Bailing Out Busy Managers: How to Streamline Frontline Hiring Operations

Wawa’s TA Overhaul

Wawa is a rapidly expanding convenience store chain with 1,050 locations across six states and Washington D.C., aiming to double in size over the next 7 to 10 years. With a workforce of 47,000 associates predominantly consisting of customer service personnel, the company faces unique challenges in managing its workforce effectively. Each store typically employs 35-45 associates, with general managers and assistant managers responsible for hiring their customer sales associates.

According to Brody, the company's 1,050 general managers and assistant general managers found themselves overwhelmed with recruitment, interviewing, and onboarding tasks. The existing hiring process was clunky and lacked sufficient data, resulting in a subpar candidate experience. Recognizing these challenges, Wawa began exploring solutions to improve their hiring process, particularly for manager-led hiring scenarios.

After extensive research, Wawa identified 11 use cases and ultimately chose Phenom as their solution provider. The decision came after rigorous six-hour demos and careful consideration of vendors. Importantly, Phenom's offerings addressed almost all of the use cases Wawa had identified, and they have since implemented the following products, among a few others:

• High-Volume Hiring

• Career Site

• Chatbot

“We have… some nuances to the way our labor model works and different things that have given us an opportunity to partner closely with Phenom and think about how to do things a little bit differently,” said Brody.

Revamping Fox Rehab’s Hiring Process

Fox Rehabilitation, a healthcare provider specializing in home-based patient treatment, started to revamp their hiring process three years ago. With 2,500 clinicians treating patients in their homes, Fox operates under a recruiter-led model, with regional directors serving as hiring managers while also performing treatment and other duties.

The company's growth trajectory necessitated faster technology and more efficient tools to support its expanding hiring needs, ultimately leading them to Phenom. “The thing that led us to Phenom… was the number of leads that they would deliver and having that right at the top of our funnel. They’re the only product that captures partial applicants. We call that gold,” said MacLeod.

Fox now utilizes the Phenom Career Site, CRM, and SMS. MacLeod specifically highlighted their ability to text directly with candidates and host and coordinate university events, which has been a game-changer for their recruitment process.

Gerber added that, through Phenom, they’ve been able to get candidates on the phone with the recruiter first, and then have them fill out an application or upload a resume later, in order to engage them faster.

How Organizations Can Help Busy Managers

Organizations can address the challenges faced by overburdened hiring managers by implementing a comprehensive suite of tools designed to streamline the recruitment process. It’s best to include both recruiter-led and manager-led experiences through an integrated platform, complemented by additional features such as a CRM, SMS, and AI-powered chatbots. By leveraging a combination of these advanced technologies, companies can effectively overcome hiring obstacles and significantly accelerate their recruitment processes at scale, leading to more efficient and successful talent acquisition strategies.

With the Phenom platform, companies can:

• Enable hiring at scale with increased speed and efficiency

• Automate the screening process for basic qualifications, including age verification, work eligibility checks, and certification validation

• Fast-track qualified applicants, ensuring managers only invest time in candidates who meet the necessary criteria for hire

• Enhance visibility into the hiring process and talent pipeline by providing easy access to open tasks and their completion status

Recruiter- vs. Manager-Led Hiring

Organizations have different hiring needs and structures, which is why Phenom offers two distinct workflows: recruiter-led and manager-led hiring processes.

Depending on which approach an organization adopts, we recommend specific actions to enhance hiring processes:

For recruiter-led hiring:

• Automate known screening knockouts to filter candidates more efficiently

• Enable fast feedback between recruiters and managers through notes and notifications

• Implement automated scheduling to reduce time spent on administrative tasks

For manager-led hiring:

• Automate known screening knockouts to streamline the initial candidate pool

• Alleviate manager workloads by automating scheduling tasks

• Clearly define and contain possible manager actions to provide a straightforward hiring path

• Simplify hiring statuses to make the process more manageable for busy managers

By tailoring these approaches to the specific needs of each hiring model, organizations can significantly improve their recruitment efficiency and effectiveness, whether they rely more heavily on recruiters or managers to drive the hiring process.

You can learn more about Phenom High-Volume Hiring right here or request a personalized conversation with our team of experts.