Make Job Applications Convenient & Follow-Up Within 24 Hours

Peter Harrison, CEO of Snag wrote in Multi-Unit Franchisee magazine last year about 5 "up-and-coming trends" he saw changing the multi-unit franchising workforce. He based his thoughts on what he had heard at the company's Hour Minds annual customer conference. The event attracted more than 350 brands and thought leaders who met and talked about the now and next of hourly work over three days, 20 sessions, and countless side conversations.

If you recruit and retain hourly workers, here's the final one of Harrison's tips:

• Timing is everything. Snag found that more than 80 percent of hourly workers expect to complete job applications from their phone, and 25 percent of them are hired within 24 hours of submitting their application. A growing number of employers are complaining that the quality of candidates is declining because so few respond. The new reality is that in this labor market, unless you respond to an application within 24 hours, you're highly likely to miss the boat. Also, if your application can't be found easily and be completed within 5 minutes from a mobile device, you're going to experience significant drop-off and lose out on some of the best candidates. We heard from one employer after another that they were removing steps from their application process, including assessments, and doing everything they could to ensure they were not just mobile-friendly, but "mobile-first."