Pizza Hut
No EVP, Just Truth.
Challenge: During the pandemic, pizza was the #1 ordered meal across the country—the ultimate comfort food. But everyone needed delivery drivers, and Pizza Hut needed them at 10 to 20 times normal levels. Recruiting drivers became more competitive than nursing.
Approach: We couldn't meet employees live, so we surveyed thousands of crew members and delivery drivers. Decision-Dynamics revealed that beyond money and safety, manager empathy was the biggest decision factor. That wasn't even part of Pizza Hut's Employer Brand before the pandemic—yet it was there. Employees showed us Pizza Hut had exceptional people-leaders. We leaned in.
We asked questions like what made their day better and why the job worked for them. The stories were amazing. Tips that blew their minds. Being the only face someone had seen in weeks. Managers loaning personal vehicles when cars broke down, being the rock in their crew's lives. Stories of sorrow and joy.
We realized there's no single EVP for all those people. So we went EVP-less and created a wall of Hut Stories—real employees sharing great days, bad days, and everything in between. And that created value, in the storytelling, in the honesty and in the experience itself.
"Instead of shouting louder about pay, we let our people tell the truth. Applications went up, cost per hire went down, quality improved—all during the most difficult recruiting time we'd ever experienced."
— Talent Acquisition & Recruitment Marketing Director
"Candidates weren't applying for a job—they were applying to be part of something real. That shifted retention too. We grew, thrived even, during one of the darkest periods in our lives."
— HR Sr. Director
Impact: The strategy shifted Pizza Hut from closing stores for lack of employees to building an army of drivers. The work was the most cited reason people applied. They felt heard. Every story read like their story.
It reduced recruiting costs while competitors saw costs explode. That's the power of connection.
"I really loved reading the Hut Stories. Some were moving. Some funny. Some made me choke up. Some of the ones where a manager or co-worker went above and beyond made me feel so proud of our people. And it's all real! That's what made it special."
— HR Sr. Director
