Through the ages, despite my constant complaint of HR not experimenting as much and staying exactly where it was a decade ago, I must admit that we did take some leaps of faith. We have had our own share of headline grabbing fads that disappeared soon after. Take for example radical transparency. Whatever happened to that one? However, the one that I recalled yesterday, given the craze around TikTok and virtual hiring, was by McDonalds.
Back in 2017 when Snapchat was still a thing, McDonald in Australia took a giant leap forward and launched what it called ‘Snaplications’. McDonald’s has often been in news, be it for its relationships at the workplace tragedy or great training programs. This one, however, raked in over 2500 job applications on the day of launch! Now that’s something. McDonald tied up with Snapchat in April 2017 to launch a Snapchat lens that allowed users to apply to a job via a 10-second video. The lens allowed the user to try out McDonald’s virtual uniform and record a video explaining why they’d like to apply. The selected applications were then redirected to the website to fill out the regular form followed by the rest of the hiring process. The campaign allowed the organization to fill several front-line jobs within record time.
Fast forward to now, #Snaplications has disappeared into oblivion. Not only did I comb the internet to check for success of the experiment, I also tried applying for a job via McDonald’s Australian site. Snaplication no longer seems to be an option, and nor do they mention TikTok. Thus, my assumption is that this experiment did not pan out. Maybe they were ahead of their times, or the traditional recruitment method is likely the only one to last the test of time. Either ways, if you spot me looking skeptical when recruitment gurus talk about social media, video resumes, and the future of hiring, you know why.
Which HR fad do you wish had stood the test of time? I wish radical transparency had.
The HR Business Partner Story 