Retail Giant Tracks Applicants With VAR's Imaging Solution

Curiosity may have killed the cat, but for one content management VAR, curiosity created an opportunity to process thousands of employment applications for consumer electronics giant Circuit City (Richmond, VA). Following a meeting with a customer in Richmond, Peter Huddleston, director of sales for Dominion Computer Systems, Inc. (DCS) (Harrisonburg, VA), and his colleagues stopped at a gas station. While they were waiting, a sales representative became curious about a large nearby office building and decided to go inside and investigate. That building was the corporate headquarters of Circuit City.

The sales rep walked up to the main desk and began asking questions about what processes were conducted at the site. As luck would have it, Circuit City was at that time evaluating vendors for an employment application processing solution. Luckier yet, one of the people involved in that process walked by and overheard their conversation. That was the "in" DCS needed to go in and pitch a solution.

Forms Processing Streamlines High-Volume Application
Circuit City's headquarters serves as a centralized processing point for all employment applications received at its approximately 600 stores. Prior to DCS's solution, Circuit City managers mailed the employment application packages - which include releases for credit reports, drug tests, driving records, and criminal records - to Richmond for processing. About 58 full-time employees opened the packages, sorted them by state, and moved them through the process manually. As a result, Circuit City was paying about $175,000 a year in overnight shipping charges and required five days to turn around an employment package.

DCS employees spent weeks on-site observing the process and working with Circuit City employees to target areas for process improvement. Following that needs analysis period, the integrator designed a solution in which individual stores fax the seven-item application packet to the centralized location. Using OCR for Forms, a forms processing application from Microsystems Technology, Inc. (Tampa, FL), the documents are checked to make sure all critical fields (such as a signature) are filled out. OCR for Forms also extracts key words to automate the indexing of these files.

OCR for Forms was not part of the original project proposal, but was brought in when another forms processing product couldn't handle the volume. "The other product did great with the small pilot deployment, but it couldn't handle the enterprise volume," says Huddleston. "We were familiar with Microsystems and did some due diligence to make sure it was up to the task before bringing the vendor into the Circuit City deal. Microsystems helped us take out the other product and put OCR for Forms in, and there haven't been any volume issues since the replacement was made." For instance, between September 1, 2001, and November 9, 2001, the system processed 15,000 employment packages. DCS is now a fully trained and certified Microsystems reseller, but as a new reseller it was able to make use of the professional services of the forms processing vendor to help with the installation.

Workflow Opens Door To Incremental Sales
The index and images created at that stage are then sent to OnBase content management software from Hyland Software, Inc. (Westlake, OH), activating an automated workflow. Those files with all items completed are routed to verifiers who check that the various aspects of the employment package are accurate. For example, the package might move to an individual who checks references. If the application fails at any point in the verification process, it does not move on, reducing the amount of unnecessary work on applications that did not pass some aspect of the process.

An e-mail is generated that notifies the store manager that a file has been received and what its status is. For example, a manager will be notified if pages are missing or drug test information hasn't been received. These automated e-mails can also indicate that an applicant is cleared for employment or turned down based on information collected in the application packet.

Using the automated data sharing capabilities of OCR for Forms' Information Xchange and OnBase, the data extracted from the forms is transferred to a PeopleSoft, Inc. (Pleasanton, CA) human resources application and an existing IBM AS/400 system, reducing manual data entry and associated errors. Images are stored on a MetaStor NAS (network attached storage) device from LSI Logic Storage Systems, Inc. (Milpitas, CA), which was purchased for the application. After an employee is hired, any new documents collected can be scanned into the worker's personnel file to keep their employment history up-to-date.

Since the project went into full production in February 2000, incremental developments have been added to the system. "Initially, the project was just to scan and store," says Huddleston. "Automated workflow was added about six months later, and that is an ongoing process as Circuit City's needs change or additional workflows are added." For example, automated workflow checks for matching drug test results between employee files and the electronically submitted lab reports.

Applicant Tracking Attractive In Nearly All Verticals
Since the installation, 18 employees now do the work that once required almost 60 employees. Faxing the application packages directly to the central facility reduces processing time by a day. Circuit City used existing fax machines with capture software from AT&T, eliminating the cost of buying document scanners and saving $175,000 more each year in shipping charges. Managers have a better understanding of the status of job candidates as well as access to accurate personnel files for existing employees.

DCS markets applicant tracking as one of the services it can provide to customers, a pain point that affects virtually all vertical markets. Huddleston also believes the imaging technologies employed at Circuit City are applicable to practically any organization that is dealing with paper documents. The key component in making those sales might just be having account reps who are inquisitive enough to open doors just to see what's behind them.