PeopleMatter Helps Rapidly Growing Restaurant Company Hire More Efficiently and Effectively

CHARLESTON, S.C. -- FEB. 22, 2011 -- Noodles & Company, a Colorado-based, fast-casual restaurant concept serving noodles, soups, salads and sandwiches from around the world, announced today it will implement PeopleMatter HIRE(tm) in its 212 company-owned restaurants to help find, hire and onboard exceptional employees. Noodles will deploy PeopleMatter's talent management system to automate its talent acquisition process with HIRE's online application form, robust applicant tracking system (ATS) and electronic onboarding that eliminates paperwork in the hiring process.

The need to effectively manage rapid expansion and a multi-state operation led Noodles to choose PeopleMatter's centralized, integrated platform. HIRE will streamline Noodles' hiring and onboarding processes with an online system to help increase efficiency, legal compliance and candidate quality while reducing time-to-hire and turnover. PeopleMatter's SaaS (Software-as-a-Service)-based technology allows candidates to apply for jobs from any Internet-enabled device, and HIRE's simple online application is optimized for touch screens, built on a 7th-grade reading level and can be translated into multiple languages for a richer user experience.

With HIRE, Noodle & Company's managers can instantly search through hundreds of applications, filtering by role, location and availability, finding the best candidates and hiring them first. Electronic onboarding reduces time-to-hire and pre-populates required forms, such as W-4s and i-9s, with information gathered from a candidate's online application. HIRE also creates a secure, electronic document library that admins can access over the Web for greater efficiency and portability. Administrator dashboards provide key hiring metrics to help improve processes, and progressive features, such as integration with various social media outlets, appeal to an up-and-coming Gen Y workforce for higher internal adoption.

"PeopleMatter will give our restaurants a powerful, yet simple system to manage time-consuming hiring and onboarding processes," said Ann Dowell, Noodles & Company's vice president of human resources. "It's critical for us to maintain the high caliber of team members we hire in order to provide a exceptional dining experience we're proud of---especially as we continue to grow and enter new neighborhoods across the country. PeopleMatter will help ensure we hire the right people, fast."

"HIRE's talent management tools are an easy-to-use, innovative, adaptable technology that will help Noodles find, hire and onboard exceptional talent faster and easier than ever before," said Nate DaPore, PeopleMatter president and chief executive officer. "These are tools service-industry businesses can use everyday to improve their people processes and deliver exceptional customer service. Our scheduling and learning modules, set for release this spring, will continue to further our vision for a social, engaged workforce."

PeopleMatter continues to rapidly develop products to transform talent management in the service industry, with plans to launch SCHEDULE and ENGAGE modules next as part of the PeopleMatter product ecosystem.

**About PeopleMatter **PeopleMatter provides a comprehensive talent management solution for the service industry. We help employers hire dependable employees, develop and engage their talent, and deliver exemplary customer service with an online suite of HR tools focused on hiring, scheduling, learning, performance management, and rewards and recognition. PeopleMatter. The name says it all. PeopleMatter is headquartered in Charleston, S.C., and on the Web at www.peoplematter.com.

**About Noodles & Company **Noodles & Company is about serving real food, real quick. Our menu features made-to-order noodles, salads and sandwiches inspired from around the world that make everyone happy from kids to adults. Think Mac & Cheese, Pad Thai, Chinese Chop Salad, Pesto Cavatappi and a Wisconsin Cheesesteak Sandwich all under one roof. Within minutes of ordering a fresh, made- to-order dish will be delivered to the table on real china with real silverware. Nothing fake here. You also don't have to clear your table or leave a tip. We just aim to please.

Noodles & Company is a collection of more than 250 neighborhood restaurants in 18 states and growing. Please visit www.noodles.com to find a restaurant near you. If you're craving more, please follow us on Facebook, YouTube, Flickr or on our Noodles & Company blog affectionately called "& Company."

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PeopleMatter Media Contact: Liz Wagnon 843.300.3474 media@peoplematter.com

Noodles Media Contact: Jill Preston 720.214.1929 jpreston@noodles.com