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Of screening recruiters didn't have to do themselves
Complete the first screening within an hour of being invited
Of candidates apply in the evening, at night or at the weekend
Odido hires for its stores at volume, but the hard part wasn't the number of applicants. It was what happened after someone was hired, because turnover and absenteeism were the biggest problems in the retail division.
That sounds like something you fix with better onboarding and more support in the first few weeks. Until you see that the problem starts much earlier, in the very first interview.
Someone applies for a store role picturing mostly the latest phones and a team in a bright, sleek store. A few weeks later they're facing a customer who is angry about a bill, with a queue of people waiting behind them. Nobody had shown them that part of the job beforehand, and by then the chance that this new employee stays has already dropped considerably.
On top of that came a second problem. Screening often fell to the store managers themselves, who also have a store to run. One short interview between customers is very little to go on when deciding whether someone is suitable and will actually stay. And candidates often applied at moments when nobody was around to respond.
Candidates apply through Ubeeo, Odido's ATS, and SmartChat by Selection Lab starts straight away and takes over the first screening. Those who fit book a conversation with a recruiter themselves right then, so nobody has to wait for someone to call back on Monday morning.
Candidates who move forward after that conversation get two components, each doing something different.
The Situational Judgement Test shows situations from the store floor and asks how the candidate would respond. That works both ways. Candidates see upfront what the job really looks like, including the less pleasant moments, and anyone who isn't up for that drops out now instead of a few weeks into the job. At the same time, Odido sees whether someone's response fits the customer service the company wants to stand for.
Swipeable measures reliability and emotional stability, two traits linked to who stays and who drops out. Because it's a short, visual test, it suits this group well, since people applying for a store role aren't looking to fill in a long questionnaire.
The results of both come together in one report for the hiring manager, and within the same flow every candidate gets the same assessment with the same norms. That way the store manager goes into the conversation with input that can be compared across candidates, rather than just a CV and a gut feeling.
Odido started in May with a small group, and September was the first full month the flow was live. What stands out since then is when candidates apply. Almost half, 44%, do so in the evening, at night or at the weekend, and 16% at the weekend alone. Those are exactly the moments when no recruiter or store manager can respond.
SmartChat does respond, and candidates pick it up right away, with 87% completing the screening within an hour of being invited and 98% within a day. Recruiters notice it in their calendars too. Assuming fifteen minutes per candidate, the completed SmartChats took 43 hours of first screening off their hands, 35 of them in September alone.
What Odido shows applies to any organisation with high turnover in the first months. Turnover is usually tackled after hiring, with better onboarding and more support, while much of it is already decided at first contact. If you don't respond quickly then, or don't show honestly what the job involves, you lose the good candidates and keep the wrong ones.
Odido saw new store employees leave quickly. With chat, a situational judgement test and Swipeable, candidates now know upfront what the job really involves.
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