Should We Use a Cloud-Based Applicant Tracking System?
Yes is the short answer. I believe that whether you are a small, medium or large organisation you should use an applicant tracking system (ATS) or as it's also known as applicant management system (AMS).
Helping Find the Right People
That is, only if you agree that to succeed in business you need to employ the right people. So how do you find the 'right people'? And through the recruitment process make the right impression for the candidate?
Well that's where a well thought through automated recruitment process comes to its own.
By initially using online profiling tools, managers can determine what qualities, skills and experience the ideal candidate should have. This tool can then be used to socialise and validate the profile (job description and person specification) by collaborating online (self-service) with others in the organisation to verify that the specs meet the requirements.
Next consider what a huge task it is to coordinate the recruitment process from sifting through all the applications (short-listing), to responding to all the applicants, scheduling interviews, assessment centres, psychometric test, etc. Well an ATS will reduce the burden of all of these tasks. By:
- Firstly the online profile can be used to draft an online advert which will automatically be posted to the company's career site and to the nominated jobboards.
- Secondly all applicants apply through a single portal (careers website) which will give them clear requirements of the job and could also take them through some critical questions to ensure that some minimum requirements are met to fit the job. This is a form of self-selection and early sifting of applicants. Candidates could use this career site to monitor the progress of their application and update their profiles without having to engage with any company staff.
Next applicants can be rated against the job competencies and be selected to attend an interview or rejected. Both will receive automated notices based on the aforementioned decision. Interviewing managers can have the interviews scheduled online and their feedback logged on the system (including an overall rating) which will determine the candidates fit for the position.
Other parts of the process from doing psychometric testing through to the completion of background checks can be automated depending on how the system has been set up and what steps have been agreed to use as part of the process.
Imaging now that you've found your ideal candidate. How easy will the on-boarding be when all of the interview data is already stored electronically (interview notes, psychometric test, background checks, cv, etc). At the same time the candidate has been kept informed of the process of their application and its been made clear what they can expect next. The candidate experience would have been really good and your employer brand boosted in the mind of the candidate who may be a customer or have become one.
If your organisation would like to see how an applicant tracking system can improve their business, call Tugela People.