I didnt think management did the hiring anymore. At the ramp I used to work at all new hires had to go through the recruiter for FedEx. The recruiters look over the potential employees info that is submitted online, gives them a call, asks them a couple of questions and if they fit the bill then the name is forwarded to the hiring manager. The managers are required to give a person an offer letter for employement if after the walkthrough they answer "yes" to four simple questions. From what I was told they went to this system due to legality issues...big suprise.
I was using as a basis for "assumption", that hiring was still conducted the way it was 5-10 years ago.
If the method has changed to the way you stated, then that would explain a lot of the problems relating to current turnover.
I do know from having talked to some Express people that hired in AFTER I left the company, that the process was a bit "weird" - I'll honestly admit I thought they didn't know what the hell they were talking about regarding the process. With what you are saying above, what I was told by these recent hires, makes a lot more sense now.
They related doing EVERYTHING through the district HR/recruiting individual, then only having a short "talk" session with two location managers. From the time these individuals hired in (what I know of their hire dates), it looks like the process may have changed in the spring of 2011.
When I hired in during the middle part of the last decade, the "recruiter" was a one day deal. They made sure all the paperwork was in order (getting the online portion to match up with physical paperwork submitted), made sure all the work history and residence history was in line (those with access to US Mail had certain restrictions placed on their past living locations) - then passed everything off to the manager of the workgroup that was hiring. The manager at the location conducted a 20 minute or so interview with another location manager taking notes during the process and occasionally jumping in to ask a question.
From talking to "old timers" (80's hires), they had to go through an actual physical assessment, both strength and even what sounded like aerobic fitness. That got gradually whittled down to where NO physical assessment was done, not even a test to verify if someone could lift 75 pounds. This casued NUMEROUS problems, where people would be hired in, and couldn't even lift 50 pounds, forget about lifting 75 pounds repeatedly through a work shift. I can attest to repeated problems within AGFS workgroups, having employees hired in that simply couldn't handle the physical aspect of the job - and managers directing Ramp Agents and Teamleads to basically step in and do the individuals work for them. This was all done to satisify requirements for "gender diversity".
To say I was furious would've been an understatement - the damn manager wouldn't even send the incapable employee home - they sent them off to "go rest for a bit". I never got any paid rest breaks when I was in AGFS - not a one. This all fell under my "learning process" of what Express REALLY was (or had become), and NOT the company I read and heard about (all from accounts from individuals who worked wage positions in the late 80's to the mid-90's).
Given the reaction of Express to litigation in the past when it comes to employee assessment (doing away with the skills test back in 2006, etc.) - I'm not at all surprised that Express has taken away ANY real input from the manager from the workgroup which would utilize the new hire, and have the recruiter do all of the determination of hiring, and merely reduce the process of selection to the applicant answering correctly to a few questions (presumably regarding possessing transportation to get to work, ability to be flexible, etc.).
This would actually fall into line with the doing away of the Performance Review - which I think occurred during the same time period, early 2011. The 2011 pay actions WEREN'T affected by review scores (if memory serves correctly). So it actually all makes sense - when it comes to linking things up with the "big picture".