Reducing Absenteeism. Cutting Turnover by 23%. How Golden State Transformed Frontline Engagement at Scale

At Golden State Restaurant Group, success has never been defined by operations alone, it’s built on the systems that support people at scale. As a management and administrative services partner, Golden State provides the infrastructure that enables Owner/Operators to run great restaurants while delivering consistent results across their business.

For Owner/Operator Carli Schrader Eager, that belief is rooted in a multi-generation family business built on community, care, and creating real opportunities for employees at every stage of their careers.

From high school students working their first shift to long-term managers building careers in hospitality, every employee plays a measurable role in the restaurant’s success.

But as the business expanded to 40+ restaurants and thousands of employees, delivering that consistency became increasingly complex.Because caring about your people is one thing. Building systems that support them consistently, across every restaurant, is another.

The Reality of Running a Modern Frontline Workforce

Like many large hospitality operators, Golden State faced a daily operational truth: No two days and no two employees are ever the same. “The biggest challenge is the human element. Every shift is different, and you never know what each day will bring.” Managing performance, engagement, and consistency across thousands of frontline workers required structured systems, not just manager intuition.

Recognition Was There – But It Wasn’t Working

The team actively ran competitions, celebrated wins, and rewarded performance across locations. But behind the scenes, the process was time-intensive and difficult to maintain. Tracking performance meant pulling data from multiple systems, with managers spending hours compiling reports and manually running recognition programs that often stalled over time.

“It turned into pure data entry. It could take up to four hours just to pull the numbers. At that point, it stopped feeling worth it.”

Consistency became a major operational gap. Recognition varied widely. Some employees were consistently celebrated, while others were overlooked simply due to limited visibility. Night shift teams were frequently missed, and locations operated in silos with little shared visibility.

“We wanted to recognize people more often, but we didn’t have a clear, consistent way to do it.” At scale, one problem became impossible to ignore: “We can’t realistically thank 2,500 employees every day, even when we want to.”

Golden State didn’t need more effort. They needed a system that could scale recognition automatically.

A New Approach: Recognition as a Scalable System

When Harri introduced Engage, Carli saw it not just as a tool, but as a way to fundamentally change how recognition worked across the business. “The ability to recognize every employee, no matter which location they worked in, was the turning point.”

Golden State joined the Engage beta with a clear goal: make recognition consistent, fair, and scalable without increasing manager workload.

From Manual Effort to Automated Impact

With Engage, recognition became part of daily workflows rather than a separate task. Instead of manual tracking, the system automatically identified and rewarded behaviors like punctuality, attendance, and performance metrics in real time.

Instead of one-off competitions, teams participated in ongoing reward systems including raffles, points, and performance-based incentives. Instead of guessing what employees valued, Golden State collected feedback directly and adjusted rewards in real time.

Driving Measurable Business Outcomes

The impact was both immediate and measurable across key performance metrics.
With recognition directly tied to performance metrics:

• Late clock-ins decreased by 8%, improving shift reliability and operational consistency
  

• Turnover dropped by up to 23% at participating locations, significantly reducing hiring and training costs
  

•  Shift engagement increased, with more employees actively participating in scheduling and incentive programs

Employees Felt the Difference

For the first time, recognition was not limited by location, shift, or manager visibility.

Employees noticed the shift immediately.

• “To know that I’m being seen.”
• “Getting recognition for my hard work.”
• “It makes me feel heard.”

Empowering Managers to Lead – Not Administer

Before Engage, recognition required hours of manual work. After Engage, it happened automatically in the background. “Managers are starting to see how Harri helps them lead better without getting buried in administrative tasks.”

By removing the administrative burden, managers could focus on what actually matters:
Coaching their teams, improving service, and driving performance.

Recognition became a leadership tool, not a task.

Building the Future of Workforce Engagement

From cross-location competitions to team-based leaderboards and training integrations, the system continues to expand in capability.

“Why not test everything? Even try to break it.”

One Simple Truth

“The value of rewards and recognition is showing your people that you care without adding extra work for your team.”

The Harri Difference

Golden State’s journey reflects a broader shift across the industry:

Operators no longer have to choose between operational efficiency and employee experience.

With Harri, they get both.

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