40% of mobile candidates abandon their application process is when the ATS isn't user friendly
With the wave of automation washing over our humble HR hubs, the options seem endless. One of the first tools to roll out of the proverbial shed was the Applicant Tracking System (ATS); an innovation that allows busy HR leaders to avoid unnecessary paperwork and manual labour.
But, despite the generous digital offerings, some HR leaders are still reluctant to accept the new technological way of life.
We spoke to Matt Burns, CHRO at JYSK and host of our HR Leaders Summit in Calgary on December 8, who had some choice word for tarrying HRDs.
“Embrace technology,” he explained. “I think, as a profession, historically we’ve been somewhat reluctant to embrace it for a number of reasons. Some people are concerned about finding the right balance between technology and culture – which is a valid reason. Invalid reasons tend to circle around fear and a lack of comfort in the new ‘future of work’. The cumulative effect of both of these forces means our profession hasn’t adopted technology at the race we should have. We’ve treated it as an adversary rather than an enabler of culture.”
According to a CareerBuilder survey, 40% of mobile candidates abandon their application process is when the ATS isn’t user friendly. With that in mind, we decided to analyse the what to look for in ATS tools – from ease of use to integration. Tell us your thoughts in the comments below.
Ease of Integration
The marker of a good ATS is how well it integrates with your current HR platform. A tool can be practically perfect in every way, but if you cannot slot it into your current HRIS then it’s useless. When you go about linking a new ATS to your HRIS, you have to ensure all your past data is stored correctly, and that it can migrate over to the new program easily. This saves the hassle of having to log on to different systems.
Mobile Friendliness
Let’s face it – in today’s world if it’s not on your mobile it may as well not exist. ATS’s need to be mobile user friendly, both for the candidate and the employer. According to a Glassdoor study, 59% of jobseekers believe it’s important to be able to search for a job on their mobile, save it, and apply for it later on a desktop. Despite this, 90% of Fortune 500 sites don’t support a mobile application solution.
Workflow Automation
Larger companies may receive hundreds and hundreds of applications for just one role on offer. The whole idea behind these ATS’s is to shift through the data, eradicate any issues, and implement an automated screening technology. The AI behind the ATS should shift through all the CVs on offer and return to the employer s definitive list of the best fitting candidates. And how candidates submit their applications is just as important – after all, Forbes found that 75% of candidates’ CVs are rejected by ATS’s because of incorrect formatting.
Measuring Quality of Hires
The end result of any good ATS is a quality hire. By measuring the sustainability of your new employees, you can test how well your ATS is performing. Look to measure the cost of your new ATS against the time it took to hire and the credibility of the new employee.
HR Tech News is asking HR professionals to share insight into the key issues and challenges relating to HR technology.
What area of HR technology do you find most complex, challenging or interesting?
What do you think will be the biggest game changer or disruptive force to shape the industry in the next five years?
Thank you in advance for your time and input.
