Automated Analytics Podcast

Automated Analytics Podcast: Cutting Recruitment Costs by 71%

• Automated Analytics • Season 1 • Episode 2

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Unlock the secrets to a smarter hiring strategy as we sit down with Kristina Gansser from Fourth, the trailblazer in hospitality software solutions. Experience the insider's view on how the world of Automated Analytics is supercharging the applicant tracking game. Discover Kristina's firsthand insights on the challenges and victories in cultivating a robust talent pipeline, where every second counts and every decision impacts the bottom line. From the intricate dance of managing applicant flow to the strategic implementation of cutting-edge tools that dramatically reduce hiring times and costs, this conversation is a goldmine for industry professionals seeking to elevate their recruitment process.

As we chart the course of talent acquisition's future, we delve into the realm of artificial intelligence and its transformative role in the hospitality sector. Kristina illuminates the promise of Fourths' pioneering AI implementations, including our standout Fuego product, which empowers employees with instant access to earned wages. This episode is not just about the technology—it's a testament to the power of strategic partnerships and the competitive advantage of streamlining hiring to the speed of light. Whether you're a seasoned hospitality veteran or a newcomer to the field, this discussion promises to leave you with actionable insights and an inspired vision for the evolution of talent acquisition.

Mark Taylor:

Hi and welcome to the episode two of the Automated Analytics podcast. My name is Mark Taylor. I'm the CEO of Automated Analytics. I'm delighted to have here with me our guest, Christina Gancer, who is from Fours, who are our partner in the States, and they're a fantastic job of introducing us to their client base in America. Welcome to London.

Kristina Gansser:

Thank you for having me.

Mark Taylor:

Now we're at Home House here in London recording this podcast for you and before we get started, I just wanted, christina, for you to give a bit of background on yourself, your career and really what's been the success story of Fours.

Kristina Gansser:

Awesome. Okay, so Fours is the largest hospitality software vendor in the world. We serve more than 15,000 clients across 100,000 locations globally with a large platform of data driven products. I joined Fours a few years ago when they acquired one of the businesses that I worked for, and I'm now Vice President of Product for all of the US based solutions. So that includes hot schedules, which is the largest workforce management solution in the United States. It includes Macromatics, which is an inventory solution that's actually offered globally for quick service inventory, and finally, it includes People Matter, which is an applicant tracking and onboarding solution focused on the hourly industry. I've been in product management for 20 years, so pretty much my entire career okay, maybe a little more than 20 years, but but yeah, I have loved every minute of it and have recently, in the last six years, focused on the unique needs of the hourly market.

Mark Taylor:

Christina, that's great to hear, and what experience you have, that's absolutely amazing. So for us, obviously, we've partnered with People Matter. Talent acquisition is a subject that a lot of people talk about, a lot of companies struggle with because of the tight labor market. So what was the challenge that you faced?

Kristina Gansser:

So the, as you mentioned, the applicant tracking industry in the US is unbelievably competitive, and what I was finding was that the competition was eating us up. They were taking our customers at an alarming rate. Simultaneously, fours has launched and become the leader of bringing AI solutions across our product base, and so I wanted to figure out a way that I could get AI into the product, while in order to protect our existing customer base and open up new opportunities. The challenge with that is I had just walked through it with one of my other products Hot Schedules and I knew how long it can take to implement it and to get it live, and so and I knew I didn't have that time in the People Matter world, simply because the competition was already gaining on us.

Mark Taylor:

So was it client feedback that you were getting? What led you down this path? How did you find out about this challenge in the first place?

Kristina Gansser:

Well, we were. It was definitely through client feedback. Clients were coming to us constantly saying that their applicant flow was not nearly what it needed to be, that their turnovers was at such an alarming rate that they weren't able to backfill positions. And what could we do to increase that applicant flow? And when you're competing with vendors that are looking at faster ways to get to hire all the time, I knew that's where the focus needed to be. How could I shorten that time to hire, as well as the cost to hire, because labour is such an expensive area in restaurants and hospitality?

Mark Taylor:

And particularly with the what we call the hourly market in America. The challenge you've got is, if I take Peter, one of their challenges is for drivers. You've now got Uber, you've now got DoorDash my favourite and you've got a bunch of competing, if you like, companies and organisations that weren't there before. Is that what you're seeing? Is that one of the challenges?

Kristina Gansser:

That's exactly right. And so because you are finding that these hourly workers have other opportunities, that they aren't just pigeonholed into hospitality and retail, and also the unique needs of Gen Z, which fills a lot of our hourly market, and how they are very much like flexibility in those types of things, and so we really wanted to figure out how we could increase the app flow to our customers so that they had more options and had more opportunity to hire.

Mark Taylor:

Got you so obviously you chose Automated Analytics as your partner. We were a British company very proud to be based in Doncaster. Why do you pick us?

Kristina Gansser:

Honestly, because you guys are the shit Right First thing's first.

Mark Taylor:

That's a good thing. By the way, chaps, it's not. She means we are the not. Hopefully the bleeping has worked this time around, so just want to interpret for our American Cousins for the UK audience. Yeah, sorry about that.

Kristina Gansser:

Mark. So we went through such a long due diligence we went through three months of due diligence comparing Automated Analytics to other vendors. We brought in our private equity firm, who does unbelievable due diligence, and basically they came back to us and agreed that Automated Analytics was the global leader. There was nobody that could match the functionality and could provide the service that you guys do.

Mark Taylor:

I mean as CEO. That's just great to hear that kind of recommendation. So, in terms of client success, what have you seen so far from implementing our talent track solution for your US clients?

Kristina Gansser:

It's been unbelievable. It blew my expectations and I have very high expectations, and so we have seen customers just rage over this functionality.

Mark Taylor:

So that's really great to hear and what a ringing endorsement of Automated Analytics. But, more importantly, what's the success that your clients and customers have seen in the States using our platform?

Kristina Gansser:

Yeah, so I've been in product management for 23 years and I have never seen App Flow increase the way that it has. It's back to what we saw in 2020 with the pandemic, where everybody needed a job, and so it's been super exciting for us. Our customers have been unbelievably pleased with the outcome of it. We had one customer who indicated that we made her a hero among the company because it dropped their cost for hire from $55 down to sub $5, which is really unheard of, especially in the hourly industry. So I feel like it has been an unbelievable customer retention tool. I'm so glad that we made the decision to partner and not to go the path of building, because I just don't know that we could have even come close to matching the functionality and just amazing in this, that talent track is on our own in the time period that we've had.

Mark Taylor:

And it's not just been in terms of increased application flow, but high ratios have gone up as well, right, Absolutely, and that's a really important thing to note.

Kristina Gansser:

We didn't want to, as you and I discussed initially, throw a bunch of applicants at them that were for lack of a better word crap. We wanted to make sure that we were providing customers with quality. Still, and I think that's the unique component of talent track and automated analytics is that you have the capability to not only improve app flow but improve quality, and that's a very unique component to you all.

Mark Taylor:

So all very exciting and fantastic feedback. Really appreciate it, Christina. So what's the future for fourth? Where do you see particularly talent acquisition going over the next few years? What exciting developments have you got coming out for your client base in the States?

Kristina Gansser:

Yeah, so we are heavily focused on AI at fourth and becoming the leader of implementing AI among our solutions. As far as talent acquisition is concerned, we are exploring other ways that we could possibly continue to improve that higher ratio. For us, we are all about figuring out how to do same day application hire, so somebody applies in the morning and they are working that evening. In fact, we want to go as far as same day pay. We offer a Fuego product that allows you to draw down your wages, and the story that we are going to be delivering to our customers is you will apply, an applicant will be able to apply on board, get hired, start a shift and get paid all within the same day.

Mark Taylor:

Which is a competitive advantage for any employer. That's a massive competitive advantage. Absolutely Using the combined fourth solution because I think, particularly in the hourly market, it's about how quickly you can get those people and if you can do same day, that's going to be a massive USP and a massive USP for your clients as well, which is really good to hear. Well, listen, christina, thank you very much for joining me in London. It's very kind of easy to fly in all the way over from America. Thank you for being a great partner. We really appreciate it. And, guys, I hope you've enjoyed our second episode of our podcast. Third episode will coming out in the next few weeks. Thank you very much for your time.