Dunkin Brands Shows Off Top Talent Acquisition Technology
First Advantage HMS Plays Starring Role in Department Turnaround
It takes talented people to run the company behind the world's favorite foods. Delicious and in-demand, Dunkin' Donuts, Baskin-Robbins and
Togo's make up Dunkin' Brands' global empire of 10,000 quick service restaurants (QSR). Franchised in more than 40 countries, it's a monumental management challenge to keep ice cream cones and coffee flying out the door and great new employees flying in. But Dunkin' Brands keeps its cool while racking up sales of some $5.3 billion. That's in part because its QSR executives have the right tools to attract, hire and retain the best, most-qualified candidates. To do so, they rely on First Advantage HMS by First Advantage Hiring Management Systems, a web-based applicant tracking system.
Out With The Elbow Grease
The hiring process wasn't always so smooth for Dunkin' Brands. Previously, it had a system from another vendor that didn't make the grade. "Nobody was using it. It met just 10% of our requirements," says Joe Capp, Dunkin' Brands' director of talent acquisition. That meant that 90% of the hiring process was done the old-fashioned way, with excessive elbow grease and paper-pushing. Jobs were posted online and in costly newspaper advertisements, but recruiters couldn't handle the influx of applicants. "We would get so many resumes for each position that our e-mail boxes would fill up," says Capp. As a result, most resumes were deleted without ever being read. There was just no way his seven-member staff could wade through the mountains of documents. And there was no way to track how many strong candidates were inadvertently bypassed. By October of 2001 Capp knew it was time for a change. First, he did a comprehensive assessment to define exactly what processes needed help. Then, he spent seven weeks hearing vendor presentations from leading vendors, including the incumbent, which was angling for the upgrade contract. His requirements? The system had to be outsourced and managed by the vendor, to spare Dunkin' Brands any IT headaches. It had to be Internet-based. It had to have a job board tied to Dunkin' Brands' Web site. And, most of all, it had to dramatically improve the workflow of the recruiters.
Meeting And Beating The Grade
Capp was surprised, and pleased, by what he found out. First Advantage Hiring Management Systems blew the competition away, he says. "No other system met 80% of our requirements, let alone the 90% that First Advantage HMS met." And, First Advantage HMS cost less than the others, he says. The outstanding quality of the product and the professionalism of the company sealed the deal, says Capp. When he told First Advantage Hiring Management Systems executive vice president Robert Neveu that a few more features would make First Advantage HMS 100% right, they were added in a weekend. The entire system took just three weeks to integrate.
Now, after two plus years with First Advantage HMS, Capp says he and his crew are more than satisfied. "Both I and every recruiter on my team that's worked with any applicant tracking system are in unanimous agreement that this is by far the best system any of us has ever used," he says. So far, First Advantage HMS has allowed Dunkin' Brands to slash overall recruiting costs by $1 million, as manpower hours, cost and time to fill have plummeted, and productivity has peaked. Here's a sampling of the drastic improvements. Job-specific profile questions on applicant forms allow top candidates to move to the head of the list. That ensures that they are considered first. This First Advantage HMS feature let Dunkin' Brands reduce the time it takes to fill positions from 83 days to 54 days. That's a 35% drop.
Dunkin' Brands now stores lists of qualified candidates in a custom First Advantage HMS database that prioritizes them for future consideration. That means Dunkin' Brands consistently and quickly hires the most skilled people. As a result, Dunkin' Brands' cost per hire dropped 65%. First Advantage HMS makes it possible for Dunkin' Brands to generate detailed reports in seconds. That gives Capp up-to-the-minute information on requisitions, cost per hire, time to fill, EEO criteria, offers accepted and declined and many other data points. That let Dunkin' Brands slash data entry tasks by a whopping 50%. Each Dunkin' Brands recruiter can use First Advantage HMS to define an unique interface that's easy to use. That contributed to a reduction in department workload and helped Dunkin' Brands cut its own manpower expenses by more than $300,000 per year, says Capp.
Finally, all candidates now get responses via First Advantage HMS’s automated form letters. The black hole of resumes that used to plague Dunkin' Brands has been eliminated. That lets Dunkin' Brands keep good relations with potential future employees. "We are utilizing First Advantage HMS, leveraging the functionality of that system at each step of our process," says Capp. Soon, First Advantage Hiring Management Systems will add automatic background checking links to First Advantage HMS. Dunkin' Brands and other First Advantage Hiring Management Systems clients get the upgrade free of charge. Capp says he's looking forward to being able to click a button to complete checks that now take hours of data entry. It's just one more reason Dunkin' Brands stands out, not just for tasty treats, but as a streamlined model of hiring efficiency using First Advantage HMS.
Small Investment, Big Return For Dunkin Brands
- Overall recruiting costs were slashed by $1 million in first year
- Average cost per hire dropped 65%
- Average time to fill plunged 29 days
- Manpower expenses were cut by more than $300,000 per year
- Data entry tasks declined 50%
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