City Wide Facility Solutions, a venerable third-generation, family-owned building services management company established in 1961, has profoundly transformed its recruitment processes by integrating Workable, a leading applicant tracking system (ATS). Operating a vast network of 110 locations across the United States and Canada, City Wide’s unique business-to-business (B2B) model relies on partnerships with independent contractors to deliver a comprehensive suite of facility services, ranging from janitorial and landscaping to specialized maintenance and operations. This extensive and geographically dispersed operational footprint inherently presents significant challenges for talent acquisition, necessitating a sophisticated, scalable, and centralized solution to manage a diverse array of hiring needs.
The company’s hiring requirements are broad and demanding, encompassing roles from critical night managers and dynamic sales executives to strategic C-suite leadership positions. With an estimated 30 to 50 hires annually for the franchisor and its numerous franchisees combined, the talent acquisition function, spearheaded by Kelsey Herbig, Head of Talent Acquisition, faced the imperative of streamlining operations. The traditional methods and fragmented systems previously in place were proving inadequate for the volume, diversity, and geographical spread of recruitment efforts. The quest for a robust ATS that could not only centralize hiring but also support a complex distributed model without incurring prohibitive costs or administrative burdens became a strategic priority.
The Strategic Imperative for a Modern ATS
For decades, companies like City Wide navigated recruitment with varying degrees of technological assistance, often relying on a mix of rudimentary software, spreadsheets, and manual processes. However, as the company expanded its national and international reach, the limitations of such systems became glaringly apparent. A legacy ATS, CareerPlug, which City Wide had utilized, eventually proved insufficient for the evolving demands of a modern, fast-paced recruitment environment. The lack of advanced automation, comprehensive scalability, and integrated functionalities hindered efficiency and consistency across its numerous locations.
The facility management industry itself is characterized by its reliance on a diverse workforce, from skilled tradespeople to administrative staff and management. According to market research, the global facility management market size was valued at over $40 billion in 2023 and is projected to grow significantly, driven by increasing demand for integrated services. This growth necessitates a constant influx of talent, making efficient recruitment a critical component of business success. Moreover, the distributed nature of facility services, where teams operate autonomously in various client locations, adds layers of complexity to human resource management, particularly in talent acquisition. Ensuring brand consistency, regulatory compliance, and a high-quality candidate experience across 110 distinct operational units requires a centralized technological backbone.
Approximately five years ago, City Wide embarked on a comprehensive evaluation process to identify a new ATS that could meet its intricate needs. Kelsey Herbig led this critical initiative, undertaking a rigorous comparison of several prominent ATS providers. The contenders included industry giants and specialized solutions such as UKG, ADP, BambooHR, and JazzHR. Each platform offered various features, but the challenge for City Wide was finding a system that could elegantly handle its unique franchise structure and extensive geographical spread without compromising on functionality or budget.
Workable’s Differentiating Advantage: Scalability and Cost-Efficiency
The decisive factor in City Wide’s selection of Workable was its distinctive pricing model and unparalleled structural flexibility. In a distributed enterprise like City Wide, where numerous locations operate with a degree of autonomy but require a unified hiring system, traditional ATS models often levy per-user fees. This structure can quickly become prohibitively expensive, escalating costs exponentially as the number of hiring managers and administrators across 110 locations increases. Workable, however, offered a solution that allowed for individual user spaces and departmental segregation within a single platform, eliminating the need for exorbitant per-user charges.
As Kelsey Herbig articulated, "We have 110 locations. We needed each person to not have their own platform, but their own user space… A lot of other places will charge you user fees for everybody. Workable is a one-stop shop." This insight underscores the profound financial and operational advantage Workable provided, consolidating the entire recruitment ecosystem into a single, manageable, and cost-effective solution. Beyond pricing, Workable’s intuitive interface, comprehensive feature set, and reputation for strong customer support also played significant roles in its selection. The platform’s ability to offer a unified system for all hiring activities, from initial candidate sourcing to final offer letters, was a game-changer for City Wide.
Seamless Implementation and Rapid Adoption
The transition to a new ATS, especially across a network of 110 locations, can often be fraught with logistical challenges, requiring extensive training and troubleshooting. However, City Wide reported a remarkably smooth implementation process with Workable. The ease of setup, coupled with Workable’s effective training modules and responsive customer service, facilitated rapid adoption across all franchise teams. This seamless rollout was crucial in minimizing disruption to ongoing operations and ensuring that hiring managers across North America could quickly leverage the new system’s capabilities. Kelsey Herbig noted the positive experience: "It was pretty easy. The implementation was great. It was easy to train. Customer service with Workable has been great." This feedback highlights the importance of vendor support and user-friendliness in large-scale technology deployments.
Transformative Results: Quantifying the Impact of Workable
The integration of Workable has yielded measurable and impactful results across several key performance indicators for City Wide Facility Solutions, significantly enhancing its talent acquisition capabilities.
Hiring Efficiency: A New Benchmark in Time-to-Fill
One of the most compelling outcomes has been a dramatic improvement in hiring efficiency. City Wide now boasts an average time-to-fill of just 16 days. To put this into perspective, industry benchmarks for time-to-fill can range from 30 to 45 days or even longer for specialized roles, making City Wide’s 16-day average exceptionally competitive. This rapid hiring cycle is critical for a service-oriented business where vacancies can directly impact service delivery and client satisfaction. Faster hiring means less downtime, quicker team integration, and sustained operational capacity, directly contributing to the company’s bottom line. Kelsey Herbig affirmed, "My current time-to-fill is 16 days… Everything runs through Workable, so it’s a true one-stop shop." This speed is a testament to Workable’s streamlined workflows and automation capabilities.
Unprecedented Scalability for a Distributed Model
Workable’s architecture has enabled City Wide to support its 110 franchise locations with individual departments and user spaces, all managed within a singular, cohesive system. This centralized approach, devoid of per-user fees, has been instrumental in maintaining a unified hiring standard while accommodating local market nuances. It ensures that every location, regardless of size or hiring volume, benefits from the same robust tools and processes, fostering consistency in candidate experience and employer branding across the entire organization. The ability to scale without linear cost increases is a strategic advantage for a growing franchise network.
Elevating the Candidate Experience Through Automation and Communication
In today’s competitive talent landscape, candidate experience is paramount to attracting and retaining top talent. Workable has empowered City Wide to maintain a best-in-class candidate experience by ensuring 100% applicant response rates. Through automated and scheduled communication features, every applicant receives timely feedback, whether it’s a thank you for applying or a notification regarding their application status. This commitment to communication strengthens City Wide’s employer brand and fosters goodwill, even among unsuccessful candidates. "We have to respond to 100% of applicants… We send the thank you/no thank you out of Workable," Herbig stated, highlighting how Workable’s scheduled emails manage high application volumes efficiently, preventing inbox overload and upholding a professional communication standard.
End-to-End Workflow Consolidation and Time Savings
Workable serves as a true "one-stop shop" for City Wide’s recruitment lifecycle. Critical processes such as assessments, offer letter generation, and background checks are all handled directly within the ATS. This consolidation eliminates the need for multiple external platforms or manual data transfers, significantly reducing administrative effort and potential for errors. The streamlined workflow frees up valuable time for recruiters and hiring managers, allowing them to focus more on strategic talent engagement rather than administrative tasks. For instance, the ability to send calendar invites directly from Workable to all interview participants, including the hiring team, eliminates an extra step in coordination, saving considerable time. This comprehensive integration accelerates hiring and enhances overall operational efficiency.
Leveraging Innovation: The Power of Indeed Talent Scout
City Wide Facility Solutions’ proactive approach to talent acquisition led them to participate as a beta partner for Indeed Talent Scout, an integrated sourcing tool within Workable. This early adoption of an innovative feature quickly demonstrated its value, particularly for hard-to-fill roles. Kelsey Herbig recounted an immediate success story: "I loved it. I hired an account manager in seven days off of it." This remarkably fast hire underscores the efficacy of targeted sourcing tools when integrated seamlessly into an existing ATS.
Indeed Talent Scout proved particularly effective for roles that traditionally struggle for visibility on professional networking platforms like LinkedIn, such as night managers. These individuals are often more active on job boards like Indeed. Talent Scout allowed City Wide to proactively identify and engage passive candidates who might not actively be applying but possess the desired skills and experience. The tool facilitated the creation of targeted candidate pools, direct outreach to qualified individuals, and the efficient management of sourced candidates within the familiar Workable environment. As a result, Indeed Talent Scout has become a permanent and invaluable component of Kelsey Herbig’s sourcing toolkit, enabling City Wide to overcome challenges in filling specific field roles.
Broader Industry Implications and Future Outlook
The success story of City Wide Facility Solutions and Workable extends beyond the confines of a single company, offering valuable insights for the broader facility management industry and other distributed organizations. The case demonstrates the critical importance of selecting an ATS that aligns with a company’s specific operational model, especially for franchise-based businesses. The ability to centralize recruitment, maintain consistency, and manage costs across numerous locations is a strategic advantage in a competitive market.
For the facility services sector, which often contends with labor shortages and the need for a diverse skill set, an efficient and scalable recruitment platform is not merely an HR tool but a foundational element of business resilience and growth. The speed of hiring, as exemplified by City Wide’s 16-day time-to-fill, directly impacts a company’s capacity to take on new contracts and maintain service quality. Furthermore, the emphasis on candidate experience, facilitated by automated communication, contributes to a positive employer brand, crucial for attracting talent in a candidate-driven market.
The integration of advanced sourcing tools like Indeed Talent Scout within an ATS also highlights the evolving landscape of recruitment technology. The move towards AI-powered tools and integrated platforms that streamline the entire hiring journey is becoming the industry standard. This evolution helps companies proactively identify talent, reduce reliance on traditional job postings, and accelerate the matching process, especially for specialized or high-demand roles.
When asked about recommending Workable, Kelsey Herbig’s enthusiasm was palpable: "I actually have! So much so that I joke that I should get a referral bonus!" This strong endorsement reflects the profound positive impact Workable has had on City Wide’s operations. For companies operating in facility services, building maintenance, or any sector characterized by distributed operations, Workable provides a compelling solution for centralized hiring, improved candidate experience, and significant cost savings.
After five years of continuous use, City Wide Facility Solutions continues to leverage Workable to streamline its processes, enhance the candidate journey, and efficiently hire across its expansive network in the U.S. and Canada. The partnership stands as a testament to the transformative power of strategic HR technology investment in driving operational excellence and sustained organizational growth in a complex, competitive environment.
