How River Island created a transparent hiring process across 240 locations

River Island’s former ATS wasn’t a dedicated platform, making it arduous and manual to use. Without a centralized platform accessible across the talent acquisition team (not to mention hundreds of hiring managers), it was increasingly difficult to find and hire the best candidates for the job. 

“For what we were paying, we weren’t getting the level of product or service we would expect,” says Hannah. She describes the old process as “clunky,” reliant on Outlook and—with no centralized visibility—apt to crumble the moment someone on the team was out on sick leave.

Hannah and her team had a lot on their wishlist for a new ATS, from branding and candidate experience to collaboration and reporting. Their hiring managers, (often store managers), needed the new platform to provide direct insight into the process in a user-friendly way. Hannah was looking for a tool that would infuse the candidate experience with the high level of care that River Island puts into everything they do.

When Hannah embarked on her journey to overhaul River Island’s ATS, she knew she needed a fast and flexible solution that could handle any challenge. Retail is a fast-paced, ever-evolving industry that demands genuine passion. “One week, you’re going left, and then the next week, it’s like—actually, no, you’re going right,” Hannah laughs. 

Her first priority was to update River Island’s careers site, transforming it into a faithful reflection of vibrant Island life. The beautifully branded careers page—Hannah’s brainchild—now serves as a digital signpost, signaling to talent that they’re in the right place. 

Candidates who are doubtful about a long career in retail need only visit River Island’s recruitment page to see the benefits of working in this industry. River Island’s values and employee stories demonstrate how they provide clear paths to meaningful careers, particularly for those who thrive in a fast-paced environment.

If there’s one characteristic Islanders have in common, it’s a passion for their work. They’re innovative thinkers who are unafraid of trying new things and even making mistakes now and again. That’s life on the island—fast pace, rapid change, and the daily knowledge that your work has an impact. 

To attract candidates with that Island mindset, Hannah knew she would need an application process that was a pleasure for candidates to move through. In-store QR codes take prospective employees directly to the careers page, where applications are quick and easy to submit.

With all candidate information and messaging centralized in one place, the talent team can quickly respond to applicants with personalized texts or emails. Hiring managers have their own portals so they can see how candidates are moving through the process—no mean feat in a company with 7,000+ employees.

Hannah knew early on that any Island-worthy ATS would need to provide support for both the talent acquisition team and the in-store hiring managers. The daily business of running a store takes up most of the hiring managers’ time—recruitment is just a small portion of what they do. While it’s a critical task, store managers can’t spare hours to learn a complex or difficult tool.

Hannah implemented a more streamlined recruitment process within Talent Gleam to increase efficiency and visibility across the team. Their team designed templates for roles that pop up repeatedly, with unique workflows for different role types. Each role can have its own customizable workflow, hitting that sweet spot of scalability and adaptability. And with visibility across team members and departments, no one is left to wonder what’s happening next or when. 

The small learning and development team has also implemented strategic automations to make onboarding quick and painless. “Automation is saving us a huge job,” says Hannah. 

One of River Island’s original goals was to bolster collaboration between head office and hiring managers across locations, supported by a tool that could be tailored to their complex recruitment process. Under the old system, one key person on holiday or sick leave could cripple the recruitment workflow, leaving other team members with no visibility into what communication a candidate had received or where they stood in the hiring process.

Since implementing Talent Gleam, Hannah has gone above and beyond her original objectives. Thanks in part to an intuitive user interface, hiring managers picked up Talent Gleam right away—despite the whole new world of functionality at their fingertips. 

When additional information is warranted, Talent Gleam’s customer success team is at the ready to answer questions and provide support, freeing the TA experts at River Island to focus on their areas of expertise.

Eliminating bias from the recruitment process is difficult without the support of tools that help summarize candidates in an equitable and merit-based way. That’s why Islanders love Talent Gleam’s scorecards, which take the bias out of hiring and ensure a level playing field. “The scorecards have supported quick and fair decision-making in stores, ensuring a more consistent approach to who we’re hiring,” Hannah told us.

And scorecards aren’t the only tool for data-based decision-making in River Island’s new recruitment toolkit. Reporting is now “streamlined and straightforward,” providing useful metrics like time to hire and cost per hire. River Island was particularly excited to measure the impact of their employer brand strategy, from initial contact all the way to offer management and onboarding. 

River Island’s greatest asset also poses a significant challenge: high applicant volumes, particularly when the holidays prompt a seasonal hiring push. Store managers supervise massive levels of work during seasonal surges and can’t afford any delay in onboarding new Islanders into the business.

Reviewing a high volume of applications and automating the bulk movement of candidates was one of Hannah’s key priorities when moving to a new ATS, and she’s pleased to announce that the whole team has felt supported by Talent Gleam, even when they’re at their busiest. 

Thanks to functionality including bulk candidate management, customizable templates, and high-volume messaging, River Island’s hiring managers have never been better equipped for recruitment year-round. 

River Island’s legacy has always been defined by ambitious goals. In an industry that is constantly evolving, their talent team can always provide high quality experiences for candidates and hiring managers with a fast, flexible ATS. 

Hiring managers love the ease of direct access, with notifications regarding changes or progress requiring their attention. They can easily keep in step with the talent acquisition team, complete with direct visibility into where applicants are in the process, how many screenings are taking place each week, and other key details. The TA team can similarly track their progress, gathering greater insight into their role and the impact they have on the business.