“I was completely prepared to say thanks but no thanks until [Bacon rep] Cameron started explaining what the app was all about [...] It was really to get people in the door quickly. We were struggling with traditional temp agencies to get people in the door, so we thought, well, this is a way to ramp up quickly."

Before experiencing the hiring process with Bacon, which includes viewing worker profiles and performance ratings, Derek his initial skepticism about an online vetting process, given its unfamiliarity. "Everyone is a gamble whether they're going to work out," Derek said, reflecting on his years of experience in the logistics industry. 

What stood out for Derek about Bacon was the ability to find many more candidates at a much quicker rate than with traditional staffing agencies. This agility is of immense value in industries where rapidly scaling up operations is the norm. However, he cautioned that it's not a guaranteed shortcut to better employees—it's essential to understand what to ask for and be clear about your expectations from the get-go.

The process of figuring out how to target workers looking for full-time work rather than part-time jobs was a learning curve, Derek admitted. Bacon's team was instrumental in assisting with this, helping to modify job postings and making it clear to potential applicants that Pegasus was seeking full-time workers. After a few iterations, the system started attracting the right kind of applicants.

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Despite a learning curve and some initial teething problems, Derek and his team found the Bacon App to be an invaluable tool for not only filling shifts (97% fill rate) but growing a core group of reliable, team-oriented workers.

"It took a little bit of exchanging people out until we really got to a core group. We really stuck with that core group for months,” Derek explained, “Now, it's no different than the people who are either hired directly or come through traditional agencies. We don't see them as being any different."

This core group of workers doesn’t see themselves as being any different from full-time team members either. “We’re like family,” said Gentell Yarborough, who has been working with Pegasus for over six months.

For a logistics company operating on the level of Pegasus, building a committed team of efficient, professional workers can be a difficult task. “It’s like assembling a jigsaw puzzle–every piece needs to fit perfectly.” With easily accessible worker profiles, the Bacon app made it easy for Derek to find workers who had demonstrated professional behavior and reliability working for other businesses.

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The quality of the staff hired through the Bacon app–not just as workers, but also as people–helped Pegasus quickly develop a culture of excellence that is rare in this industry. “We tried to develop this idea that people want to come to work, not have to come to work. They have seen that we don't treat them differently than we do anyone else."

In fact, Bacon workers were given the same opportunities and benefits as their full-time counterparts. Derek explained, "We've had workers who came in at entry-level, and since then, we've made a couple of them what I'd call working leads because they demonstrated that they had the maturity to lead teams."

The Bacon app meets the unique staffing needs of its users. Derek takes a creative approach to using Bacon workers at Pegasus–he’s not looking for temporary help, but committed individuals who can consistently provide at least 40 hours a week. Because there are few companies that can offer such stability, working at Pegasus through Bacon is a particularly attractive option for unskilled workers seeking steady employment. Given that their business is "recession-proof," they always require workers who can commit to most of a 40-hour week, if not more. Bacon workers have shown enthusiasm for more hours, and fortunately, Pegasus has been able to provide that. Providing workers with this level of certainty and clarity has been one of their keys to worker satisfaction.

By using the Bacon app to meet their unique staffing needs, the McKinney facility has created a sustainable and effective model for logistics hiring. Reflecting on the overall experience, Derek said, "We've shared [the Bacon app] with some of our other locations up in Kentucky and Ohio. We're the first in the company to try this, and we're pretty happy with the results."

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