Hiring Know-How

By Tanya Corners, Director of Human Resources, Claim Jumper
A hit-and-miss pattern of hiring employees who may not have the appropriate behavior or attitude can result in several consequences, including sub par sales, high employee turnover and inconsistent customer service. In the past, restaurants have used a variety of ways to attract job applicants, and recently many have moved toward automated applicant tracking systems (ATS). However, these solutions have been largely unsuccessful because they focus on revving up applicant flow and hiring quickly, while not necessarily identifying the right person for the job.

Following the implementation of a similar online survey that generates electronic applications, Claim Jumper's (www.claimjumper.com) management team began searching for a solution that would streamline the hiring process one step further by consolidating sources, screening applicants and reducing the amount of paperwork. It was also important for management to find a solution that would complement its existing hiring strategies.

In order to reach its goals, Claim Jumper chose the talent management solution from Kronos Incorporated (www.kronos.com). Its combination of hiring automation and selection science would enable management to meet their objective of having a consistent hiring process that also reduces the amount of time managers spend interviewing potential hires and handling paper.

Centralized application process
Prior to implementing the Kronos solution, if Claim Jumper opened a restaurant in a new city, management would have to position an employee on site to hand out applications. Now that task is centralized. Management can collect applications in advance and start staffing new store openings in much less time than previously required. It also saves significant costs because the system effectively screens applicants and subsequently reduces the number of managers need to conduct interviews. By reducing its dependency on paper applications, Claim Jumper now has a reliable and effective method of complying with regulations for recordkeeping and data storage.

When the system was first implemented, corporate would receive calls from managers asking, "Can we hire someone who scored low and didn't meet standards on the assessment?" Clam Jumper previously gave managers the freedom to do that, but the phone calls stopped coming when managers realized how well the assessments screened potential hires. Upper-level management can even make standardized interview questions more accessible to all managers so there is continued consistency across the organization.

Claim Jumper now has an effective decision support tool to help restaurant managers pick the best fit candidates. With 45 locations in eight states and more opening soon, the brand considers this a valuable investment.