In a strategic move to modernize its talent acquisition framework, LandCare, a leading national commercial landscape management company, has successfully implemented Workable, an advanced applicant tracking system. This transition has dramatically streamlined its hiring processes, yielding a remarkable 23% reduction in time-to-hire and a significant increase in overall recruitment efficiency. The adoption of Workable has not only accelerated hiring velocity but also elevated the strategic importance of the talent acquisition function within the organization, providing unprecedented visibility into the complex recruitment lifecycle.
LandCare: A National Presence in Commercial Landscape Management
LandCare stands as a formidable entity in the commercial landscape management sector, boasting an extensive network of 76 locations spread across 23 states. At its operational peak, the company commands a substantial workforce of approximately 4,000 employees, positioning it among the industry’s largest field-based employers. This widespread geographical footprint and significant employee count underscore the unique challenges inherent in managing talent acquisition for such a diverse and distributed operation.
The responsibility for orchestrating talent acquisition across this vast enterprise rests with Alex Kline, the Director of Talent Acquisition and Employee Services. Kline leads a dedicated team of six recruiters, who are primarily tasked with handling exempt-level, corporate, and executive hiring. Beyond their direct recruitment duties, this team also serves as critical subject matter experts and strategic advisors to the various branch locations, empowering them to manage their own crew-level recruiting efforts effectively. The breadth of roles LandCare recruits for is extensive, encompassing positions from essential branch administrators and production managers to account managers, branch managers, and various corporate functions including finance, IT, human resources, marketing, and operations. Periodically, the team also undertakes executive searches for Vice President and Director-level roles. Given this intricate hiring landscape, the uniform deployment of Workable throughout the entire organization has been pivotal in harmonizing and optimizing these varied recruitment streams.
The Pre-Workable Era: Navigating an Antiquated Recruitment Landscape
Prior to the strategic integration of Workable, LandCare grappled with a talent acquisition infrastructure that was notably underdeveloped and largely manual. The company operated without a dedicated, comprehensive applicant tracking system (ATS), instead relying on a plugin within its existing UKG human resources information system (HRIS). This setup, however, functioned more as a rudimentary processing tool rather than a robust, end-to-end recruitment management platform. It presented significant limitations in scope and functionality, proving utterly incapable of supporting the high-volume, efficient hiring demands of a rapidly scaling national enterprise like LandCare.
Alex Kline vividly recalled the inherent frustrations of this outdated system, describing it as an "antiquated process." He emphasized that "there was really nothing about it that allowed us to manage our recruitment effort through that system. We were managing it kind of outside and then just processing everything through it." This fragmented approach meant that critical recruitment activities, from candidate sourcing to pipeline management and communication, were largely conducted through external, often manual, methods before being merely logged or processed within the UKG plugin. This created a significant administrative burden and a lack of centralized control.
One of the most acute pain points identified was the cumbersome process of job postings. The UKG integration, in its limited capacity, was only capable of pushing job roles to LandCare’s proprietary careers page. For wider dissemination, particularly to high-traffic platforms like LinkedIn and Indeed, each additional posting necessitated a separate, manual effort. This redundant and time-consuming task was a major drain on resources. As LandCare continued its trajectory of growth, with an increasing imperative for hiring velocity and efficiency, the sustainability of such an inefficient, manual recruitment model became untenable. The realization that their existing system was a bottleneck, impeding strategic growth and market responsiveness, spurred the imperative for a transformative change in their talent acquisition technology.
A Strategic Quest for Modern ATS Solutions
Recognizing the critical need for an overhaul, Alex Kline embarked on a comprehensive and meticulous evaluation process to identify a suitable applicant tracking system. His search was thorough and deliberate, initially encompassing approximately ten different platforms. This extensive initial screening was gradually refined, narrowing the field to five contenders, then three, and finally two finalists. This rigorous selection process underscored LandCare’s commitment to finding a solution that not only addressed current inefficiencies but also provided a scalable foundation for future growth.
The criteria for selection were multifaceted, likely focusing on key aspects such as ease of use for a distributed workforce, robust mobile capabilities, seamless integration with existing HRIS, comprehensive reporting and analytics, and the ability to automate time-consuming manual tasks. The landscape of ATS solutions at the time was competitive, with many platforms offering advanced features. However, for a company like LandCare with a significant proportion of its hiring managers operating in the field, away from traditional desk setups, user experience and accessibility were paramount considerations. This unique operational context would ultimately prove to be the decisive factor in Workable’s selection.
Workable’s Decisive Advantage: Simplicity Meets Sophistication for Field Operations
In the final stages of evaluation, Workable emerged as the undisputed choice, outperforming a formidable competitor. While the competing finalist presented an array of features that initially excited the recruiting team—including robust reporting capabilities and a suite of tools traditionally appealing to talent acquisition professionals—LandCare’s distinctive operational model presented a unique challenge that Workable was uniquely positioned to address.
The core differentiator lay in the nature of LandCare’s hiring managers, who are frequently engaged in field operations, often on job sites, in vehicles, or away from conventional office environments. Engaging these crucial stakeholders genuinely and effectively in the hiring process demanded a platform that was not only powerful but also exceptionally intuitive and accessible from anywhere, with minimal or no formal onboarding required. Alex Kline articulated this critical distinction, stating, "If we would have put the other platform in front of our hiring managers, we would have never been able to get the buy-in from them that we have now. Workable makes it so simple for them."
This insight was crucial. The competing platform, despite its advanced functionalities, likely possessed a steeper learning curve or a less streamlined interface, which would have deterred field-based managers. Workable, in contrast, successfully blended functional depth with an unparalleled user experience. It offered the sophisticated reporting capabilities and comprehensive tools that the talent acquisition team required, while simultaneously delivering an intuitive interface that field-based hiring managers could effortlessly adopt and integrate into their daily workflows. This potent combination of powerful features and user-friendly design ultimately sealed the decision, marking Workable as the ideal solution to bridge the gap between complex TA needs and the practical realities of a distributed, field-oriented workforce.
A Blueprint for Seamless Implementation: Phased Rollout and Collaborative Success
The successful integration of Workable into LandCare’s operational fabric was meticulously orchestrated, with Alex Kline personally assuming the role of project manager for the entire rollout. His leadership was complemented by a close collaborative partnership with Workable’s dedicated implementation partner, Kashaw. This strategic alliance ensured a structured and efficient deployment, moving away from an attempt to manage all elements simultaneously.
Kline’s approach to implementation was characterized by thoughtful delegation and strategic phasing. For instance, the internal talent acquisition team was tasked with developing and refining candidate communication templates, ensuring consistency and professionalism across all interactions. Concurrently, the human resources team focused on aligning LandCare’s complex organizational structure within Workable, ensuring seamless integration with the company’s existing HRIS. This meticulous alignment guaranteed that candidate flow and data management were logical and coherent across both systems, preventing data silos and streamlining administrative processes.
This collaborative dynamic fostered what Kline described as a "very symbiotic relationship," noting, "We’d bring things to their attention in the afternoon and come back the next morning to viable solutions." This rapid problem-solving and responsive support from the implementation partner were critical to maintaining momentum and addressing any unforeseen challenges promptly. The result of this well-executed plan was a highly efficient, phased rollout. The talent acquisition team achieved full operational capability on Workable within a remarkably short six-week timeframe. Following an additional two weeks of intensive internal use, dedicated to fine-tuning workflows and meticulously documenting edge cases, the platform was confidently launched to the broader business. This strategic, gradual deployment ensured that by the end of an impressive eight weeks from the initial implementation, the entire company had achieved full adoption of Workable, marking a swift and successful digital transformation of its talent acquisition processes.
Elevating Talent Acquisition: Visibility, Credibility, and Strategic Partnership
One of the most profound, and perhaps unexpected, benefits reaped from Workable’s implementation at LandCare has been the unprecedented clarity it has brought to the organization regarding the true scope and effort involved in talent acquisition. By granting hiring managers direct access to the platform, they can now observe their job’s pipeline in real-time, gaining an immediate and tangible understanding of the extensive work that underpins every single hire.
This newfound transparency has been particularly impactful in bridging the historical gap in understanding between the talent acquisition team and other departments. A compelling anecdote illustrating this shift involved LandCare’s marketing director. When she posted a graphic designer role through Workable, she was met with an overwhelming influx of 2,000 applications in a single month. This experience fundamentally reshaped her perception of the TA team’s work.
Kline elaborated on the transformative impact of this visibility: "For her to understand that yes, you may only be seeing five candidates you like to talk to, but this is the level of effort that went into it. Out of 400 candidates, we disqualified 350, scheduled calls with 50, only 30 showed up, we liked 15 of those, 10 made it through the behavioral assessment, and those are your top five. It really gave the TA team a lot of street credit in the business." This detailed, step-by-step insight into the rigorous screening and qualification process demystified the recruitment journey, replacing prior assumptions with a deep appreciation for the TA team’s expertise and dedication.
The direct consequence of this enhanced transparency has been a palpable strengthening of the relationship between the talent acquisition function and the various departments it serves. Beyond improved collaboration, this visibility has significantly elevated the function’s credibility with leadership. By clearly demonstrating the strategic value and rigorous process behind each hire, the TA team has cemented its position as a critical, data-driven partner in achieving LandCare’s broader business objectives, earning it a deserved "seat at the table" in strategic discussions.
Quantifiable Success: Metrics of a Modernized Talent Acquisition Function
The implementation of Workable in the fall of 2023 marked a definitive turning point for LandCare’s hiring operations, with its impact on recruitment metrics becoming immediate and compounding year over year. The data unequivocally illustrates a significant enhancement in both hiring volume and efficiency, directly attributable to the new system.
Focusing on four core branch-level positions, a critical segment for LandCare’s operational backbone, the numbers paint a clear picture of accelerated growth. In 2023, the last full year operating under the antiquated UKG system, LandCare successfully hired 122 individuals for these roles. Following the Workable implementation, this figure saw a notable increase to 136 hires in 2024. The upward trend continued into 2025, reaching an impressive 138 hires for the same set of positions. This consistent year-over-year growth in hiring volume for key roles signifies LandCare’s enhanced capacity to scale its workforce and meet operational demands more effectively. This growth in hiring directly translates to increased operational capacity, allowing LandCare to take on more projects, expand its service offerings, and ultimately drive revenue growth in a competitive market.
Concurrently, the critical metric of time-to-hire moved in the opposite, desired direction. From 2024 to 2025, LandCare achieved a remarkable 23% reduction in its time-to-hire. This substantial improvement is not merely an efficiency gain; it has profound implications across the business. Faster hiring cycles mean that critical roles are filled more quickly, minimizing operational gaps and reducing the potential for revenue loss due to understaffing. It also significantly enhances the candidate experience, as prompt communication and efficient processes often correlate with higher candidate satisfaction and acceptance rates. Crucially, this accelerated pace has been achieved while rigorously maintaining the quality of candidates presented to hiring managers, ensuring that speed does not compromise fit or competency.
Beyond these direct hiring metrics, LandCare has also observed an improvement in employee turnover rates since Workable’s implementation. While Alex Kline prudently acknowledges that turnover reduction is rarely attributable to a single factor, he highlights how the collective benefits of Workable have contributed positively. The ability to move candidates faster through the pipeline, reach a broader and more diverse pool of talent, and provide hiring managers with genuine, real-time visibility into their own recruitment processes has collectively led to better quality hires. These superior hiring outcomes inherently contribute to stronger retention rates overall, as well-matched and efficiently onboarded employees are more likely to thrive and remain with the company long-term.
Operational Excellence: Key Features Driving LandCare’s Success
Workable’s suite of features has fundamentally reshaped LandCare’s recruitment operations, delivering tangible benefits across multiple fronts.
One Click, 15 Job Boards: The Power of Broad Distribution
The operational transformation in job posting efficiency alone has had a profound and meaningful impact on LandCare’s recruitment strategy. Under the previous UKG system, job roles were restricted to the company’s careers page, necessitating laborious, separate manual posts for every additional platform. Workable has eradicated this inefficiency entirely, enabling the distribution of job opportunities to over 15 leading job boards with a single, streamlined action. While platforms like LinkedIn and Indeed remain the primary conduits for candidate sourcing, this expanded distribution carries a significant brand awareness benefit that Alex Kline values beyond mere application numbers. "Just having your brand out there in all the different areas ultimately drives applicants to you in other ways as well," he asserts. This widespread visibility not only increases the direct applicant pool but also reinforces LandCare’s employer brand, making it a more recognizable and attractive employer in a competitive industry.
The Mobile App: Built for the Field-First Workforce
For a company like LandCare, where a significant portion of its hiring managers are constantly in the field—on job sites, in company vehicles, or otherwise away from a traditional desk—the Workable mobile app has proven to be an indispensable tool and the primary interface for their recruitment activities. In fact, hiring managers at LandCare utilize the mobile app almost exclusively, underscoring its critical role in their daily operations. The app empowers managers to remain fully engaged and responsive, regardless of their physical location. When a candidate progresses to a new stage in the workflow, the hiring manager receives an instant notification via email on their phone. From there, they can directly access Workable, review the candidate’s resume, and provide immediate approval or rejection. This seamless mobile workflow eliminates the need for a laptop or any delay in waiting to return to an office, dramatically accelerating decision-making and preventing candidates from lingering in the pipeline. Alex Kline himself attests to its utility, using the mobile app daily to approve offer letters from his phone. He emphatically states, "That is probably one of the biggest highlights of the system. Our hiring managers — that’s all they use."
Intelligent Reporting and Custom Data Integration
LandCare leverages Workable’s robust built-in reporting capabilities for immediate operational insights, monitoring key metrics such as hiring velocity and time-to-hire to gain a rapid pulse on recruitment performance. However, recognizing the need for deeper, more customized analytical power, the team also ingeniously pulls Workable’s raw data directly into Power BI, their corporate business intelligence platform. This integration allows them to run highly specialized, custom reports through their own data warehouse, offering unparalleled flexibility and depth in their talent analytics. "It’s easy to communicate with the internal mainframe of Workable. We’re able to pull that data into Power BI and run very custom reports," Kline explains. This dual-pronged approach—utilizing Workable’s native reporting for day-to-day visibility while seamlessly integrating with a more sophisticated external analytics environment—perfectly exemplifies the adaptability and comprehensive data capabilities that made Workable the ideal fit for LandCare’s advanced analytical requirements.
Self-Scheduling and Custom Application Questions
Workable’s self-scheduling links have garnered consistent praise within LandCare, with particularly positive feedback emanating directly from candidates. The ability to receive a stage-advancement email and immediately book a Teams interview, without the cumbersome back-and-forth typical of manual scheduling, has significantly enhanced the candidate experience. This streamlined process not only improves efficiency but also projects an image of professionalism and responsiveness, crucial in attracting top talent.
Furthermore, the platform’s custom application questions feature adds a vital layer of precision to the recruitment process, especially valuable at LandCare’s scale. The company strategically employs these questions to gather specific data, such as sourcing attribution from LinkedIn messaging campaigns, which provides invaluable insights into the effectiveness of various outreach efforts. They also utilize custom questions to allow intern candidates to indicate their preferred region of the country, providing practical information that helps route and prioritize candidates without adding any manual steps to the screening process. These features collectively contribute to a more efficient, data-driven, and candidate-centric recruitment workflow.
A Resounding Endorsement: LandCare’s Recommendation for Workable
Without equivocation, LandCare wholeheartedly recommends Workable. For organizations operating with a distributed, field-based workforce and managing hiring across numerous locations, the capacity to genuinely engage hiring managers in the recruitment process without the need for extensive, time-consuming training represents a significant competitive advantage in itself.
LandCare’s talent acquisition team has undergone a profound transformation, evolving from a manual, limited, and fragmented system to a nationally coordinated and highly efficient recruiting function. This modernization has empowered them to tangibly demonstrate their impact with robust data, move candidates through the pipeline at an accelerated pace, and effectively reach a vast talent pool across over 15 distinct platforms with a single, effortless action.
The quantifiable results emphatically underscore this success: a remarkable 23% faster time-to-hire, the successful recruitment of 138 individuals for four core branch positions in a single year, and the profound achievement of a talent acquisition team that has earned unparalleled credibility and strategic influence with leadership, precisely because the Workable platform made their complex, value-driven work transparent and measurable. This success story serves as a compelling testament to Workable’s ability to drive efficiency, enhance strategic impact, and fundamentally transform talent acquisition in complex, distributed organizational structures.
