Sometime ago, I wrote an article about using Applicant Tracking Systems to support the recruitment process (Is it possible to manage recruitment without a Candidate Management System?). On the plus side, the article attracted quite a few comments. On the downside, was the realisation that most of those comments were based on the understanding that I was somehow promoting a world where humans no longer were part of the recruitment process and technology made all the decisions! So, I thought it is about time that we revisited this issue to see whether there is a fair balance to be struck between the use of technology and the use of people in the hiring process.
Let me start with the case for:
It’s remarkable just how much time is spent in the entire recruitment process. From getting a job signed off, to posting the job on various websites, to handling each application with a response, to inviting candidates to interview, to viewing all information to enable a shortlist to be drawn up, to generating offers, to managing the whole process of onboarding of the new employee.
As you can see, the list is long and by no means exhaustive. But all these tasks are administrative and surely we can all agree that they do not need anyone with particular recruitment or specialist function skills to carry them out?
Once most organisations realise the impact this has, then the costs involved in employing just one administrator more often than not are greater than the cost of a good candidate management system.
Ah, I hear you think, does that mean that I need to make all my recruitment team redundant? Personally, I always think that such a thought process is a mistake. Instead, what I like to see happen (and what we see very often with clients) is that the people in the HR/resourcing function start to develop new roles and skills that have a far greater positive impact on the business.
For example; instead of simply posting adverts and contacting agencies for staff (both of which are expensive routes to go down) why not explore your own talent pools? By this I mean that, by using applicant tracking software (ATS) you can build your own database of candidates who may match your needs. That way you can very easily keep in touch (via email, SMS or phone) with all those candidates through a good ATS – advising them of developments in the organisation (expansion plans? Industry awards etc). This makes you far more attractive as a potential employer when you do want to attract such talent.
When you throw in Artificial Intelligence (we call it Smart Search and Match) then the ability to go out and proactively search for specific talent is part of a complete transformation of the role of the recruiter.
Need we say more? The endless hours it can take to produce reports on data that you are then uncertain about, should be (and is) a thing of the past. Equality and Diversity information is real time and accurate. As is the source of candidate report (i.e. where did they really see your advert or get to hear about the job)? Scheduling reports so that they are run each day/week/month is yet more time saving and ensures that the right information is getting to the right people each and every time. Whilst there is the facility to run an almost infinite number of reports on a huge range of measures.
‘The war/race for talent’ was and still is a much-used phrase. We suspect that this may rise in its prominence as Brexit draws ever nearer and as the source of labour starts to become scarcer. In such situations, then giving yourself a strong tactical advantage by reducing time to hire from, say, 6 weeks down to just 3 (a regular occurrence reported amongst our clients) is self-evident in terms of benefit. Such time savings are realistically made possible only through the application of technology in the right way. Simply putting more people on the job won’t help matters. This is about automation and for that there is no substitute at the mechanical end of recruitment.
The list (I am sure) could go on, but this isn’t a soliloquy and there is another aspect to consider:
Since the day we founded Jobtrain, I have been firmly of the view that you cannot totally rely on technology in recruitment and there really has to be a human involvement. Why? Because people buy people – if I applied for a job, I would want to meet someone who worked for the organisation, ask them questions and gauge the culture of the business. But there are other reasons for the people and not technology intervention:
As above, none of us would like to see the whole interview schedule conducted through technology. Don’t get me wrong, there is a place for Video Interviews (they are brilliant for some companies who handle volume as a first stage), but ultimately, there needs to be that personal engagement to build rapport.
Jobtrain’s applicant tracking system captures shortlist criteria that a client stipulates – and it collates the responses from the various hiring managers. But it does not automatically create shortlists. To do that it takes people – to exercise judgement and to sense check and qualify.
Once again – our technology currently handles the mechanics of ‘onboarding’. In other words, it can create contracts from templates; it can allow candidates to see what information they need to see or complete (right to work documents, health and safety policies, etc).
However, what it doesn’t do, is allow for the individual to be ‘courted’ into the business. For someone to call them to answer questions or to put them at ease. That whole process of keeping people ‘warm’ through the notice period can be addressed through a fusion of real input from real people – supplemented by the occasional sharing of information through the ATS. But to rely wholly on one is to either overload the people side or to present a cold face of the company.
So, looking back on the reaction to the original post, there were a number of contributors who got a bit agitated by the idea of technology being used in the world of recruitment. I hope that they consider this with an open mind and don’t seek to throw the baby out with the bath water.
Candidate management systems, recruitment systems, ATSs – call them what you will; they are here to stay and are delivering fantastic savings and improvements. Not only to companies but to the experience that candidates have when applying for jobs. So please don’t be a luddite by watching the world evolve around you. Jump on board and embrace the systems that are here to help you – after all, they are still delivered by people you know!