Cracker Barrel Old Country Store

Career Web Site

ASSESS

Cracker Barrel Old Country Store® has been recognized in a national consumer poll as the “Best Family Restaurant” for the past thirteen years. Known for their familiar brown and yellow signs that dot roadside locations all over America, customers appreciate the quality of madefrom- scratch cooking every day. Although their popularity and menu create a busy work environment, it can also be highly rewarding for certain achievement-oriented individuals. Being fully staffed at all times is the only way they can live up to their commitment to work-life balance for their managers. Keeping them 100% staffed with replacement hiring and new positions (created from the approximately 25 annual new store openings) created quite a challenge.

STRATEGIZE

First step: the Web site. To get the top-notch talent they required, we knew our client needed to develop an easy way for candidates to apply for the available positions. We also needed to build a strong employer brand that paralleled their old-fashioned, country style brand. In addition, we wanted to create messages about the unique "from-scratch" challenges and the intrinsic reward of achieving excellence.

IMPLEMENT

To ensure our client's career site was engaging to potential candidates while offering them the information and tools to apply online, we reformatted the information architecture. This allowed us to introduce new content and ensure clear, effortless navigation throughout the site. We then created some interactive features to entice candidates as they toured the site. These included “The Cracker Barrel Challenge,” a fun quiz show that reinforces the challenging environment, and “A Day in the Life,” a documentary on a typical manager's day. We also incorporated the Bernard Hodes Group applicant management software, Hodes iQ, to handle the application and tracking function.

MEASURE

We delivered a fluid site that continually sells the unique experience of working for Cracker Barrel, while making it simple for candidates to apply online. The site is now interactive, easy to navigate, and clearly places an emphasis on recruiting issues important to managers. It also provides candidates with great insight on what it's really like to work at Cracker Barrel. Qualitative data showed the re-design improved visitors' perception of the company, increasing the duration of the visits. Our client experienced a 40% increase in their use of online recruiting venues with a notable drop in agency hires.