By Lauren Mackelden, Features Editor, Onrec
Why update your ATS? Well, many organisations are coming to the end of legacy contracts, and as in the last 18 months technology has moved on with social media and mobiles, new ATS (Applicant Tracking Systems) solutions integrate with these new channels as a matter of course, says Anil Aphale, New Business Development Director at gti solutions. Aphale suggests that most organisations can reduce the cost of recruitment, reduce administration, automate candidate communication and promote their employer brand via a new ATS. Savings of up to 75% have been documented!
According to Mic Harris, who's in charge of International Business Development at Main Sequence Technology, there are two dimensions to the ATS decision that rise above the others: the kind of recruiting you do and how your organization handles people data once they have been recruited aboard. He believes if those two dimensions are correctly fitted to a solution, your odds of a successful outcome increase dramatically. Harris points out that ATS stands for Applicant Tracking System, yet 'applicants' are nearly the end results of successful recruiting work. ATS can be thought of as a kind of accounting / process control discipline, while recruiting is more of a sales/marketing discipline. The biggest problem in ATS selection says Harris, is that sometimes recruiting software is needed, and while you can track applicants to some degree with most recruiting software, it’s very problematic to recruit with applicant tracking software. Harris thinks that whilst some solutions do have strong Customer Relationship Management (CRM)/Sales capabilities combined with strong ATS capabilities- he advises that the important part is looking at your own value chain and making choices that reflect the balance in YOUR situation, saying "If you do active recruiting of hard to fill roles, you need good recruiting software above just about all else."
The second key is your organization's position along the Talent Management spectrum, which ranges from full manual /paper based to advanced automation feeding analytics and connected to the Enterprise Resource Planning ( ERP), claims Harris. He reckons that if you are shopping for an ATS, your organization is likely not doing full-bore Talent Management (TM), because talent acquisition modules are usually core to any TM solution, although there are major TM vendors with zero or useless ATS feature sets. "Asking yourself how you recruit and how you handle (and will handle) people data before you start asking about specific ATS features and benefits is a great way to start the process."
As we have already noted, technology is moving fast, and it is best to bear this in mind when investing. Ali Calder, Business Development Manager at PeopleBank comments: "The software market as a whole is being aggressively eroded by the mobile era, but no doubt in another 18 months, there will be even greater demands placed on a supplier – make sure you select a company agile enough to keep up with evolving market trends." Calder suggests when choosing a new applicant tracking system, look at what level of technology will suit your company – will you use all the functionality which comes with the price tag; furthermore, are you happy that your recruitment team will use it all? Employee engagement is vital to return your investment. Calder continues: " Be sure to consider a supplier with a track record in your industry as a partner. Research the companies your competitors are utilising, and don’t be afraid to seek an independent opinion. It’s not uncommon for ATS providers to occupy a specialist sector in the market; do your homework; partner with a company who understand the specific challenges you and your team face on a daily basis."
Candidate expectations
As far as recruiting goes, Paul Finch at Konetic explains that expectations of plug and go are now very high, saying that you have about 10-15 seconds of someone’s time to get them engaged. "If the message is unclear, if the brand is wish-washy or the system is too hard to use, then you will lose the candidates attention." Likewise, any new system needs to be simple to use for recruiters too, and be very flexible so that it transfers the power of the software from the technologists into the hands of the users, says Finch. "So subjects like self-service workflow, self-service application form / process configuration are now mainstream expectations. Benefiting from rapidly evolving technical ideas are also key, so being able to easily integrate with any third party plug in, module or system will be essential. It should be possible to allow users to load personal information already stored elsewhere to be automatically added without fuss."
Using the Cloud brings interesting security and legal issues. Finch explains: "One of the most challenging aspects of the world of Software as a Service (SaaS )solutions is the technical make up of the software code versus the way data is stored. True SaaS shares one software solution (i.e. any upgrades are automatically provided to all users immediately) and one large shared database usually hosted in the Cloud. The way data is held and hosted is now becoming a mainstream issue. All organisations want their own data and want it secure and safe in the knowledge they are conformant to the data protection act. in particular what they really want is accurate information that can support key decision making. In a shared database environment that really becomes challenging, as the database is not yours to play with. Neither are you truly sure where the data is actually held. For example, if your data is held in the cloud and so happens to reside on a server in the US, the legal authorities in the US have a legal right to sift that data and take control. For personal information with candidates and job seekers this presents a legal night mare for data protection and privacy. We are seeing requests for high security data protection whilst wanting flexibility for reporting and putting reporting into the hands of the end users. This really requires individual databases and complete control where that database is hosted."
Mobiles
The use of mobile devices of all sorts for online recruitment on the move is a big story this year, and is being tackled different ways. For instance, Finch says many companies think they must create an App, but in reality he does not think candidates are going to download an App for every company they may apply for. He feels this area is still under refinement, and considerations for book marking jobs and being alerted are very valid options.
At Eploy, they now feel it is imperative that when choosing an ATS recruiters consider how the system will operate and perform on a smartphone or tablet. Chris Bogh, their Technical Director says: “While most ATS providers claim to offer mobile functionality, the tools are often very basic – they are normally bolt-on web pages or dumbed down apps that have limited functionality and lack coherence. The more sophisticated organisations are now going much further than this because it’s not just about being able to register and search for jobs. Candidates and mobile recruitment users in general are starting to expect the full desktop experience on the move.”
Advancements in web and mobile technology will completely revolutionise the way in which recruiters and candidates can access information. But this will only work properly if a feature-rich mobile solution enables the user to use it across all platforms and devices, asserts Bogh. Eploy uses the phrase 'mobile- enhanced' as it is more than just a mobile-friendly solution. Bogh predicts "With technology improving at such a rapid pace, it is important to anticipate what the industry needs to make life easier for both recruiter and client. Mobile-enhanced solutions are proving to be the big advance for next year across the sector.” Eploy's latest mobile-enhanced web platform is ready to launch in 2013.The claims are that it promises to open up the system to be even more flexible and intuitive for all types of recruitment activity. This includes fully mobile multilingual career portals, ultra-modern talent community features, mobile intelligent mapping and postcode location services, and advanced automated SMS / email / social communication tools.
Regarding the future, technology and costs will also influence the ATS market in other ways. Anil Aphale from gti solutions considers that with the recent activity of big American software houses buying major players, there is a gap opening in the market for vendors who develop the latest technology, offer good quality solutions at transparent prices and high levels of customer service to gain more clients. Aphale believes that companies will look to work closely with their suppliers who understand their needs and do not just offer a simple one size fits all solution. Paul Finch at Konetic foresees the next focus will be the continual downward drive on costs, making systems simpler but more flexible for personalisation. In this sense, he sees personalisation will mean creating flexibility in the candidate selection processes, allowing users to create their own Algorithms for shortlisting.
In the meantime, if you are choosing an ATS this year, just remember this recap: that if you can decide on what you really need, what will suit your team and budget, plus be candidate friendly, then you won't go far wrong.
Questions that any prospective buyer should not be afraid to ask!
Provided by Anil Aphale, New Business Development Director at gtisolutions.co.uk
- How many companies do you work with?
- Can you arrange a reference call / visit?
- What will the final price be?
- What platform do you work on?
- How many upgrades do you offer and how often and at what price?
- Do you work with similar companies ?, How many people work for your company?
- What are the financials of your organisation?
- How long will it take to resolve issues?