Yum Brands promotes Tracy Skeans to global COO

Owner of Pizza Hut, KFC and Taco Bell, Yum Brands Inc. has appointed its former chief transformation and people officer, Tracy Skeans, to COO, shared media release.

Tracy has served in the previous role for five years.

Yum Brands said the promotion formalizes the expanded role she was already playing to drive cross-brand collaboration on operational execution, people capability and customer experience imperatives to fuel sales and unit growth.

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Also, she will retain her current chief people officer responsibilities along with the responsibilities of the chief operating officer's job.

"Tracy and I share a people-first vision and passion for elevating the customer and employee experience, which makes her the perfect choice for chief operating officer in our next phase of growth," said David Gibbs, CEO, Yum by adding that Tracy has been an invaluable strategic partner to him and their global leadership team as the brand navigated through some of the most pivotal milestones in history, including their transformation to a pure play franchisor in 2019 and more recently the COVID-19 pandemic.

Skeans joined the company in 2000, and have expertise driving results at the powerful intersection of talent, culture, finance and strategy, added the release.

In 2016, Skeans played a central leadership role in the Yum China spinoff and Yum Brands' multi-year transformation strategy to accelerate the company's growth by moving to a heavily franchised business model that the company said is more profitable. That process was complete in 2019.

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"Yum's future growth and social impact rely on our ability to collaborate and execute strategies and ideas at scale across our iconic brands and global franchisee base," added Skeans.

Based in Louisville, Kentucky, Yum Brands has over 50,000 restaurants in more than 150 countries and territories. Its QSR brands include KFC, Pizza Hut and Taco, as well as the fast casual brand, The Habit Burger Grill.