Scaling HR with Data: How Yelp Transformed Employee Relations with HR Acuity
The Challenge
Over a 20-year span, Yelp went from a startup to a global powerhouse — and the HR team recognized that it was time to make a big change. “We really needed a single source of truth in our documentation,” said Rachel Greer, Head of Employee Relations at Yelp. “To access advanced analytics, manage employee relations cases consistently and simplify issue categorization, we turned to HR Acuity — and it delivered.”
Discover How HR Acuity Empowered Yelp to Scale its ER Function by 120%
At-a-Glance
With HR Acuity, Yelp now has:
- Centralized, clear case insights enabling data-driven decisions and stronger HR/ER confidence across the organization.
- HR Acuity data to highlight the need for more resources. Using this data, Yelp grew its employee relations team by 120%, expanding from 5 to 11 members.
- The ability to complete tasks in seconds that previously required extensive manual effort, freeing ER and HR to focus on higher-value strategic priorities.
“HR Acuity does the heavy lifting for us — turning hours of manual work into instant, meaningful insights.”
The Solution
Yelp chose HR Acuity as its dedicated HR case management platform, gaining the single source of truth it had been seeking. With HR Acuity, the team unlocked more robust reporting, scaled HR and ER operations effectively and gained a strategic partner invested in their success. What started as a cost-driven decision quickly evolved into a transformative solution for Yelp.
With HR Acuity, Yelp elevated its HR function through:
- Centralized Documentation: Replaced ad hoc processes with a secure, reliable source of truth.
- Data-Driven Staffing: Leveraged case data to show leadership that ER was a crucial investment, securing buy-in to expand the team from 5 to 11 members.
- Configurable Fields & Categories: Gained a customizable system that scales with the team, delivering more relevant insights to support informed business decisions.
- Advanced Reporting with Context: Integrated Workday data to analyze trends in turnover, corrective actions and performance to inform strategy.
- Support & Community: Responsive CSM guidance, white-glove implementation support and peer knowledge sharing via HR Acuity’s empowER community.
- Ease of Use & Autonomy: Empowered users to make updates independently, reducing reliance on support and increasing team control.
- Granular Permissions & Visibility: Gave leaders precise control over who can access sensitive information.
“HR Acuity gives us the structure and clarity to document consistently, ensuring leaders have the insights they need to drive impactful decisions.”
The Impact
HR Function Scaled Strategically
Yelp’s initial focus was standardizing their case management and establishing a secure, centralized source of truth. With those milestones achieved, the platform scaled seamlessly along with the team, allowing them to fully leverage its robust capabilities.
“HR Acuity has grown with us. As we’ve expanded the function, we’ve been able to use the data and insights it provides to optimize our processes and lean into strategic work,” said Rachel.
Team Growth Backed by Data
“The data made it undeniable — our team’s workload and impact were clear, and the numbers justified the need for additional support,” said Rachel. Data from HR Acuity helped justify expanding the HR team from five to 11 members, providing concrete evidence to leadership that the team’s capacity and contributions warranted growth.
Consistent Insights Across Teams
HR Acuity’s configurable fields and case types enable flexible documentation while maintaining a standardized, organization-wide approach. This consistency is especially valuable in a large organization, providing clear visibility into trends and performance across all teams. “HR Acuity gives us the structure and clarity to document consistently, ensuring the entire organization is aligned and that leaders have the insights they need to drive impactful decisions,” said Rachel.
Decision-Making Fueled by Data
Cross-functional trend analysis gives teams a clear view of ER work beyond standard HR metrics. Integrating HRIS data with HR Acuity links cases to outcomes like terminations or corrective actions, uncovering patterns that inform strategy to better support the organization. “Having this data lets us move beyond just tracking activity. We can now surface trends, guide decisions and show leadership the true strategic impact of ER work,” said Rachel.
HR Acuity’s reporting capabilities help Yelp’s team maximize the value of their data, uncovering insights that drive smarter decisions. “The reporting functionality in HR Acuity is incredibly versatile,” said Rachel. “It lets us analyze data in ways we couldn’t have imagined before, dig into trends and make more informed decisions.”
Controlled Access with Clear Oversight
Granular permissions ensure leaders have visibility while sensitive information remains restricted to the appropriate team members. “Managing permissions is simple and intuitive, giving the team confidence that the right people always have access to the right data — a critical requirement given the sensitive nature of our work,” said Rachel.
Time Saved, Admin Burden Reduced
HR Acuity’s ready-to-use templates, best practice-embedded workflows and drag-and-drop dashboards significantly reduce administrative work and empower the team to focus on higher-impact, strategic priorities.
“Now, we complete reporting in the click of a button,” said Rachel. “HR Acuity does the heavy lifting for us — turning hours of manual work into instant, meaningful insights. It’s a total game changer.”
Peer Knowledge Sharing & Community
HR Acuity offers more than technology — it provides a community through empowER, a space built for HR and ER professionals to connect, share insights and explore new approaches.
Yelp’s team actively participates in empowER, interacting with other HR and ER professionals facing the same triumphs and challenges. For a small team, community conversations provide fresh perspectives from peers who understand the delicate work involved in employee relations.
“I love empowER because it gives us the opportunity to broaden our perspective and share our insights, which has been incredibly valuable,” said Rachel.
Transforming HR Through Data-Driven Insights with HR Acuity
HR Acuity enabled Yelp to centralize its documentation, gain clear visibility into employee relations trends and make a strategic impact. By leveraging key insights, the team has been able to justify strategic growth, improve consistency across the org and strengthen ER thought leadership to further elevate the function. Ultimately, the platform helped transform HR from a support function to a data-driven contributor to organizational success.
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