How a 25-branch restaurant group cut HR request time from weeks to days
The 900-employee Saudi restaurant group moved attendance, requests and performance appraisals onto ZenHR, giving employees one place to submit and track everything.
Before, a single request took at least a week or two. Now a request takes from two days to a maximum of three days.
About Burj Al Hamam
Burj Al Hamam opened in Riyadh in 1979 with nine tables on Takhassusi Street and has grown into one of Saudi Arabia’s best-known Lebanese restaurant groups, with sister concepts including Shebbak Beirut, Burj Al Hamam Bistro and Burj Al Hamam Catering. The group employs around 900 people across roughly 25 branches in Riyadh and Jeddah, and is preparing for further expansion.
The challenge: attendance, deductions and requests across 25 branches
Running HR for a restaurant group means shift workers spread across dozens of locations. When attendance data isn’t reliable, the problems flow straight into payroll.
“Employees were always running into problems with attendance, problems with salary deductions, and problems with their requests.” — Ajwad bin Samir
Employees chased HR by email, phone or text message, and a single request could take at least a week or two to resolve.
Why ZenHR: accuracy, appraisals and a fast switch
“ZenHR stood out in employee evaluation, in the accuracy of attendance and departure tracking, and in the accuracy of requests.” — Ajwad bin Samir
With ZenHR’s implementation team, Burj Al Hamam moved 900 employees to the new system in about one to two weeks.
“It was a very tough challenge. But the ZenHR team’s implementation was excellent, and they helped us a lot with this fast transition. It took around one to two weeks. It was a huge achievement.” — Ajwad bin Samir
The solution: one place to ask, track and stay on top of records
- Time & Attendance with fingerprint data: clock-ins tracked accurately across branches, with alerts for fingerprint issues.
- Employee Self-Service requests: submitted and tracked in one place, with pending requests flagged so nothing stalls.
- Performance appraisals in the same system as attendance and requests.
- Automatic alerts and data completeness: employees are prompted to fix issues and keep records complete.
- Government integrations that run smoothly.
“Instead of emails, phone calls, or text messages, they submit their request through the system. As soon as they see where the request has reached, they can follow up on it easily.” — Ajwad bin Samir
Results: requests resolved in days, not weeks
- Requests take 2 days, 3 at most, down from at least 1–2 weeks.
- One system for submitting and tracking requests, instead of email, phone and text.
- Accurate attendance tracking with automatic alerts.
- Full switch to ZenHR completed in about 1–2 weeks.
“Technology has contributed a lot to how quickly we respond to employees. Now a request takes from two days to a maximum of three days, depending on the request.” — Ajwad bin Samir
