City Wide Facility Solutions, a prominent third-generation, family-owned building services management company established in 1961, has dramatically optimized its extensive hiring operations across 110 locations in the United States and Canada through the strategic implementation of Workable’s Applicant Tracking System (ATS). This significant technological integration has resulted in an average time-to-fill of a mere 16 days for diverse roles, alongside establishing a unified, scalable, and highly efficient recruitment infrastructure essential for a complex, distributed franchise model. The successful five-year partnership underscores Workable’s capacity to address the unique challenges of large-scale, multi-location hiring, particularly in the dynamic facility management sector.
The Intricate Landscape of Facility Management and Distributed Operations
City Wide Facility Solutions operates at the nexus of a critical industry, managing a comprehensive suite of building services ranging from routine janitorial tasks and meticulous landscaping to complex maintenance and specialized facility operations. Its distinctive B2B model relies heavily on a network of independent contractors, necessitating a robust and agile operational framework. The company’s geographic footprint, spanning over a hundred locations across two countries, inherently presents significant logistical and human capital challenges. Each franchise location, while operating under the City Wide banner, requires a degree of operational autonomy, including its own hiring processes. This decentralized structure, coupled with an annual hiring volume of 30-50 new employees for the franchisor and franchisees combined, demands an exceptionally flexible and powerful recruitment solution.
The facility management industry, projected to continue its growth trajectory, relies heavily on a skilled and reliable workforce. Recruiting for this sector involves a wide spectrum of roles, from the hands-on night managers and skilled technicians who form the backbone of service delivery, to strategic sales executives driving business growth, and even crucial C-suite leadership positions guiding the company’s strategic direction. The diversity in job functions, coupled with varying local labor market conditions across 110 distinct geographical areas, created a demanding environment for City Wide’s recruitment team. Prior to Workable, the company grappled with the complexities of managing these disparate hiring needs, seeking a centralized yet adaptable system that could standardize processes without stifling local initiative or incurring prohibitive costs.
A Strategic Imperative: Centralizing Dispersed Hiring Efforts
The inherent challenge for City Wide was to maintain a cohesive employer brand and a consistent hiring standard across its vast network while empowering individual locations to recruit effectively for their specific needs. This required an Applicant Tracking System that could offer both centralized oversight and localized user spaces, a critical distinction in the competitive ATS market. The previous system, CareerPlug, while functional, lacked the modern capabilities and scalability required to meet City Wide’s evolving demands. Kelsey Herbig, a key figure in City Wide’s talent acquisition strategy, spearheaded the exhaustive evaluation process to identify a replacement. The search involved a rigorous comparison against leading industry platforms, including UKG, ADP, BambooHR, and JazzHR.
The evaluation criteria extended beyond basic functionality. City Wide needed a system that could not only post jobs efficiently and manage candidate pipelines but also integrate seamlessly with other HR functions, provide robust reporting, and, crucially, offer a pricing model that supported widespread adoption across its franchise network without penalizing growth. The cost structure of many enterprise-level ATS solutions often includes per-user fees, which, for an organization with 110 distinct locations and numerous hiring managers, could quickly escalate into an unsustainable expense. This particular aspect became a pivotal differentiator in Workable’s favor.
Workable’s Differentiating Value Proposition: Structural Flexibility and Cost Efficiency
The decisive factor in City Wide’s selection of Workable was its unique combination of structural flexibility and a highly advantageous pricing model. Unlike many competitors that impose per-user fees, Workable offered a solution where each of City Wide’s 110 locations could have its own dedicated user space within a unified platform without incurring additional charges for every individual user. Kelsey Herbig succinctly articulated this advantage: "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 approach allowed City Wide to democratize access to advanced recruitment tools across its entire network, fostering consistent best practices and operational efficiency without the financial burden typically associated with such extensive deployments.
Beyond its cost-effective scalability, Workable distinguished itself through a suite of features designed to streamline the entire hiring lifecycle. These included intuitive tools for job board postings, comprehensive candidate screening capabilities, automated interview scheduling, and integrated offer management. The ability to consolidate these diverse functions within a single platform was crucial for City Wide, which sought to eliminate manual workarounds and fragmented processes that had previously hampered efficiency and candidate experience. This "one-stop shop" philosophy resonated deeply with City Wide’s need for a comprehensive, yet user-friendly, solution capable of handling the high volume and varied nature of its recruitment activities.
Transformative Outcomes: Efficiency and Scalability Across the Enterprise
The impact of Workable’s implementation at City Wide Facility Solutions has been profound, manifesting in tangible improvements across several key performance indicators. The "Quick Results" table provided a clear snapshot of these successes, demonstrating how a tailored ATS can drive significant business value.
Accelerated Time-to-Fill and Operational Readiness:
One of the most impressive outcomes has been the reduction in average time-to-fill to a remarkable 16 days. In an industry where labor availability directly impacts service delivery and client satisfaction, this rapid turnaround is invaluable. A faster time-to-fill means that critical roles, from night managers to sales executives, are filled promptly, minimizing operational downtime, accelerating project commencement, and ensuring consistent service quality. For a business like City Wide, which operates on tight schedules and service level agreements, every day saved in the recruitment process translates directly into enhanced productivity and profitability. This figure significantly outperforms industry averages, which often hover between 30-45 days for comparable roles, highlighting Workable’s efficiency in streamlining the candidate journey from application to offer.
Unprecedented Scalability for a Distributed Model:
Workable’s architecture has proven instrumental in supporting City Wide’s extensive network. The system’s ability to accommodate 110 franchise locations, each with separate departments and user spaces, while maintaining a unified hiring system, is a testament to its robust design. This scalability, particularly without the encumbrance of per-user fees, has enabled City Wide to roll out a standardized, high-quality recruitment process across its entire footprint. This unification ensures brand consistency in hiring, facilitates easier training, and allows for centralized reporting and analysis of recruitment metrics, providing invaluable insights into overall talent acquisition performance.
Enhancing Candidate Experience Through Automated Communication:
In today’s competitive talent market, candidate experience is paramount to attracting top talent and reinforcing employer brand. City Wide has committed to a best-in-class approach by ensuring 100% applicant response, a feat made possible by Workable’s automation and scheduled communication features. Automated "thank you" and "no thank you" emails, along with timely updates, ensure that every applicant receives professional and timely feedback. This level of communication not only builds a positive perception of City Wide as an employer but also reduces candidate frustration and fosters goodwill, even among unsuccessful applicants. Such a proactive communication strategy is vital for maintaining a strong employer brand and potentially re-engaging candidates for future opportunities.
Streamlined End-to-End Hiring Workflows:
Workable has become the central hub for City Wide’s entire hiring workflow, consolidating critical processes such as assessments, offer letters, and background checks directly within the platform. This integration eliminates the need for manual data transfer between disparate systems, significantly reducing administrative burden, minimizing errors, and accelerating the progression of candidates through the hiring pipeline. Kelsey Herbig noted the efficiency gains, stating, "My current time-to-fill is 16 days… Everything runs through Workable, so it’s a true one-stop shop." This comprehensive integration frees up recruitment teams to focus on strategic talent engagement rather than administrative tasks, making the hiring process more efficient and compliant.
Seamless Implementation and Sustained Impact
The rapid and smooth implementation of Workable across City Wide’s diverse franchise teams was another significant success factor. The ease of rollout and training was a major advantage, ensuring quick user adoption and minimizing disruption to ongoing operations. Kelsey Herbig commended the process, stating, "It was pretty easy. The implementation was great. It was easy to train. Customer service with Workable has been great." This ease of integration is crucial for any technology adoption, especially across a decentralized organization where varied technical proficiencies among users can pose challenges. Workable’s intuitive interface and dedicated support ensured that hiring managers across all 110 locations could quickly leverage the system’s full capabilities.
Beyond initial setup, Workable has seamlessly integrated into the daily workflow, enhancing efficiency in numerous ways. The automated scheduling of calendar invites for interviews, sent directly to both the recruiter and the hiring team, eliminates a tedious manual step, saving valuable time and reducing scheduling conflicts. Furthermore, Workable streamlines other critical aspects of the recruitment process, including job board postings, initial candidate screening, interview management, and the often-complex offer management and onboarding stages. By consolidating these functions, Workable reduces administrative effort, accelerates the hiring process, and ensures a consistent, professional experience for candidates and hiring teams alike.
The Power of Integrated Sourcing: Indeed Talent Scout
A notable enhancement to City Wide’s recruitment strategy came through its participation as a beta partner for Indeed Talent Scout within Workable. This integration provided immediate and demonstrable value, particularly for hard-to-fill roles. Kelsey Herbig enthusiastically recounted the success: "I loved it. I hired an account manager in seven days off of it." This rapid hire underscores the efficacy of targeted sourcing tools when integrated directly into the ATS.
Indeed Talent Scout proved especially beneficial for roles that traditionally struggle for visibility on professional networking platforms like LinkedIn. For instance, positions such as night managers, which are crucial to City Wide’s operations, often attract candidates who are more active on job boards like Indeed. These individuals might not maintain extensive professional profiles on platforms geared towards white-collar careers. As Herbig observed, "Night managers are the hardest job to fill… Talent Scout is awesome because those people aren’t on LinkedIn. They’re on Indeed." This insight highlights the importance of diversifying sourcing strategies and utilizing platforms that align with the candidate demographics for specific roles.
Indeed Talent Scout allowed City Wide to proactively search for qualified candidates, engage with them directly, and track these interactions seamlessly within Workable. This capability to directly source and initiate contact with passive candidates on a platform known for its vast pool of job seekers for various industries and skill levels provided a significant advantage. As a result of its proven effectiveness, Indeed Talent Scout has become a permanent and regularly utilized component of Kelsey Herbig’s sourcing toolkit, reinforcing Workable’s role as a comprehensive talent acquisition platform.
Looking Ahead: A Blueprint for Success in Distributed Operations
City Wide Facility Solutions’ five-year partnership with Workable serves as a compelling case study for organizations navigating the complexities of distributed operations and high-volume, diverse hiring. Kelsey Herbig’s unequivocal recommendation, delivered with a humorous remark about deserving a referral bonus, speaks volumes about the value Workable delivers.
For companies operating in facility services, building maintenance, or any sector characterized by a widespread, multi-location operational model, Workable offers a clear pathway to enhanced talent acquisition. Its core strengths – a centralized platform providing cost-effective scalability without prohibitive per-user fees, robust features that streamline the entire hiring process, and a commitment to exceptional customer service – directly address the critical pain points faced by such organizations. The ability to manage everything from job postings and candidate screening to interview scheduling, offer management, and background checks within a single, intuitive system is transformative.
The sustained success of City Wide Facility Solutions with Workable over half a decade demonstrates the enduring strategic value of investing in a modern, adaptable ATS. By continually streamlining processes, elevating the candidate experience, and achieving remarkable hiring efficiency across its extensive network in the U.S. and Canada, City Wide has not only optimized its human capital strategy but has also set a benchmark for effective talent acquisition in the facility management industry. This partnership exemplifies how technological innovation, when strategically applied, can empower large, distributed enterprises to thrive in an increasingly competitive talent landscape.
