From Fragmented to Foundational: How Kellanova Reimagined the Employee Experience

Written by: Karen Coyne

Director of Global Information Systems, Employee Experience & Data Privacy, Kellanova

This article first appeared in Fortified Quarterly, Q2 2026.

In October 2023, Kellogg's split into two independent companies: WK Kellogg Co, retaining the North American cereal business, and Kellanova, which took the global snacks and international cereal portfolio with brands like Pringles, Pop-Tarts, and Cheez-It.

Kellanova was going through its own transformation as a company when we reached an inflection point: our employee experience was no longer aligned with the expectations of a modern, digital workplace. Employees didn't know where to go for help. Requests were being routed across multiple systems. HR teams were spending too much time triaging work instead of delivering value.

We have upwards of 300 HR technology tools and systems of record, but employees don't need to know that. What they need is one place to go for anything: any problem, concern, or question. We needed to move from a collection of tools to a unified, intuitive System of Engagement.

More importantly, it wasn't just an efficiency issue, it was a trust issue. When employees can't easily access support or get consistent answers, it erodes confidence in the function. That clarity became the catalyst for change.

How Did Kellanova Build an AI-Ready Business Case Without Cutting Jobs?

When it came to leadership buy-in, I was deliberate: our ROI would not be driven by job loss or workforce reduction. Instead, we took a more sustainable, employee-centric approach by rationalizing our technology landscape, identifying duplicate systems, overlapping tools, and external contracts that could be retired as we consolidated into a single platform.

I often referred to it as a “Kickstarter model.” We reinvested a portion of the savings into the transformation itself, while returning the remaining value back to the business. It created credibility and momentum because the investment was visibly self-sustaining.

None of that would have been possible without the right partner. Picking a partner that truly sees your vision and can execute on it is one of the most important decisions you'll make, and it's one I don't think leaders talk about enough. Our partnership with Ondaro was foundational to everything we built. They got it from the start, and their ability to execute our vision at every stage is what turned strategy into reality.

How Does Kellanova Measure Employee Experience Success?

Success for us was defined by both measurable cost efficiency and a clear improvement in how employees engage with HR. We tracked reduction in technology spend through system consolidation, improved case resolution times, increased self-service utilization, and employee satisfaction with HR interactions. The platform gave us the insights and scalability to continuously evolve, not just launch and walk away.

What Data Foundation Does AI Need to Work Inside HR?

The portal work was a critical enabler for AI, and I mean that literally. AI depends on structured, centralized, governed data to be effective. Without that foundation, AI tends to amplify inconsistency. With it, AI can meaningfully enhance the experience.

For Kellanova, that foundation was built by clearly defining and categorizing content across all search sources, establishing strong content ownership and data structures, and ensuring clean, well-connected, fully integrated data. By bringing requests, knowledge, and workflows into a single platform, we established a unified entry point that now allows us to layer in capabilities like intelligent search, virtual agents, and case summarization in a way that feels seamless and relevant. It's positioned HR to shift from reactive support to proactive, personalized service delivery.

What Should HR Leaders Do Before Modernizing Employee Experience?

Start with the experience, not the technology. The most successful implementations are grounded in simplifying the experience, not just digitizing existing complexity. A few things I've learned the hard way:

• Rationalize before you modernize: Eliminate duplication and streamline processes before layering in new technology.

• Anchor your business case in tangible value: Leadership responds to clear financial outcomes.

• Design for adoption: Simplicity and intuitiveness will drive usage far more than feature depth.

• Establish governance early: Consistent data, workflows, and ownership are essential for scale and for future AI enablement.

• Choose your partner wisely: I cannot overstate this. Ondaro's partnership wasn't just helpful, it was the difference between a vision and a result. Find a partner who understands where you're trying to go and can actually get you there.

• Think beyond go-live: The minute you launch, it's already outdated. From day one, I was clear this is not a one-time implementation, it's a continuous evolution.

We've adopted a pseudo-Agile mindset: reviewing reports, studying user behavior, maintaining an enhancement backlog tied to business priorities and ROI, and pushing updates to production every other week. Going on our third year, and things have never been better.

At its core, HRSD is a transformation of both experience and operating model. When done well, and with the right platform, the right governance, and the right partner, it doesn't just improve efficiency. It fundamentally elevates how employees connect with and experience the organization, which is ultimately the core of Human Resources.