For Sport Clips, one of the fastest growing hair salon franchises in the country, speed is everything. None of their 1,800+ locations take appointments, so the organization’s revenue is directly tied to how fast they can cycle through walk-ins. Have too long of a line? Their customers go somewhere else.
With a need to give quality cuts faster than the competition, it’s critical that each Sport Clips location is fully staffed. But salon managers were tasked with balancing hiring alongside location management, and managers found they didn’t have time to operate a speedy hiring process. When coupled with highly administrative work, like manually texting and calling candidates, Sport Clips saw too many candidates drop off before the organization had a chance to respond.
In frontline retail, speed is everything. Our goal is to reach candidates in under 15 minutes. We weren't close. It was taking us hours.
Director of TA
How candidates apply to jobs in minutes.
Soon after meeting Workday Paradox, Sport Clips realized the impact AI-powered hiring could have. A few months later, Sport Clips launched a pilot program across the 5% of locations that are corporate-owned. After seeing early results, they distributed the tech across their franchisees to become Paradox’s first ever franchise client. Today, every Sport Clips location leverages Workday Paradox Candidate Experience Agent to help them hire.
Sport Clips now ensures ease of application with their AI agent Kenzie, available 24/7 via a career site widget or QR code scan. Kenzie matches candidates with relevant jobs, answers their questions, and guides them through the early phases of their application. And every interaction happens in a way candidates are comfortable with: short messages over chat or text.
Kenzie instantly interacts with candidates right on their phones. It’s amazing.
Director of TA
Once a candidate is ready to apply, Kenzie texts basic screening questions: Are you licensed to cut hair? Are you able to work at one of these locations? If the answer to those questions is yes, Kenzie moves to schedule the candidate for a phone screen. Since Kenzie is synced with managers' calendars, she can schedule interviews around their customized availability. And just like that, the candidate applied in minutes and the manager didn't have to lift a finger.
Before Kenzie, it took Sport Clips hours to schedule their candidates for phone screens. But with the ability to automate screening and scheduling, candidates are now getting captured and scheduled in nine minutes—the time it takes to get buzz cut.
The ability to instantly schedule candidates knocked out one of our biggest pain points. In the past, we'd spend hours trying to get candidates to answer the phone.
Director of TA
Increased volume lets managers focus more on applicant quality.
With increased speed comes an increased candidate pipeline, and managers are now interviewing more candidates than ever. This has given franchises a unique opportunity: the ability to be more selective in their hiring, focusing on candidate quality and company culture.
“We are now really focusing on soft skills,” said Sport Clips Director of TA DeLisa Atkinson. “We’re looking for people who are going to be coachable and trainable. We’re looking for people with the right personality.”
When new hires first start at Sport Clips, they enter “Core Camp”, a days-long orientation program that teaches them about the company. Nowadays, Core Camp is filled with the right types of people: friendly, licensed, and eager. So sure, for Sport Clips, speed is everything. But not just because it keeps them staffed. Because it keeps them staffed with the right people.
Kenzie has given our stores more time back, eliminating the phone tag that was happening before.
Director of TA