Pollo Campero Cuts Time-to-Fill from 20 to 7 days and Accelerates Regional Expansion

By taking a conversational, mobile-native approach, Corporación Multi Inversiones (CMI) now screens and geo-matches frontline candidates in minutes, not days. Recruiters focus on hiring decisions while automation handles repetitive steps—an approach already paying off in the restaurant business and now expanding across the wider CMI group

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Talent Acquisition Under Strain Amid Regional Expansion

Headquartered in Guatemala, CMI is one of Latin America’s largest diversified business groups, operating in food, renewable energy, and real estate. Within its restaurant division, Pollo Campero has crossed 150 locations across Guatemala, El Salvador, Costa Rica, Honduras, and the Dominican Republic.

Rapid expansion brought new challenges: store openings delayed by long hiring cycles, an average 20-day time-to-fill, and recruiters juggling thousands of frontline roles—from cooks and cashiers to drivers and technicians—across multiple countries.

Manual data entry slowed teams down, and traditional desktop forms left candidates frustrated. Leadership knew they needed a faster, mobile-friendly, and always-on experience to keep growth on track.

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WhatsApp Conversations Replace Lengthy Applications

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CMI teamed up with Talkpush to rebuild hiring around a WhatsApp-first experience seamlessly integrated with SAP SuccessFactors (SSFF).

Candidates now apply through branded WhatsApp flows and mobile landing pages, completing applications in < 10 minutes—often in under five.

Behind the scenes, smart scoring and geo-matching rank applicants instantly and route them to the right restaurant or facility. Recruiters no longer re-enter data manually thanks to the real-time SuccessFactors integration.

Automation now handles 99 % of candidate communication—screening, reminders, and FAQs—across multiple markets and time zones. The result is a process that’s fast, consistent, and fully branded, even when 30 % of applications arrive outside business hours.

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Smart Matching Builds Stronger Teams

The conversational workflow collects voluntary geo-location data from 99 % of applicants, allowing the system to suggest the nearest job site and flag long-commute risks before hire.

By matching people to the right store from the start, recruiters reduce early attrition and fill vacancies with higher-fit candidates.

This data-driven matching not only speeds up placements but strengthens retention—a critical advantage as Pollo Campero continues to expand regionally.

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A Blueprint for the Entire CMI Group

Following Pollo Campero’s success, CMI is extending the Talkpush + SuccessFactors model beyond restaurants into other business units. The next milestone: a ≤ 5-day hiring standard supported by onboarding automation and predictive insights.

The transformation has turned a manual, 20-day process into a fast, data-driven, candidate-first experience—proof that conversational automation can accelerate growth without sacrificing the personal touch that defines the CMI brand.

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