Caleres

How a global footwear company uses iCIMS tools to capture and convert more applicants with a sleek candidate experience.

 
Headquarters:
St. Louis, MO
Industry:
Retail
Company size:
10,000+
iCIMS customer since:
2019
Revenue:
$3 billion
iCIMS products:
Applicant Tracking System
Candidate relationship management
Text Engagement
Career Sites

When Famous Footwear shoppers glance at their receipt, they’ll see something unexpected etched beneath the list of their purchases: an invitation to apply for a job. With one text, a customer turns into a candidate — a candidate for a job with Caleres, a global footwear company that owns more than 900 Famous Footwear stores.

This sleek transformation did not always characterize the Caleres candidate experience. In fact, the job seeker journey was clunky and disjointed before Caleres enlisted iCIMS to create a smooth, integrated experience. Now, the company offers a speedy, mobile-friendly application process that not only engages more talent but also saves recruiters time.

The Caleres approach

Caleres employs more than 10,000 people. Nearly three-quarters of those workers are hourly employees, and that means Caleres needs to put its best foot forward as it competes for talent.

“As quickly as you’re recruiting those workers and offering them a job, someone next door, across the street or in the same parking lot is also doing that,” said the VP of HR business partners, talent strategy and talent acquisition at Caleres.

 

Text recruiting in action

To attract, engage and capture these workers, Caleres needed to streamline its application process. Its first move? Implementing iCIMS Text Engagement.

“We needed candidates to get out that smartphone and do what they already knew how to do: send a text,” said the VP of HR business partners, talent strategy and talent acquisition at Caleres.

When job seekers follow prompts — on a receipt or elsewhere — to text Caleres about a job, the messages kick off a process that ultimately pairs job seekers with hiring managers. Along the way, Caleres collects information about candidates, initiates the application process and engages with applicants in the CRM. Each touchpoint involves a different iCIMS tool, but candidates experience one seamless process.

 

That's what the iCIMS text to apply product did for us — it got candidates to come to us faster because we weren't asking them to do a whole lot.

VP of HR business partners, talent strategy and talent acquisition, Caleres

Caleres' big results

These tools simplified the process for recruiters in addition to candidates. iCIMS has freed up recruiters by automating once time-consuming tasks: candidate communication, application nudges and follow-up calls.

As Caleres implemented the iCIMS ATS, Text Engagement and the CRM, a transformation occurred: an increase in diverse applicants, in diverse hiring and in the retention of diverse employees. Caleres used the iCIMS CRM to highlight its inclusive culture, publishing content designed to show diverse applicants that they would feel welcome at the company.

“That was such a win for us, and it’s something we’re hyper focused on as we continue to evolve our talent acquisition suite,” said the VP of HR business partners, talent strategy and talent acquisition at Caleres.

 

Text Engagement was such a game-changer for Caleres. Our drop-off rate drastically declined, and we ended up with a lot more candidates who we could truly engage and then hire.

VP of HR business partners, talent strategy and talent acquisition, Caleres

With iCIMS, Caleres:

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Engages more applicants with a smooth, mobile-friendly candidate experience

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Saves recruiters time by automating tasks around candidate communication

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Drives diversity initiatives by highlighting its inclusive culture through the CRM

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Drastically reduced candidate drop-off

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Improved applicant volume

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Turns customers into candidates

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