This article is brought to you by Sprockets, a NACS supplier member.
ALEXANDRIA, Va.—Convenience retailers invest time and money into garnering multiple applicants for job openings, and while some retailers may briefly revisit these applications for newer open positions, rarely are these potential workers actively engaged in a new recruiting process.
Retailers often pay to post jobs on multiple hiring boards, such as Indeed, LinkedIn and SimplyHired, among many others, and by not engaging previous applicants from these job postings, businesses are not getting their full investment, according to Zach Matook, director of Marketing at Sprockets, a provider of AI-powered hiring software.
“A lot of hiring managers focus on new applicants coming into the funnel, but oftentimes, previous applicants are an afterthought,” said Matook. “Retailers can’t afford to let the applicant pools they’ve already invested in slip away.”
These previous applications are a ready-made candidate pool, says Matook, and automated text-message campaigns can help retailers re-engage with them, ultimately reducing their dependency on job boards and slashing their sourcing bills.
Sprockets recently launched a new feature that helps businesses recycle and refill their hiring pipeline by consistently engaging their database of past applicants with personalized text messages. (A recent study by Employ found that 50% of job applicants preferred text as their method of communication with recruiters.) This feature is included in the subscription to Sprockets’ hiring solution, so there is no additional cost to utilize this offering.
The feature works like this: Once past applicants have been entered into a campaign, retailers will be directed to send the candidate pool a sequence of messages about new job openings. They can use optimized templates that Sprockets has created, or retailers can customize the messages.
If candidates are interested, they can simply click a link in the message which brings them to Sprockets’ brief three-question survey that automatically determines whether they’d be a good culture fit with the company.
“Hiring managers can see which candidates are the most likely to fit in and stick around,” said Matook. “It will be as if the person just completed a new application but with all of the benefits and reporting of Sprockets.”
Learn more about Sprockets Pools and how you can engage your existing candidate pool to increase your chances of finding the ideal hire today.
Join Sprockets on Tuesday, February 28 for a webinar featuring Ricky Rockets Fuel Center’s director of training, who discusses how the company tackled employee turnover across locations and increased its quality of applicants with Sprockets. The 15-minute webinar will be available for complimentary viewing and download on February 28. Register today!
This is the first installment of a two-part NACS Daily series on how convenience retailers can utilize artificial intelligence to increase job candidates and retain current employees. Learn more about Sprockets.