This blog on how to assess your talent acquisition technology was originally published in January of 2022. It was republished with updated data and trends in October of 2022.
In September, the unemployment rate was 3.5%, or roughly 5.8 billion people. The number of open positions, however, is currently around 10 million and continues to grow. Now is not the time for recruiters to continue working with an applicant tracking system (ATS) that is not giving them the best possible results. The ATS has been around for over 20 years now. But to some recruiters, it feels like the capabilities are just that — 20 years old. Strategic, forward-thinking talent acquisition teams and recruiters have adopted automation, AI, natural language processing, better user experiences, chatbots, and integrations to help them find, recruit, and hire top talent.
Is An ATS No Longer Enough for Your Recruiting?
Gen Z is now 20% of the U.S. population, and 88% of them believe that AI will improve their jobs. They understand technology, and they believe it will automate tedious tasks and streamline workflows. TA teams need to have a world-class talent acquisition suite with modern technologies and a wide range of capabilities to improve their daily workflows and help increase efficiency in the sourcing, hiring, and onboarding processes.
So, if you aren’t getting the results you need from your ATS or Talent Acquisition Suite, maybe it’s time to revisit what capabilities it’s offering you, what you’re using, and what may be missing.
Ask yourself these questions to determine if you are getting the best possible results from your current TA tech:
1. What are our current candidate conversion rates?
On average, companies convert only 30% of applicants. Jobvite defines the candidate conversion rate as the process of transitioning a career site visitor into a known candidate or applicant by either completing the job application process or joining a talent network. First, figure out your candidate conversion rates. And if you aren’t achieving conversion rates of at least 70%, check out the Fortune 500 Candidate Conversion Audit report to see what common mistakes other companies are making and where you might have opportunities to improve quickly.
2. Are we automatically sourcing qualified talent?
According to Aptitude Research, recruiters spend up to 16 hours per week scheduling calls and 10 hours looking for candidates in their ATS. Recruiters can reduce time spent on sourcing by around 30% using automated technology. Not only does automation cut down on time and effort, but AI finds the right candidates for the role by pre-screening for you and directing them to recruiters or hiring managers when the time is right. Your TA teams need to be sourcing automatically in 2022!
3. Are we delivering better candidate communications with texting and chatbots?
Intelligent messaging helps pre-screen and answer candidate questions – recruiting teams are using chatbots and texting to pre-screen candidates and answer their questions automatically. Texts to candidates boast an impressive 98% open rate, compared to email (20%). Intelligent messaging keeps candidates engaged in all stages of the hiring process. Texting and chatbots should be part of your core talent acquisition suite.
4. Is our onboarding process helping or hurting?
All employees need high-quality onboarding to start with your company to have a chance of succeeding. Provide a consistent onboarding experience for every employee using onboarding software as part of your talent acquisition suite and retain that top talent you just hired.
5. Do we have visibility to know what is working and what is not?
Strategic recruiting teams constantly measure their processes and work to improve them. An in-depth analytics platform allows agile teams to keep an eye on key recruiting metrics and make changes as needed. Use the analytics built into your system to measure results and improve recruiting outcomes.
6. Are we getting as many referrals as we can?
It’s a known fact that referrals are a great source of candidates and often make the best hires. If you aren’t managing referrals from within your talent acquisition suite, you are missing out on this great source of candidates.
7. What about our internal candidates?
Internal candidates make great candidates for new roles. Having an internal mobility program not only helps to retain top talent for longer, it gives you a great career path story for future hires. And that goes for your recruiters as well! According to Aptitude Research, 32% of recruiters surveyed are looking for other career opportunities.
8. Do you have a strategic plan to continually improve your TA process?
None of us can make immediate improvements to current processes or technologies overnight. If we try to do too much too quickly, we’ll fail. So, get strategic and thoughtful about how mature your current processes and technologies are and where you can improve and get better results. Need some help getting started? Take just 10 minutes to complete the EVOLVE Talent Acquisition framework to identify and prioritize areas for improvement.
These are just a few ideas, I’m sure there are many more. And according to Josh Bersin, recruitment technology is helping TA teams retain top talent as well as market a strong employer brand to source high-quality candidates. The sooner you consider areas to recruit smarter, the sooner you can enjoy the benefits!
Learn More About Jobvite’s Evolve Talent Acquisition Suite
Talent acquisition teams are turning to technology to help them hire top, qualified talent quickly. So, it’s crucial that they have an in-depth stack of TA software that reduces effort by using automation and AI. Looking to learn more about what Jobvite’s Evolve Talent Acquisition Suite can do for your team? To see Jobvite in action, watch the on-demand Jobvite Product Tour or request a live demo.
