Crumbl Cookies franchise owner Christian Bankhead struggled to keep applicants engaged through the hiring process. Between initial screenings and interviews, he estimated only 5% of applicants returned to complete the hiring cycle. He also lost up to 75% of new employees before they ever started, and retention remained a major hurdle. Managing recruiting, hiring, and onboarding across six locations with multiple tools created delays and confusion, including requiring new hires to download seven different apps. He implemented an all-in-one HR platform to centralize recruiting, hiring, onboarding, and employee access to key information. The rollout replaced multiple disconnected systems with one employee-facing app for workers and managers. Interview scheduling became automated by allowing applicants to choose from an open schedule without back-and-forth coordination. The platform also streamlined hiring-to-onboarding so his team could bring people on quickly when weekly staffing demands changed. The changes shortened the total hiring cycle from about three weeks to one week, which improved hiring speed and reduced drop-off. Time spent hiring across all six locations fell from 15 hours per week to five. Consolidating seven apps into one simplified the employee experience and reduced administrative friction for managers. Faster turnaround also helped him extend offers more quickly than competitors when candidates were considering multiple jobs.

Jimmy John’s 12-location franchise group relied on manual, paper-based hiring and onboarding that created piles of paperwork and frequent delays. The executive VP and her team spent several hours each week on hiring-related tasks, while area managers and GMs also spent time auditing work. Without an online application method, every form had to be completed by hand, and missing information pushed back start dates. The group digitized hiring and onboarding with a platform designed for hourly hiring. Managers adopted text-to-apply so candidates could apply via text message and get responses without coming into the store. New hires completed onboarding paperwork on their phones, replacing the prior manual packet process. The rollout required about a day to prepare documents and about a day to train everyone. The change reduced time spent on weekly hiring tasks from four hours to as little as 30 minutes. The 25-page manual paperwork process for onboarding was eliminated in favor of digital documents and signatures. Managers spent more time on in-store work instead of payroll and HR items, and the team improved responsiveness to job seekers.

Culver’s needed to hire quickly across restaurant locations, but its process slowed decisions and made it harder to keep hiring moving. Candidate screening and scheduling added friction and extended the time it took to make hiring decisions. The organization wanted a faster, more efficient way to move applicants through the funnel. Culver’s implemented VoiceAI technology in its hiring process. The AI-powered voice solution streamlined candidate screening. It also handled scheduling to keep candidates progressing without delays. This made it easier for restaurant locations to manage applicants and coordinate next steps. The implementation dramatically accelerated hiring. Culver’s reduced time to hire by 3x. Streamlined screening and scheduling enabled faster hiring decisions across restaurant locations. Overall, the process became more efficient for both hiring teams and candidates.

Low applicant volume made hiring feel impossible for a franchisee staffing 14 restaurants. Free job sites often delivered fewer than 20 applicants per month, while paid postings became expensive, costing up to tens of thousands of dollars a month. With so few applications, hiring managers missed notifications and potentially strong candidates. A long, form-heavy application process also deterred younger applicants, and phone follow-ups often led to ghosting before interviews. The franchise implemented digital hiring processes with automated workflows to streamline hiring for both applicants and managers. Job postings were managed across multiple sites from a single dashboard, with the ability to sponsor posts from the same system. Candidate communication shifted to text-based outreach through the application link to improve response rates and simplify follow-ups. Interview scheduling was automated so applicants could book interviews via text based on manager availability. The franchise saw a 500% increase in applicant volume, improving the chances of hiring quality workers. Sourcing became less time-consuming as managers consolidated posting management in one place. Automated interview scheduling helped more applicants come in for interviews than before, especially among younger candidates who preferred texting. Hiring managers saved time on phone calls and securing applicants, allowing more focus on the applicant and employee experience.

Viking Restaurants, a Burger King franchise group, struggled to get enough applicants to staff its 26+ restaurants across Minnesota, North Dakota, and South Dakota. One location had not been fully staffed for almost two and a half years. Over a 12-month period, that restaurant received only 40 applications, and not all were qualified. Scheduling interviews also took too much time because applicants often did not answer calls or could not align on times, which contributed to poor customer service. The team implemented a customized, mobile-friendly application experience and enabled candidates to complete applications on their phones. They also introduced self-scheduling so applicants could pick interview times that worked for them. Managers set available interview windows so they knew exactly when interviews were coming and could be organized. Real-time text notifications alerted managers whenever someone applied, supporting faster follow-up. The franchise group completed 10x more interviews on average after the changes. Interview completion rates increased 10x, helping managers connect with more candidates. Manager response times became almost immediate due to text alerts, improving the applicant experience at the start. The shift also reduced time spent calling applicants and coordinating schedules, which the Director of Operations described as a financial savings.

Bojangles faced time-consuming workforce management across its restaurant operations. Manual scheduling required significant effort to build and adjust shift assignments. This created an ongoing administrative burden for the team. Bojangles implemented an AI-powered scheduling system to improve how shifts were assigned. The scheduling capabilities were used to optimize shift coverage across locations. This reduced the need for manual schedule creation and updates. Bojangles saved 33 hours in workforce management. Shift assignments were optimized through intelligent scheduling. Manual scheduling effort was reduced across restaurant operations.