in one click
- Scalable infrastructure and flexible role-based access built to support growth
“HR Acuity stood out because it was purpose-built for the complexity of team member relations.”
The Solution
With support from HR Acuity’s white-glove onboarding team, Shake Shack was able to go from evaluation to implementation in just three months. “The implementation process was well-supported, and since go-live, the tool has changed our work,” said Allison.
HR Acuity now serves as the foundation for how Shake Shack manages team member relations: Centralizing case management, standardizing processes and giving the team the visibility and automation needed to support a growing business. Shake Shack also implemented HR Acuity’s Speakfully as an additional speak-up channel, allowing team members, anonymous or named, to raise workplace concerns.
“I’m so happy we made the move to HR Acuity. It is absolutely the right program for us.”
The Impact
Efficient Processes that Scale with the Business
Before HR Acuity, Shake Shack’s team member relations team was managing a growing case volume on a system that made every step labor-intensive. Time that should have gone toward investigations and team member conversations was spent on administrative work. “HR Acuity increased our efficiency and consistency, and case management workflows,” Allison said. “It helped the team manage increasing case volume more efficiently while maintaining more consistent response and documentation practices.”
Today, the team consistently meets its service level agreements for initial response and case closure times, and documentation quality has improved alongside speed. Cases are more complete, easier to close and the team manages increased volumes more effectively. With plans for growth, having the right infrastructure makes sustainable growth possible.
A Single Source of Truth with Workday
From the start, Shake Shack’s team member relations team had a clear goal: reduce the number of systems they were managing and put that time back into the work that matters. HR Acuity’s Workday integrations have been key to achieving this goal.
Through a Workday RaaS integration, team member and location data flows automatically into HR Acuity without any manual entry required. And when team members submit concerns through Workday Help, a dedicated queue captures those submissions and routes them directly into HR Acuity, assigning them to the right people partner based on location. “HR Acuity’s Workday integration gives our team time back to focus on what matters most: The investigations and the conversations,” said Allison.
A Better Speak-Up Reporting Experience for Team Members
Shake Shack also implemented Speakfully, HR Acuity’s speak up tool, so that every submission flows directly into case management. First contact can be sent quickly, and all follow-up communication lives within the case. The platform’s built-in messaging has been especially valuable for anonymous complaints. “We can sometimes get more information because team members trust the anonymity built into the communication,” Allison said.
Speakfully’s live-answer capability also closed an important gap – team members who called expecting to reach a person had previously been met with voicemail. “Creating a better experience for our team is ultimately the goal,” Allison said. “Speakfully has helped us ensure every team member feels supported and heard.”
Clearer Reporting, Less Manual Work
HR Acuity gives Shake Shack’s team member relations team direct access to the data it needs across case types, issue categories, locations and more. For quarterly compliance reporting, the team can pull and slice data across manager guidance cases, helpline submissions, top issue categories and location-level trends in just a few clicks. “HR Acuity’s reporting has the flexibility required to get the job done,” Allison said. “You can get as deep in the weeds as you want, or stay as high level as you need.”
A Platform Built for the Work
HR Acuity was purpose-built for the complexity of team member relations work, and that shows in how Shake Shack’s team uses it. The platform is flexible enough to be configured around how the team works, and simple enough that adoption has never been a barrier.
“We have the ability to configure it in such a way that it really supports the processes of business,” Allison said. “I’m so happy we made the move to HR Acuity. It is absolutely the right program for us.”
Real Success, Real Stories: Read More Customer Stories
Learn from successful brands who trust HR acuity for next level employee relations. Our detailed case studies showcase real challenges, solutions and outcomes, illustrating the power of proactive employee relations management.
