ATS - why have them, what do customers want, what are the benefits?

Lesley Nash , Managing Director of Changeworknow, says: ì Increasingly Applicant Tracking Systems are becoming pivotal to organisationsí recruitment and selection strategies. There is an increasing demand that these systems are sympathetic to and support the internal selection processes, which requires a flexible and scalable approach. It also means that these systems need to be able to adapt quickly as needs change eg moving from decentralised to centralised structure or adapting to a shared services model. Too often ATS systems can be very inflexible and expensive to change, and end up being the ëtail that wags the dogí.

Additionally our clients want to use their ATS as a central talent pool for good, qualified talent with whom they can build a relationship and then act quickly when vacancies arise. Searching capabilities are critical in this situation and a good project manager will anticipate and build in the right kind of search criteria in the design phase.

Data capture, interrogation and reporting are probably highest of all on our clientsí agendas. Good Management Information makes the different between a well informed recruitment strategy and a poor one. There is a huge appetite for data and the ATS is required to provide a wide range of good information from time to hire, cost to hire, as well as effective market intelligence about the candidate base. This needs to be put into the hands of the client so that it available at the touch of a button.

Posting to job boards is in demand and increasingly providers are developing the means to do this themselves without the use of middlemen, resulting in a better and more cost effective service to the end user.

Interoperability with other HR systems is always important to clients and the growing adoption of Service Oriented Architecture (SOA) and standards such as HR-XML are making this more viable than ever for ATS providers who are using the latest technology. Linking to HR Systems has never been more important or easier.î

Applicant Tracking Systems: what are customers asking for?
Felix Stroud-Allen, head of sales for UK & Europe, First Advantage HMS says:

ìHR professionals are asking for integrated systems that enable them to make informed decisions based upon objective data, stored within a single over-arching system. In ATS, they want greater power and flexibility.

An ATS needs to support an organisationís attraction strategy for online recruitment. This can mean:

ï catering for specific recruitment agency job boards
ï enabling cross-posting of positions to specific external job boards
ï multiple job board posting via integration with other solutions.

Many systems claim to be integrated applications, covering all aspects of HR and payroll. ëJack of all trades, master of noneí often applies:

ï The vendor moves away from their core business
ï Being less than expert means focus on unfamiliar territory
ï Core expertise suffers

So, how can a vendor provide an integrated offering that is truly a market leader in every module offered?

ï Trying to do this organically means falling behind in core areas
ï Intelligent consolidation is the only way forward

Users want a fully integrated 360-degree technology platform with intuitive functionality. The difficulty lies in finding a vendor who:

- has expertise across all areas, with intuitive technology that reflects this

- is acquiring subject matter expert organisations, maintaining organic growth within each

- is integrating them all with groundbreaking and intuitive technology

In future, an ATS alone will not meet recruitment needs. Organisations are increasingly looking to make critical hiring decisions based on:

ï candidate background (security checking)
ï personality profile (assessments).

Converging these technologies into hiring management systems (HMS) will bring:

ï significant improvement in business process
ï greater efficiency and reduced time to hire
ï reduced cost per hire
ï overall cost savingsî

Benefits of ATS
Toby Conibear from Bond International Software believes that the benefits of new ATS systems include:

* Improved candidate experience through system functionality and automated communications, e.g. candidates tracking their application online and automated confirmation emails being sent out.

* Reduced reliance on external agencies and reduction of general hiring costs.

* Raising brand awareness through recruitment adverts on job boards and organisations own website.

* Reductions in administration overheads through time savings due to automated processes and functionality.

* Empowering staff through the creation of an ëinternal recruitment agencyí giving the ability to search and match candidates, and so on, in-house rather than relying on external agencies.

* Ultimately the use of ATS systems should greatly improve organisationís chances of candidate application and so, in this very competitive area, improve the chances of hiring the best people.

Bond International Software is the market leading provider of Talent Management and Applicant Tracking software systems. They work with many global organisations including BA Connect, Matalan, Southern Water, Yell.com, Ginsters, easyJet, Yorkshire Water, Loop and Hamptons International.

Is Erecruitment right for all companies?
Don McIntosh, Development Director, RecruitActive Limited says: ìApplicant Tracking or Erecruitment Systems were originally limited to the major employers who had the largest recruitment needs and could develop an online presence through advertising spend. A key part of the return on investment for these organisations was the reduction in the use of recruitment agencies.

The benefits of ATS are now being recognised and implemented by employers who may want to continue to use their existing recruitment channels but also want to take advantage of the efficiencies and improved candidate experience. They may continue to use a Preferred Supplier List of 30 or 40 agencies but also want to manage all applicants from all channels through one system, including avoiding duplication of applicants from different agencies or channels.



ìThe applicant tracking system provides a cost effective and highly professional way of managing candidates from all sources, especially those from multiple recruitment agenciesî; Hannah Whatling, Red Gate Software.

The option in most ATS system for Call Centre or Response Management staff to enter manual applications also makes an ATS a viable option for a much wider range of organisations, giving equal access to all applicants using all media.

ìOur applicant tracking system allows us to provide a high quality candidate response management for major government departments using both online systems and call centre operationsî; Naomi Boyle, JWT Response Management.

We are currently working with a range of employers who recruit from 15 staff to over a thousand staff a year. Although they each use their ATS slightly differently, they all benefit from the classic benefits of reduced cost, reduced time to hire, improved efficiency and improved candidate experience - irrespective of the channels used to attract the applicants.

This evolution of the use of ATS will expand the use of these systems to companies of all sizes, even those who do not intend to change their current recruitment techniques.î

Online recruitment Strategy
HotLizard's Managing Director, Adele Poole: ìHaving an effective and fully integrated ATS is now a fundamental part in any online recruitment strategy. The ability to integrate an ATS with your career web site can save both time and costs, streamlining your recruitment process and increasing your candidate attraction.

When looking to source an ATS it is worth looking for a solution that can offer you the ability to work collaboratively with your line managers, supplying recruitment agencies and job boards, and with the centralisation of all applications you can gain accurate source and cost information for the people you hire.

A truly effective ATS will also offer valuable talent management functionality, and should serve to build you a superior talent bank for the future.

The future of ATS will see more self-service recruitment for line managers, driven by technology, and the evolution of a self-service application process for candidates by integrating interview scheduling and management.î

Mark Kieve, Chief Executive for Amris E Recruitment, believes that E-recruitment is all about the candidate, making applicants feel special, and that engaging with the candidate is vital. Good talent pool management is imperative, communication on a regular basis with the candidates in your talent pool ensures that candidate data is kept current. Amris gives an employer complete control of the recruitment process, saving time with increased efficiency and money by reducing agency usage. Using an ATS such as Amris is so intuitive that virtually no training is necessary.

The future
Mark Kieve says that whereas two years ago an ATS was a ënice to haveí, for the larger company it is clearly a ëmust haveí. In the future he predicts systems are getting far more graphical and over the coming months we will see a far greater use of video feeds.