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Church's intranet revamp transforms in-house connection, communication

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January 14, 2020

Church's Chicken has transformed its office intranet to connect all the brand's player's under one corporate system. In fact, the results of the project were so game-changing for the brand that its digital workplace vendor, Akumina awarded the brand one of two Employee ExperienceChampions Award. The honor also went to Ohio-based Otterbein College, but in Church's case, it was created to recognize how the corporate intranet at the brand, known as Team Church's was built into a one-stop shop connecting corporate, field and restaurant employees, as well as all franchisees to boost engagement and productivity, according to a press release.  

"We knew we needed a better intranet — one that would serve a single, robust tool for corporate internal communications, team and core business applications, as well as messaging and collaboration," Church's Senior Vice President and Chief People Officer Karen Viera, said in the release.

Under the guidance of Church's Internal Communications Manager Allyson Otey, Church's said it not only increased awareness of the tool, but use, with strong assistance from Church's Senior IT Systems Analyst Justin Alemazkour. 

"At Church's, Information Technology has evolved beyond technical enablers — they are also our creative and business partners, and are integral in enabling the entire organization to connect digitally, work more productively, engage more frequently," Viera said.

Before the implementation the brand's intranet use stagnated at 20 percent, due primarily to lack of relevant content, outdated information, and poor navigation, according to the release.  Fast-forward to the system's initial 2018 launch and use soared to 80% and now stands at 90%. 

Today, the multifaceted digital workspace offers technologies, interactive content, resource-sharing, user engagement and practical information for enhancing performance, all of which are regularly updated. A franchisee-focused homepage houses relevant business content, and easy-to-access, downloadable templates, recruitment best practices, and marketing materials. 

In 2020, Church's HR team will focus on opportunities to increase frequency and duration of user visits by driving more content, tools, and applications across all departments. The brand sees the system as a primary tool to drive employee and franchisee satisfaction scores.

The 68-year-old chicken-focused chain has more than 1,500 locations in 25 countries and international territories and system-wide sales of more than $1 billion.

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