This multinational name-brand fast food chain had experienced year-over-year double-digit growth, impressive numbers in a highly competitive market.
Behind the scenes, the company was hiring across all departments, but the administrative support was lagging — or worse, non-existent.
“We’ve grown really fast and were adding new staff at all different levels. But even with so much hiring, it was still a headcount prioritization game — teams were struggling to justify a full-time administrative assistant when there were just so many other needs.”
But that meant staff were juggling a growing administrative workload, pulling them away from what they were hired to do — at a time when they truly needed all hands on deck.
“Our team was being swamped by the pent-up administrative needs.”
Finding Boldly
The company had tried a mix of contractors, temporary workers, and in-house assistants but struggled with inefficiencies and high turnover.
“Our policies are pretty risk averse when it comes to co-employment; we have a 12-month policy on temporary workers. So by the time you hire somebody and get them up to speed, they’re actually effective at about month four. Then six or so months later, you have to start thinking about hiring and training somebody else. It was just a constant, vicious cycle.”
There had to be a better solution.
A Talent Management Professional responsible for strategic external partnerships was charged with finding a cost-effective solution that could match the company’s growth.
A Google search led him to Boldly. They hadn’t planned on remote support, but they liked Boldly’s model and reputation — the hope that they could escape their hiring cycle quickly was enough for them to give it a shot.
“We were looking for a partner with a strong culture. We found that with Boldly, and we loved the risk mitigation. We especially liked that Boldly hires its team and how you all care for your employees.”
The Results
Within a month of contacting Boldly, the company began a pilot program and brought on 3 Boldly executive assistants to support 3 teams. Starting slow would help them gauge whether Boldly could meet their high standards and unique needs.
“Boldly’s team is excellent at what they do but they’re also just wonderful as humans to be around. That makes a big difference in the work.”
The pilot was a huge success. In less than a year, the company has partnered with Boldly to bring on 18 executive assistants to support 18 different teams in talent planning, operations/finance, launch support, international restaurant development, marketing, and more.
“Boldly’s biggest differentiator is your team, your people. There are some alternatives out there but your hiring sets the bar and expectations really high, which fits well with us as a people-company with equally high standards.”
Boldly’s team of assistants has integrated into the company with versatility and a proactive attitude that have been instrumental in streamlining various tasks, from managing expense reports and booking travel, proofreading, and improving the structure of critical communications. This level of support has liberated the leaders across the company to focus on strategic responsibilities, significantly enhancing overall productivity.
In Summary
“It’s been a huge lift — our people can now do what they were hired to do. And it’s because the Boldly team is there, fulfilling all of the other things that are necessary to get work done but can take up a lot of our team’s time. Everybody’s happy.”
