How To Automate The Recruitment Process Today

Say goodbye to endless stacks of resumes and tedious manual processes - it's time to be progressive and use recruiting automation!

Today, small and medium-sized companies often face the challenge of attracting top talent while efficiently managing their recruitment processes. Manual and fragmented hiring methods can often lead to time-consuming tasks, missed opportunities, and increased costs. That's where an Applicant Tracking System (ATS) comes into play. This automation tool can revolutionize your company's hiring process, but convincing your manager to invest in one might require a persuasive case.

Let’s explore effective strategies to help you make a compelling argument for automating recruitment and adopting your first ATS. We will highlight the key benefits of automation of recruitment process, both in terms of streamlining the recruitment process and improving overall hiring outcomes.

What is ATS?

An Applicant Tracking System (ATS for short) is software that manages the entire recruitment process. This allows you to significantly speed up applicant management and the filling of vacancies. From posting the job offer online to acceptance, an ATS keeps track of all activities in the company

It is similar to a Customer Relationship Management System (CRM) but tailored to recruiting needs and requirements.

ATS organizes information about job seekers and makes it searchable. As the name suggests, an applicant tracking system tracks candidates through the hiring process. It helps schedule interviews, issues notifications, and alerts, and sends automated emails to applicants, recruiters, and hiring managers.

Arguments for an ATS

Recruitment has become digital and more complex in recent years, and without the right tools, it can quickly become a nightmare.

Some managers may think that ATS platforms are only suitable for large companies that advertise a large number of jobs and manage a high volume of applicants. However, ATS software is also beneficial for small and medium-sized businesses as it improves efficiency and simplifies and speeds up the hiring process.

For guidance on choosing between ATS and CRM systems to optimize your recruitment processes, check out ATS vs CRM: What You Should Choose.

Streamlining processes: Automation of recruitment process enables efficient management of recruitment activities such as job posting, screening, and applicant communications.

Improving administration processes: All CVs and applications are collected centrally and kept in one place.

Saving time: The candidate pool is narrowed down faster because qualified candidates are highlighted, and unqualified candidates are filtered out.

Boosting collaborative hiring: With ATS, it’s much easier to communicate with hiring managers since all the processes are automated and are kept in one transparent place.

Enhancing evaluation: Tracking applicants in automated recruitment process provides a clearer picture and insights into which recruitment areas need improvement.

Simplifying onboarding: Because all relevant information is already in one place, it's easy to transfer applicant data to an employee profile after hiring.

Expert Tips for Choosing The ATS

Determine the required features for the growth of your business

Before automation of recruitment process, think about the current state of affairs in your recruitment team. Analyze the bottlenecks of your hiring process, ask for the feedback of your team directly involved in hiring, monitor the latest KPIs, etc. This will help you to determine which features you lack and what can be automated.

Pay attention to usability

Many ATS companies state that their software is an easy-to-use and customized solution. But that is rarely the case. Take the time to evaluate several software solutions. Create an ATS wish list and identify what's missing from your solution.

Ensure that pricing fits your budget

Before choosing an ATS, consider the purpose you want the system to serve. Would you benefit from a solution for automated recruitment process in a high price range? Find out what the pricing is based on—the number of user licenses, job openings, and other applicant tracking details—because these factors will ultimately affect your purchasing decision.

Check whether an ATS provides a free trial

Take advantage of the free trials that most cloud software providers provide. Usually, platforms provide a trial for 10 or 14 days. Use them to your advantage to learn all the functionality in detail, to understand whether the ATS will suit you and the whole team, and what the platform's strengths and weaknesses are.

Ask the opinion of your team

Involve all the stakeholders in the decision-making about the new ATS solution. They better understand the hiring requirements and will know what to pay attention to. Also, don’t focus only on the current tasks but try to forecast future challenges where an ATS can help.

Take into consideration privacy and information security

Make sure your cooperation with ATS stays compliant with the applicable data protection and privacy laws. First and foremost, get acquainted with the Terms of Use, Privacy Policy, and the terms and conditions of the Data Processing Agreement with your ATS partner and its data protection policies (e.g., the legal basis for data processing, third parties transfers, data breach notifications, and reports).  

Explore the Help Center of an ATS

Last but not least, a clear Help Center is a must-have. The first weeks of automated recruitment process may be pretty challenging since all team members have to understand the specifics of the ATS and learn the main principles of working with it. You can easily overcome this challenge if the ATS contains detailed instructions and tips for the main functions. So pay attention to this when choosing your perfect-match ATS.

How to calculate ROI after investing in an ATS?

Calculating the return on investment after investing in an recruitment process automation involves assessing the costs associated with the implementation and operation of the ATS and comparing them to the benefits and savings generated. Here's a general approach to calculating ROI:

Identify Costs:

• Initial Investment: Determine the upfront costs of purchasing or subscribing to the ATS, including any installation or setup fees.
• Training: Consider the expenses related to training HR personnel and hiring managers on how to effectively use the ATS.
• Integration: If the ATS needs to be integrated with other HR systems or software, account for any associated integration costs.
• Ongoing Costs: Calculate the recurring costs such as subscription fees, maintenance, upgrades, and support services.

Determine Benefits and Savings:

• Time Savings: Measure the time saved in various aspects of the hiring process, such as job posting, resume screening, interview scheduling, and communication with candidates. Estimate the hours saved per week or month.
• Reduction in Manual Tasks: Identify tasks that were previously done manually and are now automated by the ATS. Assess the time and effort saved.
• Improved Efficiency: Consider the increased efficiency in the recruitment process, such as faster time-to-fill vacancies and reduced administrative overhead.
• Enhanced Candidate Quality: Evaluate the impact of the ATS on attracting higher-quality candidates and reducing the number of unqualified applicants.
• Reduction in Recruitment Costs: Calculate cost reductions related to job advertisements, external recruitment agencies, and candidate sourcing tools, as the ATS can often help companies reduce reliance on these resources.
• Compliance and Legal Costs: Assess the potential savings resulting from improved compliance and minimized legal risks associated with the hiring process.

Calculate ROI:

• Subtract the total costs (initial investment + training + integration + ongoing costs) from the total benefits and savings.
• Divide the net benefits by the total costs and multiply by 100 to get the ROI percentage.
• ROI = ((Total Benefits - Total Costs) / Total Costs) * 100

Assess the Payback Period:

• Determine the payback period, which is the time it takes for the cumulative benefits to exceed the total costs.
• Divide the total costs by the monthly or yearly savings generated by the ATS to determine how many months or years it will take to recover the investment.

It's important to note that ROI calculations may vary based on specific circumstances, industry, and company size. Adjust the calculation method to incorporate factors relevant to your organization.

To make your decision to automate recruitment easier, we have prepared a business case template to convince your manager about switching to an ATS. Feel free to download it and take action!

To make your decision to automate recruitment easier, we have prepared a business case template to convince your manager about switching to an ATS. Feel free to download it and take action!

Conclusion

Recruitment process automation empowers organizations to streamline their hiring procedures, save time and resources, and ultimately make smarter hiring decisions. In this article, we have explored the benefits and functionalities of an ATS, along with practical steps to automate your recruitment process successfully.

By implementing an ATS, you can centralize your candidate data, optimize job postings, and automate resume screening, interview scheduling, and communication with applicants. The benefits of automating recruitment process allow your HR team and hiring managers to focus on what matters most: identifying the best-fit candidates for your organization.

Now is the time to take action and explore the available ATS options that align with your company's needs and goals. By embracing automation and leveraging the capabilities of an ATS, you can transform your recruitment process, attract exceptional talent, and stay ahead in the ever-evolving business landscape.

Axterior is a perfect online recruitment platform for growing businesses. This software is young but has already gained popularity among interested organizations. Axterior manages all the recruitment processes and assists in finding the most qualified candidates in a few clicks.

Main advantages of Axterior recruitment platform:

• Easy-to-use internal talent pools;
• Candidates sourcing with Axterior Chrome Extension;
• Smooth integration with recruitment services and job boards through the API connection;
• Practical performance reporting;
• Fast global support;
• Data protection and compliance;
• Customized sending of follow-ups and reminders.

So, equip yourself with the right tools, collaborate with your HR team, and embark on the journey to reach full automation in recruitment today with an ATS. The future of efficient and successful hiring starts now. Start a free trial of your perfect ATS!