Frontline worker recruitment demands fundamentally different approaches than traditional corporate hiring – a distinction Sean Behr, CEO of Fountain, expertly unpacks in this illuminating episode of the HRchat Show. As companies adapt to the latest hiring challenges, understanding these crucial differences could mean the difference between struggling with high turnover and building a stable, engaged hourly workforce.

The scale alone creates an entirely different paradigm. "When you're hiring a corporate office employee, you're generally hiring very few of them," Sean explains. "When you're hiring in the frontline, you write the job description and then you have to find a thousand of those people." This volume requires specialized technologies and strategies that traditional applicant tracking systems simply weren't designed to handle.

Communication preferences represent another critical divergence. While corporate candidates respond to emails and maintain LinkedIn profiles, frontline workers primarily use mobile devices and text messaging. The challenge for employers? Creating a hiring process that meets these candidates where they are – on their phones, often during non-traditional hours, sometimes speaking different languages. As Sean notes, "The ability for a frontline worker to use their phone to apply for a job is great... The flip side, though, is it's so easy that you're only one click away from someone else's job application."

The conversation explores innovative solutions throughout the hourly worker lifecycle – from AI-powered on-demand interviews that accommodate late-night scheduling to paperless I-9 processing that transforms first-day experiences from paperwork drudgery to meaningful orientation. Particularly intriguing is Fountain's new Shift product, addressing the reality that schedule compatibility often determines whether a frontline worker stays or leaves, regardless of how much they enjoy the job itself.

For HR leaders feeling overwhelmed by the prospect of system overhauls, Sean offers practical advice: identify one critical area of your hiring process most in need of transformation, then seek specialized solutions for that specific pain point. This focused approach allows for meaningful improvement without the paralyzing prospect of replacing everything at once.

Ready to change up your approach to hourly worker recruitment? Subscribe to the HRchat Show for more insights, and visit HRG

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