Case Study: Coffee & Bagel Brands cuts onboarding from 22.5 to 4.5 days and reduces turnover with Wisetail

How a Franchise Reduced Onboarding Time and Increased ROI

Bagel Brands — the franchised group behind Einstein Bros., Bruegger’s, Noah’s and Manhattan Bagel — operates 988 bakeries with 7,500 employees. The company struggled with a dated, text-heavy training manual, inconsistent frontline messaging, long onboarding (22.5 days), low certification (~30%), and very high turnover (170%), and needed a modern, engaging approach to train a largely Gen Z and young-millennial workforce.

By overhauling onboarding with a people-centered LMS strategy (shorter, engaging modules that explain the “why,” direct email communication, in‑flow learning and clearer career paths via Wisetail), Bagel Brands cut new-hire training to 4.5 days, saw bakeries with four-day training report up to 20-point higher guest satisfaction, reduced frontline turnover to below 80%, and raised certification rates to about 80%, delivering measurable ROI in service, waste control and labor management.

Coffee & Bagel Brands

Nick Kyle

Manager of Training