Extra Space Storage facilities always have onsite support. That’s rare in the self-storage industry, but Extra Space knows that its people are what differentiates them from their competition. Concurrently, it’s also why Extra Space focuses on quality of hire above anything else—because by finding the right people, they can provide exceptional customer service and drive business results for the company.
And finding the right people starts with how they hire.
A hiring process that didn’t meet the needs of top talent.
Extra Space Storage’s success is predicated on their ability to consistently find new Assistant Store Managers (ASMs), a role that comprises 90% of external hires. The best ASMs are then promoted internally, creating a company-wide network of experienced, knowledgeable team members. So while ensuring a fully-staffed operation is important for Extra Space, it’s even more imperative that hiring managers select quality ASMs with the skillset to ascend the organization.
Previously, Extra Space’s hiring process wasn’t set up to capture those ideal candidates. Top talent typically enters the storage industry from traditional customer-facing industries like retail or sales, and they’re looking to get hired quickly. But at Extra Space, it was taking two weeks just to schedule an interview, which meant they often lost out on talent to other companies who were moving faster.
Extra Space knew they weren’t giving themselves the best chance to hire the best talent—to capture that amazing candidate who would become a VP in five years. So they sought a way to modernize their hiring process.
It’s important for us to focus on the quality of hire from the beginning. Our business focuses heavily on internal mobility.
Sr. Director, Talent Acquisition
The solution: an end-to-end automated process.
Extra Space partnered with Workday Paradox to implement Workday Paradox Candidate Experience Agent atop Workday Recruiting. Now, they leverage a solution that functions across their entire hiring process, starting with their new Conversational Career Site.
At this touchpoint, the organization wants to emphasize education. Since their target candidates usually come from a different industry, they need to realistically set the expectations of what it’s like to work in storage. Previously, Extra Space’s old career site was literally just an alphabetical list of jobs. But now, it’s a dynamic candidate engagement platform—one that leverages AI to help candidates find the perfect roles and showcase a day-in-the-life experience in just two clicks. And once a candidate is ready to apply, Extra Space’s AI agent Olivia can guide them through an application in minutes.
Our partnership with Paradox has helped us focus on the quality of the hire.
Sr. Director, Talent Acquisition
Automated interview scheduling, made possible with Olivia.
Olivia functions as a widget on Extra Space’s career site, and the entire application happens natively on the page. Olivia will chat candidates a few short messages to ensure they’re minimally qualified to work at Extra Space. Before Paradox, candidates would have to create a login just to get to this step. But with Olivia, everything is frictionless, ensuring minimal drop-off and a pleasant application experience. After the screening, Olivia will send a link to a short assessment that helps Extra Space find best-fits easier.
Once qualified candidates complete the assessment, Olivia schedules them for an interview with a hiring manager. Because she’s synced with everyone’s calendars, managers don’t have to lift a finger to get someone scheduled. Since implementing Paradox, Extra Space has lowered the time it takes to schedule interviews from two weeks to less than one day.
When candidates make it through the application process in minutes, you can hire in days versus weeks. And that often makes the difference between good and bad customer service.
Sr. Director, Talent Acquisition
Converting quality candidates at scale.
Extra Space's hiring solution works because of its holistic nature: From the first touchpoint to the interview getting scheduled, everything is done on one platform. The flow of the application is seamless, each step establishing momentum into the next step. Because the career site was simple and easy to navigate, they're more likely to stay on and engage. Because the first steps of the application happened over a few simple texts, candidates are more likely to take the assessment. And because the assessment only takes two minutes, they're more likely to get scheduled for an interview. Everything works together in harmony, creating a better experience for candidates—and a better process for Extra Space.
We no longer fight for top talent. We capture them in a timely manner and bring them on as team members.
Sr. Director, Talent Acquisition