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With a brand new year fast approaching, December is a great time to sit back and reflect on what you’ve learned from the past 12 months.
The recruitment industry is constantly evolving and 2015 has been a year where more businesses have invested, or started to think about investing, in recruitment software, such as applicant tracking systems (ATS).
There is a lot of choice in the recruitment software market and many suppliers are putting their efforts into enhancing the features that come with an ATS. At Webrecruit, we’ve placed huge focus on further developing our own range of Fusion software in 2015.
With lots of information on the market to absorb, it can be a bit overwhelming. As such, we thought it would be handy to put together the five key learnings that we’ve taken away from this year for you to think about.
1. Take advantage of automation
One of the most appealing features of recruitment software is that it can save your HR Team hours of time by automating some of the annoying manual tasks traditionally associated with recruitment.
However, even after they’ve invested in recruitment software, some companies are still completing these tasks manually. Some HR professionals might just be finding it hard to break their habits or perhaps they’re unsure of how to use the software properly; whatever the reason, it’s important to take advantage of automation.
Recruitment software can automate a wide range of tasks, including sharing your vacancies on social media, managing your external agencies and sending emails to unsuccessful candidates.
This can reduce the amount of time spent on completing these tasks manually, allowing you to utilise your time in the best way possible – by interviewing candidates and tacking more important recruitment tasks.
Find out more about the benefits of recruitment software by reading: How to Build a Business Case for Recruitment Software
2. Calculating your metrics is important
Working out your recruitment metrics, such as cost per hire, time to hire, applications by source and applications by device, might sound like a drag but this is all valuable information and insight for your business that you can use to adjust your candidate attraction strategy.
However, you don’t have to manually calculate this information anymore – your recruitment software can do this for you. The ease of reporting that comes with an ATS is something that appeals to many HR professionals – you no longer have to be a mathematical genius to work out what’s going on with your recruitment activities.
You’re not completely off the hook though – it’s important to know how to use the data that reporting provides you with. Look at your reports, draw out the key information and think about how you can use this to your business’ advantage.
For example, if you’re looking at your applications by source and you notice that one advertising source isn’t performing well – consider why, and assess whether it’s worth dropping it from your mix, saving you money.
Find out more about the metrics and reports that you should be paying attention to by reading: 4 Recruitment Reports Every SME Needs to Know
3. The candidate is king
When you have lots of applications to deal with, it can be easy to let your candidate communications fall flat. However, recruitment software can help you to keep the candidate experience consistent.
Recruitment software, can generate candidate emails on your behalf – allowing you to keep candidates updated on the status of their application with the click of a button.
A smooth application process is also essential for the candidate experience. An applicant tracking system allows candidates to be guided through the entire process online, rather than them having to complete an off-page application form or submit their details via email. An overly complicated application process might leave candidates wanting to click off the page, or worse still, stop the application.
Find out more ways that you can enhance your candidate experience by reading: The Anatomy of a Great Candidate Experience
4. Mobile-optimisation is vital to getting the attention of passive candidates
Don’t have a mobile optimised careers site? You might be missing out on some great candidates.
More and more candidates are searching for their latest role on the move. In fact, 43% of candidates are regularly using a mobile device in their job search, according to last year’s Jobvite Social Recruiting survey.
A non-mobile optimised careers site can lead to a poor candidate experience which can cause candidates to quickly click off the page.
Looking to learn more about why mobile optimisation is so important? Take a look at our blog, What Does a Non-Optimised Careers Site Mean for the Candidate Journey?
5. It can seriously help your employer brand
75% of recruiters noted that employer branding had a significant impact on hiring, according to the LinkedIn 2015 Global Recruiting Survey. However, only 56% of recruiters were prioritising it.
Recruiters also noted that company websites were the best way to promote employer brands – and what’s the system at the back end of a careers site? An applicant tracking system.
If you’re looking at promoting your employer brand going in to 2016, think about ways of showing candidates your identity as an employer of choice. Consider featuring a ‘Why Work for Us?’ section on your careers page/site featuring testimonials from existing employees or highlighting the benefits of working for your company on your social media accounts.
Find out more about how you can give your employer brand a boost by reading: A Masterclass in Employer Branding.
Interested in learning more about how recruitment software can help your business going into 2016? Find out more.
