
Hilton Grand Vacations
Research & Branding
Marketing
To attract right-fit talent and meet high-volume hiring needs, DICK’s rethought — and articulated — its employer brand across all touchpoints.
Like many retailers, DICK’S Sporting Goods has significantly grown its e-commerce business, making technology hires a priority. On the brick and mortar side, store associate hires are just as important – and the company seeks former athletes and
deeply knowledgeable sports enthusiasts and others who can give knowledgeable advice to customers. However, regardless of target audience, DICK’S career website content, job search function, and application process offered a less than stellar candidate experience.
To attract right-fit talent, DICK’s had to rethink its Employer Brand, offering a candidate-centric experience across all touchpoints. Realizing in-person interaction was key to its specialized, high-volume hiring needs, DICK’S enlisted the help of its teammates, who created an in-store experience — National Signing Day — that brought its employer brand to life. Encouraging them on were pre-event internal communications, such as personalized recognition and thank you emails that highlighted individuals’ valued contributions. In order to bridge its online efforts with those in its physical stores, DICK’S turned to technology. It enlisted a programmatic push, complete with splash ads, career site pop-ups and National Signing Day-of videos shared across social channels in order to further bring the event to life and generate buzz.
Taking a unique approach to talent marketing, DICK’S was able to leverage its “ownership” of the retail sports industry within its brick and mortar stores. Building an effective campaign around National Signing Day, it rallied the entire organization and fulfilled over 94 percent of its hiring goal for the season in one fell swoop. At the same time, the company significantly reduced its cost per applicant (CPA) and cost per hire (CPH) — 80 percent and 73 percent, respectively.