A new survey of the Business Roundtable, an association of CEOs of corporations representing a combined workforce of more than 13 million employees, projects an increase in hiring is ahead. Fifty-two percent of CEOs said they will add to payrolls, up from 45 percent in the fourth quarter and the largest share on record. This is good news for unemployed workers, but for hiring managers, like Scott McGarvey, the HR director of Wendy’s franchisee Sinkula Investments, it means more competition for applicants and more hiring tasks.
Or at least, it did. That was before Bloomfield Hills, Michigan–based JobApp Network Inc. rolled out its automated hiring solution to all of the company’s restaurants. The system takes applicants from the first step of applying for a job to paperless onboarding for the employer. It also includes psychometric assessments, background checks, and government compliance management. Staffing is a lot easier with the JobApp solution, McGarvey says. “This business is about people. You need good people and a constant pipeline of qualified, prescreened applicants,” he says.
After more than a year of experience with JobApp, McGarvey sees a number of key benefits to JobApp. JobApp’s telephone portal for applying ensures his organization doesn’t lose applicants that do not have convenient Web access. Studies show low-income and minority applicants are twice as likely to apply by phone as by Web.
Eliminating paper had a big impact, too. “Getting away from paper-based applications makes it easier for the store managers, because they now have an easily understood system for managing applications,” McGarvey says.
JobApp also gives headquarters a view it never had into restaurant-level hiring operations. “Before, there were stores that we were challenged to staff. Now, I can look and see what the managers are doing with applicants and determine if they are really on top of the interview and hiring process,” McGarvey says. “Before, I had no idea because it was all on paper and my restaurant managers had all the paper.”
JobApp even has tools to drive applicant flow with another of McGarvey’s favorite picks: an in-store, all-in-one hiring marketing kit comprised of signage, window clings, recruitment cards, and JobApp’s patented ticket dispenser.
JobApp’s automated compliance and onboarding solution is still McGarvey’s favorite part of JobApp. This greatly improves I-9 compliance in an era of massively increased government I-9 audits, fines, and penalties. JobApp’s electronic I-9s drastically reduce the possibility of Form I-9 mistakes. “In my experience, managers are generally not well enough informed about the I-9 and JobApp eliminates considerable risk,” he says.
JobApp’s onboarding solution includes seamlessly integrated electronic I-9 management with more than 150 built-in compliance rules, optional E-Verify integration, electronic forms management, Work Opportunity Tax Credit forms management, EEO/OFCCP Reporting, and optional background checks.
