The Pathmark supermarket is hiring, but walk-in applicants neednot bother asking for a manager.
First, they have to get past the computer.
'Join the Pathmark Team!' welcomes a screen built into a black andgray kiosk, tucked between the customer service counter and a displayrack full of beach balls in Edgewater, N.J. 'Right now, we're lookingfor people who think big and dream big -- people a lot like you.'
The automated greeting, and screen after screen of multiple-choice questions that follow, are part of a new approach by someemployers to filling their ranks of hourly workers.
A growing number of retail chains and similar businessesfrustrated by near-constant employee turnover are entrusting thefirst step of the hiring process to computers, designed to zero in onapplicants likely to do a job well -- and stay a while.
To do that, the computers gather not just names and SocialSecurity numbers, but also work to size up an applicant'spersonality, and provide hiring managers with a list of questions forfollow-up interviews.
Online screening systems used by companies like Pathmark issuereports on applicants almost immediately, grading them as green,yellow or red -- the last a warning of a potentially problematichire.
One retailer, Houston-based crafts chain Garden Ridge, even hasits screening system set to page store managers so they can catchchoice applicants before they walk out the door and apply at acompetitor.
Companies including The Sports Authority, Blockbuster and theGolden Corral steakhouse chain have also adopted the online screeningsystems. Many companies using the systems have installed in-storeterminals or telephones equipped with screens and keyboardsespecially for the purpose, while others direct people to apply oncompany Web sites.
'Our philosophy is to let the technology do the heavy lifting,'said Richard Harding, director of research for Kenexa, a Wayne, Pa.,firm that designs and administers online assessment systems.
Online screening incorporates personality tests similar to thepaper-and-pencil versions used by some employers as far back as the1940s. But computers use the results much more systematically,letting managers instantly rank candidates or dip into the pool ofapplicants who have sought jobs at other stores in the same chain.
'You're able to prequalify people and focus really only on thepeople who look like they have the best chance of success,' saidCharles Handler, an industrial psychologist whose firm, Rocket-Hire,is a consultant to employers in choosing the systems.
That's only the start for some employers. Some continue to use thesystems after making a hire, feeding worker performance data -- likea clerk's sales commissions or the amount of time it takes for awaiter to 'turn' a table -- into the computer. That data is then usedto help fine tune questions and desired answers that can be used toscreen future hires.
That helps employers 'close the loop,' said Kim Beasley, aspokeswoman for Unicru, a Beaverton, Ore., firm that makes thescreening systems used at more than 50 retail and restaurant chainsincluding Pathmark Stores and Sports Authority.
'We partner with companies throughout the employee life cycle,'Beasley said.
Online assessment could prove particularly valuable at bigretailers and restaurant chains whose employee turnover rate runs ashigh as 200 percent a year.
Such employers, almost constantly hiring, are looking for ways topredict which job candidates are less likely to leave once they'rehired, and help them cut down on the cost of finding and trainingreplacements.
Some employers say the system not only helps them settle on theright workers, but also reduce the time -- and money -- needed tofind them.
Since Rock Bottom Restaurants began using a Unicru system in late2002, turnover in its brewpubs has tailed off from about 110 percentannually to 91 percent.
The change may be partly due to the soft labor market, which haskept people from changing jobs, but some of it almost certainly isdue to hiring choices aided by the computer, said Ted Williams,senior vice president of the brewery division at the Louisville,Colo. company.
Lowering turnover has an immediate impact on profits. Restaurantsspend an average of $500 to $600 to hire and train a new employee.But the actual cost of a new worker is closer to $2,000 because theyare less productive while they learn the business, Williams said.
The system has also saved managers time that takes them away fromrunning their restaurants, he said.
'If you can screen out at least the ones (candidates) youshouldn't be talking to, that is a huge get-ahead,' Williams said.
AP