How Johnson Controls Boosted Their Careers Website Conversion Rate by 3.8 Times

Johnson Controls is a global leader in smart, healthy and sustainable buildings, with a history of more than 135 years. It serves commercial, industrial and residential customers worldwide, and hires at a scale where every step of the candidate journey matters.

Its careers website attracted plenty of interest. The problem came at the very end of the journey: too many candidates started an application and never finished it.

The challenge: candidates dropping off at the last step

The application process was cumbersome and inefficient, and it showed in a high drop-off rate. The application step is where interest turns into an actual candidate, so every person who left there was a lost hire. Three issues stood out:

• Forms that were hard to use. The existing application forms weren’t user-friendly, and many candidates gave up halfway through.
• A long process. Applying took around 15 minutes, a lot to ask of someone who is only starting to consider a role.
• An inconsistent experience. The forms didn’t match the look and feel of the careers website, which made the last step feel like a different site.

For a company that invests in candidate experience, the application step was where good candidates were being lost.

The solution: rebuilding the application form

Johnson Controls turned to SmartDreamers to improve the candidate experience and raise conversion rates. SmartDreamers proposed starting with the step that had the biggest drop-off: replacing the existing Workday application forms with new forms built on the SmartDreamers CMS.

The new forms were designed around four principles:

• Intuitive and user-friendly. Fewer obstacles between a candidate and a finished application.
• Optional account creation. Candidates can create an account after applying, instead of before.
• Consistent design. The forms match the careers website, so the experience feels like one journey from start to finish.
• Better data tracking. More accurate data on how candidates move through the application.

Each change removed a reason to leave. Together, they turned the application from the weakest part of the journey into one of the simplest.

“Candidate experience is a critical aspect for us at Johnson Controls.”

Mike Aronson, Global Talent Acquisition Leader, Johnson Controls

SmartDreamers and Workday, working together

Improving the forms didn’t mean replacing the ATS. Workday remains Johnson Controls’ system of record. When a candidate applies, the application data is sent to Workday through an API, so recruiters keep working in the tools they already know.

This made it possible to improve the candidate side quickly, without a long project to change HR systems. The candidate gets a better experience, and the recruiting team keeps its existing process.

The results

The new forms made a clear difference. Monthly applications rose from 18,000 to 51,000, and the time it takes to apply dropped from 15 minutes to under 3 minutes. The careers website conversion rate increased 3.8 times.

Applying now takes more than 80% less time, and nearly three times as many people complete an application every month. The candidates were already there; the new forms simply stopped losing them at the last step.

Candidate experience as a competitive advantage

Johnson Controls invests in optimizing every step of the hiring process, and the application form showed how much one step can matter. Intuitive forms, a consistent design and a seamless Workday integration improved the candidate experience and led to a large increase in applications.

We’re proud to support Johnson Controls in making every application count.