It was a day like any other. Or was it? As the HR professional walked into the office, a grim warning awaited her. The company’s latest hiring numbers just came in, frighteningly low.
A dark cloud began to loom over the office as others heard the news. Without enough deskless workers, whispers of reduced business hours began. The gloom of lost revenue and decreasing profits was palpable. Existing employees saw terrifying visions of burnout.
The curse of not delivering the same level of customer service was becoming all too real. As was the seemingly endless hiring loop the company had been in for weeks. Interviewing, hiring, training, then turnover. And interviewing, hiring, training, and turnover again.
Why was this happening?
Could anyone—even YOU—fall victim to this horrid fate?
Hiring and retaining hourly workers shouldn’t be a nightmare. For HR professionals and hiring managers, the key to overcoming this dark mystery and keeping your business staffed rests on your ability to recognize the three scariest nightmares lurking around the corner and run from them as fast as you can.
After years of observing what goes bump in the night, we’ve uncovered the secret to surviving the horror story. The following pages will give you the key to overcoming the three hiring nightmares that every business faces— showing you how to emerge victorious over them and your competition.
The Invisible Listing
At first glance, this creepy creature appears to be “just another hourly job listing.” And that’s the problem.
It starts by posting a job listing only once and expecting applicants to pour in. But they never do. The nightmare caused by the “invisible post” might be terrifying for your business, but it’s a dream come true for those competing with you for talent.
When your job postings are generic and impossible to distinguish from those of a competitor, they might as well be invisible.
How to overcome The Invisible Listing
Make every job posting appealing and detailed, and promote it in as many places as possible. Here's how:
Don't believe us?
Aaron Piper, Director of Operations for Dunkin Donuts/Baskin Robbins (OM Group), streamlined his hiring process and overcame the nightmare of unseen job listings using text-to-apply codes.
“If we had known it was going to be as easy and user-friendly and really help drive the applicant flow in our restaurants, we would have probably started with all our restaurants from the beginning.”
Not only has using Workstream's text-to-apply feature kept Piper's restaurants consistently staffed, but it's also increased spontaneous applications from customers, flooding their applicant pool with fans of their brand.
The Application Apparition
Your applicant seems promising—until they mysteriously transform into a “no show.”
Today’s applicants often ghost interviews simply because they have options. With a shortage of talent in many industries, candidates can pick and choose where they end up. But other times, it’s the fault of the employer. When employers take too long to respond to job seekers after they apply, applicants lose interest and start looking elsewhere. It can give the impression that you regard them as a bag of bones.
This nightmare can also manifest itself whenever job candidates think the hiring manager acted unprofessionally, received a bad impression of your business, or simply feel misled.
How to overcome The Application Apparition
If you don’t respond to applicants quickly, your competition will. Keep your applicants engaged throughout the hiring process so they feel seen and don’t forget about your opportunity. Here’s how:
Don't believe us?
Luke Godwin, General Manager and Owner of Godwin Motors, experienced a drastic reduction in no-shows when he incorporated an automated text system into his hiring process.
“Using the automatic text is a big deal. Calling somebody is pretty much useless, but being able to text that applicant on the day before their interview, or the morning before their interview, or five minutes before their interview, that creates a big difference in whether they show up or not.”
The Disarrachnid
This menace creeps in slowly. Most of us hardly notice its presence until it’s too late.
Hiring is a time-intensive process dotted with logistical details. It involves filtering applicants, looking for the right qualifications, and setting up interviews.
And those in HR and Ops must tackle these tasks while they’re still tangled up with other day-to-day job responsibilities.
After the job offer is accepted, the dire web of inefficiency can continue to engulf its victims. There are background checks to complete, I-9s to collect, and new hires to get into the system—all very detailed and important work.
How to overcome The Disarrachnid
Implement technology that manages and automates the hiring process for you—from sourcing and screening to interview scheduling and onboarding.
Don't believe us?
Derrick Sousley, Vice President of Operations for the Indiana Hospitality Group, knows firsthand the advantages realized by using text and automation hiring technology.
“Our general managers, and even our above-property managers, would spend half of their day going through applications, screening, emailing, texting, and messaging people—a lot of times who never called you back, never responded. And now, they’re just scheduled, they come for the interview, you pull up their resume…it’s definitely reduced the hiring-time process by 50%.”
Beat the hiring horrors that go bump in the night
At some point, every HR professional, hiring manager, or business owner has experienced the three hiring nightmares we’ve detailed in this guide. Fortunately, Workstream can provide you with the key to overcoming these common, terrifying (yet avoidable) hiring nightmares.
With its all-in-one HR, Hiring, and Payroll platform, Workstream helps businesses with hourly workers source and screen applicants, schedule candidate interviews, and onboard their new employees with ease.