By Chrissy Blasinsky 

At NRF 2026: Retail’s Big Show, 7‑Eleven Inc. shared how technology transformed its hiring processes, payroll systems and operational efficiency, with the retailer moving from redundant and manual processes to an efficient, streamlined solution, it said.

“One of the biggest drivers was the complexity in our systems. There are a lot of outdated, fragmented systems that didn't talk to each other or connect,” said Rachel Allen, senior director, talent acquisition at 7-Eleven.

With the acquisition of Speedway, Allen highlighted the complexity of integrating two companies that were operating on different legacy systems and with two different hiring models: store leaders hired their staff at 7-Eleven, while Speedway had 300 recruiters in the field who worked with the stores directly to hire store teams.

Although their hiring approach differed, both banners had the same challenges: the hiring process was slow and manual, took too much time (close to two weeks) and both experienced candidate ghosting (no-shows) during the interview process, as well as new hires who didn’t show up for day one.

Allen shared that 7-Eleven transitioned to a solution by Paradox, a Workday company, which is an enterprise AI platform that helps consolidate payroll, timekeeping, HR and recruiting functions. Moving to a single source of data, she said the company has streamlined redundant processes and is helping store teams make agile decisions.

Bridging IT and Frontline Teams

Before committing to new technology, “understand what the problem is that you’re trying to solve,” suggested Allen. “Oftentimes, we want to implement technology for the sake of technology. With AI, are we pausing and thinking about what we're trying to solve?”

“We’ll have a business strategy and then see where AI might be the problem solver. I think when you lead that way, you create a situation of building things with your employees versus it happening to them. A lot of the friction during implementations is because people feel out of control—like they're not having a say in what's happening to them,” she said.

She noted that from the get-go, it’s important to listen to frontline teams and be willing to adjust based on their feedback. This mindset helps “build champions” for change management and brings forth valuable feedback that could have been missed.

Allen cited an example of this mindset in action early in the process of rolling out the Workday solution. She shared that 7‑Eleven delayed the launch to avoid conflicts with its busiest summer hiring season, the “100 Days of Summer,” after store leaders suggested that introducing a new technology during peak staffing would be disruptive.

The launch was changed to after the Labor Day holiday, “and the store leaders were thrilled that their voices were heard,” said Allen. “We changed based on what their needs were versus what we wanted them to do. It's a fascinating connected ecosystem.”

Workforce Solutions for the C-Store Industry

Retailers will present case studies onstage at the 2026 NACS HR Forum, March 16-18 in Louisville, Kentucky, the only tailor-made event for human resource professionals in the convenience industry. Connect with your HR peers, join conversations and find solutions to your pressing HR needs. Register today at convenience.org/HRForum.