Toyota

Why Toyota chose QJumpers

Toyota is one of the country’s best known, most trusted and biggest-selling brands - the leading car manufacturer for decades.

When Jane started her role as Toyota’s Team Leader for Future People Development, her first task was to find the perfect recruitment software to help streamline the company’s national network of dealerships and its Palmerston North head office.

“I started and my manager had been to a conference where QJumpers were presenting and she said that it had to become the number-one priority on my to-do list,” Jane says. “Because, for Toyota, there are two streams: firstly, all the dealers around the country which are independently owned and operated, and, secondly, our head office.”

That setup provided major challenges for a single recruitment strategy, due to the geographical spread of the dealerships and the multiple decision-makers involved in creating and filling vacancies.

“The dealerships all manage their own recruitment and selection processes and, prior to QJumpers, that had been to varying degrees of success,” Jane says. “And at head office, we don’t have an HR department - rather, each manager manages their own recruitment. So we were looking for something which would work right across the country to provide a consistent and professional approach to recruitment, so that if someone was applying for a job at a dealership in Wellington, they’d go through a very similar process to if they were applying to head office in Palmerston North, Auckland or the Deep South.”

As well as a streamlined process, Jane says choosing the right applicant tracking system - Toyota narrowed the choice to three standout performers before ultimately choosing QJumpers - was about more than simple recruitment.

“If you take a bigger picture view, it’s looking at how to attract candidates, how to recruit them and how to develop them - but it’s also about how to retain them. And how you initially attract candidates and how they are dealt with at the front end impacts your workforce in the same way as those who have been with you for decades - at the end of the day the success of the brand is often down to how that workforce is treated right from the outset.”

Three major factors

The QJumpers dashboard is simple, effective and easy for everyone to transition into. The reporting functions gave head office great visibility of Toyota’s nationwide recruitment strategy. And because the company was developing its own careers website, QJumpers was able to be “moulded into” the front-end look of that site while allowing the brand to own its recruitment strategy.

The rollout was completed within a very short timeframe, with the careers website going live shortly after.

Training was carried out by QJumpers General Manager Simon Oldham, who joined Jane on a two-week roadshow around the country. Dealership staff were invited to sessions and then became “champions” who could train other members of staff.

“From a usability perspective we’ve had very positive feedback - one of our dealers has told us that it’s one of the best systems head office has ever put in, which certainly brought a smile to my face. They especially like the dashboard because it’s easy to read: there’s no extra information they don’t need to know, but enough to give a good view of what’s going on.”

As well as the ATS, Toyota also uses QJumpers’ straight-to-shortlist recruitment service - something Jane says is extremely important to the managers at head office.

“Pre-QJumpers, if there was a vacancy one of the managers would ring up the local agencies and hand the process over completely for them to manage. So it’s good that we still have that option, but in a way which provides us with greater insight into the number of candidates and the talent that’s out there, and which gets our employer brand out there more than if it was based at an agency.”

“And some of those managers have enjoyed having more responsibility and accountability to the recruitment process and decision-making by seeing the candidates and doing the shortlisting themselves if they have chosen to do that option. The others still want to pick up the phone, but now QJumpers provides that solution anyway.”

Working side by side

Since QJumpers was rolled out at Toyota, the two companies have worked side by side to ensure the system works to the best of its capabilities.

“Simon and the whole QJumpers team have been fantastic right from the start when we were having conversations about providing a unique setup,” Jane says. “They’ve listened and provided solutions above and beyond what I expected and have been prepared to brainstorm solutions. For example, we needed a way to see very quickly on the dashboard if a vacancy had been hired into, and the next minute there was a button saying ‘yes, that’s been hired’. And with the reports, initially there was one report that didn’t cover what we realised we needed after the system was put in, and now we have seven reports which cut, chop and slice the information so we can read it easily.”

The proof of Toyota’s QJumpers success story comes via the company’s own data. From an average of around 25 jobs advertised each month, around a quarter of applicants now find out about them via the company’s own careers website - something that is really helping to build the brand and gain positive traction in the employment market.

“The reporting is much more accurate now and we’re getting a much greater number of applicants applying for positions. Of them, around 11% are being shortlisted and we’re continually tracking that - so I see it’s a positive difference.”

“Our experience is that QJumpers have been very open and listened well. Not that they’ve done everything - but I wouldn’t expect them to either; after all, they’re the experts in what they do. But we’ve really enjoyed working with them and it has made a real difference.”

About QJumpers

At QJumpers we appreciate the small steps, but we live for the giant leaps. We were at the forefront of an online recruitment revolution, and we’ve taken another leap forward by putting the power of recruitment into the hands of those who can use it best. Is your company ready to leap forward?