Staffing shortages and slow hiring cycles continue to pressure restaurant operators, affecting service quality, costs, and growth. For Bojangles, the quick-service chain known for its Southern-style chicken and biscuits, these challenges intensified as it worked to staff hundreds of locations while competing for hourly workers in a tight labor market.
At many locations, the hiring process took 30 days or more. Leadership determined that incremental fixes were not enough. To keep restaurants staffed and support expansion, Bojangles needed to rethink its approach to frontline hiring.
A hiring process in need of speed and clarity
Bojangles relied on legacy applicant tracking tools that created friction for candidates and slowed recruiters. Lengthy applications led to drop-off. Recruiters spent significant time on manual follow-ups, scheduling, and status updates.
“We were always racing the clock to fill roles,” said Jacob Salvo, senior director of talent management at Bojangles. The team aligned around three priorities: reduce application friction, improve the candidate experience, and shorten time to hire.
To support those goals, Bojangles partnered with Fountain to streamline frontline recruiting workflows and reduce manual effort across the hiring process.
Streamlining hiring through mobile and automation
The first step was simplifying how candidates applied. Using Fountain’s mobile-first tools, applicants could begin the process through text rather than navigating multiple pages or creating accounts.
This lowered barriers for hourly candidates, particularly those applying on smartphones or in markets with limited desktop access.
Automation also played a central role. Through Fountain, Bojangles automated applicant communication at each stage of hiring. Over the course of a year, the company sent nearly half a million automated texts and emails, keeping candidates informed while reducing recruiter workload.
Fountain's direct integrations with major job boards enabled Bojangles to expand reach more efficiently. As a result, the company reduced job board spending by 86% while maintaining strong applicant flow with less manual management.
Measurable improvements in hiring outcomes
Once the updated workflows were deployed, Bojangles saw clear results:
- Time to hire fell from roughly 30 days to 5.8 days, an 80% reduction
- Application flow rates more than tripled, exceeding internal benchmarks
- Recruiters spent less time on repetitive tasks and more time on higher-value work
Salvo said the most noticeable change was the absence of constant issues. “My biggest success is silence,” he said, pointing to fewer urgent problems across the hiring funnel.
Maintaining a human connection
Despite increased automation, Bojangles remained focused on the candidate experience. The company introduced short video messages from store managers after interviews were scheduled. The videos set expectations and helped candidates feel connected to the location early in the process.
This combination of automation and localized engagement reduced candidate drop-off and improved follow-through in a high-volume hiring environment.
Implications for restaurant operators
Labor challenges are unlikely to ease in the near term, and many restaurant operators are reassessing how they hire hourly workers. Bojangles’ experience highlights several considerations:
- Reducing application friction improves conversion
- Automated communication increases speed and consistency
- Personal touches still matter in high-volume hiring
For restaurant brands facing ongoing staffing pressure, modernizing hiring processes can improve speed, stability, and workforce readiness without sacrificing the candidate experience.
About the sponsor: Fountain is the AI-native operating system for the global frontline workforce. Built for high-volume employers, the platform helps organizations streamline hiring and workforce operations through modular products, intelligent automation, and connected workflows that move work forward with speed and control.
