How Costa Coffee Uses AI To Hire ”Best Fit” Staff Which Candidates Love!

David Hughes, the Global People Leader for Costa Coffee (now at HSBC), discusses the company’s innovative approach to hiring using AI. Costa Coffee, a global brand with over 2,000 stores in the UK, faces significant hiring challenges due to high turnover rates and the need to hire thousands of baristas annually.

David explains how Costa has shifted its focus from hiring the “best” talent to finding the “best fit” talent that aligns with the company’s values and culture.

Using Sapia’s AI chat-based assessment, Costa has built a simple 5-question open chat survey that lets Costa identify the culture, behavioral, and work skills for best fit. This process not only scales to 350,000+ candidates, it also gives each candidate a personalized assessment and is rated 9 out of 10 on netpromoter score. In other words, candidates love it!

David emphasizes the importance of patience and bravery in adopting AI, highlighting the positive impact on both recruitment efficiency and candidate satisfaction.

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Additional Information

The Talent Acquisition Revolution: How AI is Transforming Recruiting (research)

The Great Reinvention of Human Resources Has Begun

The Art, Science, And Magic Of Recruiting In The World of AI (podcast)

Chapters

• (00:00:03) - How AI Is Affecting Costa Coffee's Hiring
• (00:01:16) - Interview
• (00:01:56) - Costa Coffee's Talent Challenges
• (00:04:10) - How to Hire the Right People for the Frontline
• (00:05:06) - Baristas: How to Get the Best Out of Your Job
• (00:06:53) - How Costa Coffee Is Using AI in the Job Search
• (00:12:24) - What was difficult about the AI journey at Costa Coffee?
• (00:16:22) - What are some of the metrics of the Costa Experience?
• (00:19:10) - The Sense of AI in the Job Search
• (00:20:32) - Congratulations on your AI push
• (00:21:39) - What Works With Costa Coffee's Talent Director