Known for neighborly customer service, Ace Hardware grew from 4 small stores in Chicago more than a century ago to the fifth largest franchise in the world. Today, an Ace Hardware store is less than 15 minutes from more than 75 percent of the U.S. population. The home improvement industry giant’s success is built on continuously adapting to the changing needs of customers and employees.
Workday plays an important role in those efforts, says Dariel Williamson, senior HRIS analyst at Ace Hardware. “We streamlined and automated our business processes with Workday. That lets managers and employees stay focused on what we’re known for: great customer service.”
Increased employee engagement through self-service.
Employees access schedules, request time off, and check pay stubs with their fingertips, no matter where they are, with the secure Workday mobile app. More than three-quarters of Ace Hardware employees use the app. “We spend a lot of time with Gen Z recruitment efforts, and mobile access tops their list,” Williamson says. “Employees having control of and visibility into their schedules so they can switch shifts or request changes made a huge difference with employee engagement.”
Streamlined scheduling.
Managers adjust and optimize their team’s work hours with the app. “They have complete visibility and can make updates in real time to stay at or under budget,” Williamson says.
Managers create schedules in under 30 minutes, a process that used to take hours. “We saved a lot of time and labor costs compared to the manual scheduling process done before,” Williamson says.
One-stop shopping for data.
Having building reports around time tracking, absence, and payroll on the same platform offers managers a clear, holistic view they didn’t have when the reports were under separate systems.
“Bringing that all under the same roof means we can see how different data points relate to one another, which lets us uncover valuable insights our leaders can leverage,” Williamson says. “That’s tremendous.”
Enhanced compliance.
Ace Hardware also meets different regulatory requirements, whether it’s in California or across the globe, with Workday. “From security access to wage, paid leaves, and labor rules, we can address compliance needs faster and more efficiently with Workday,” Williamson says.
Leaders can customize and adapt to evolving compliance objectives. They also receive automatic updates without disruption and have complete auditability and data security oversight.
Leveraging AI for business growth.
Ace Hardware’s leaders prioritized integrating AI to simplify and automate everyday business operations. The company plans to accelerate common tasks such as creating contracts and summarizing job descriptions with Workday Illuminate™, the next generation of Workday AI. Workday performs routine HR and finance tasks with real-time guidance so Ace Hardware employees can focus more on spending time with customers. Managers can orchestrate end-to-end business and complex cross-platform processes.
“We’re excited about how Workday Illuminate can help us from payroll to HCM insights to trends in our workforce,” Williamson says.
Aggressive growth plans.
Ace Hardware will invest more than $1 billion in opening new stores and remodeling existing locations as part of its expansion goals. The retailer has recently averaged about 100 store openings a year.
Workday will continue to play a key role in the company’s growth and success. “Workday lets us flex and meet our business and employee needs now and into the future,” Williamson says. “We’re excited to see what comes next.”
The Workday mobile app lets our employees provide their preferences, availability, and request time off. That information helps managers determine and publish schedules for each of their locations.
Senior HRIS Analyst
See how Workday Payroll enables Ace Hardware to stay compliant, streamline processes, and flex to meet business and employee needs now and into the future.
