It's getting harder and harder to find good employees and keep them. You are not alone; most UK, US, and other EU companies face similar challenges. According to the CIPD, more than 6.5 million UK workers plan to quit their jobs within 12 months, citing poor quality of work, lack of work-life balance, and poor pay. 

It means that even with better pay, it can take longer to find a good employee. Even worse, employees quit faster than you can hire them. This leads to wasted time and resources for training. In an economy struggling with inflation and recession, this makes recruiting too expensive. 

Automating the hiring process with applicant tracking systems (ATS) can help you find quality candidates faster and reduce hiring costs. But ATSs have more to offer than cost and speed up the hiring process. This article will uncover the secrets of ATS recruiting software and how it can positively impact your business. 

But first, let us understand what an applicant tracking system software entails. 

What Is An Applicant Tracking System?

An applicant tracking system is recruiting software that manages the entire hiring process. Most assume its sole purpose is to scan applicants and select the best ones. However, scanning thousands of resumes is only one function of the applicant tracking system. 

Modern, advanced applicant tracking system software is packed with intuitive features and hiring techniques that allow you to: 

• Creatively engage with candidates 

• Manage applicant and talent pools 

• Conduct interviews, including written and video interviews 

• Onboard successful candidates 

All of the above tasks will be performed per your country's specific business standards and relevant employment regulations and laws. 

So, as a UK company, you will need to adhere to the UK's strict employment legislation. Like any business, you also want to minimize the rising costs of hiring staff. This is where an ATS UK -relevant platform comes into play to address expenses and other recruitment challenges in the UK.

Uncovering ATS Recruitment Software Secrets

Most applicant tracking system software solutions allow you to customize your standards and align them with relevant employment law requirements in your region or industry. Let us now uncover some of the secrets of ATS recruitment software. 

1. It lowers Your Recruitment Costs 

Source: Blue Diamond

You will spend around 20-30% of the final employee's salary. That's an average of £5000 for an in-house company or less than £1000 for a recruitment agency. Most of the cost is in managing HR, which manages CV assessments, job postings, etc. 

Automating the hiring process reduces the overhead costs associated with a traditional approach. The applicant tracking system creates well-optimized job descriptions and postings. It can also scan thousands of resumes simultaneously and select the best applicants for further assessment. In short, it streamlines the hiring process and improves efficiency, reducing overall recruitment costs. 

2. Ensures Higher Quality Hiring 

A bad hire is perhaps the most expensive part of the hiring process. You waste your time and resources, including training resources, only to have the new employee leave because they do not meet your needs. 

As mentioned earlier, work-life balance, job quality, and salary. With applicant tracking systems, you can create attractive job postings that reflect these aspects. From benefits to vacation days, interested applicants can tell from the job posting whether or not you are a good fit for them. 

In addition, ATS integrates with other relevant technologies from HR, such as candidate search platforms, job boards, pre-assessment tools, etc. Therefore, this ensures that the candidates who qualify for the process are the best and meet your requirements. 

In short, the applicant tracking system reinforces your brand message as an employer and ensures that every potential applicant understands your processes, standards, and values. It allows you to find applicants who match your values and criteria, making a quality hire. 

3. It Increases the Speed of Your Hiring Process

Source: Wikimedia Commons

As mentioned earlier, applicant tracking system software can only lower your hiring costs because it streamlines the entire hiring process. A streamlined process is also more efficient and faster. The faster you hire a quality candidate, the better because you do not want to disrupt your operation with staffing shortages. 

Any hiring process that takes longer means a drop in production and possibly a drop in performance. Unfortunately, some positions, such as technical positions, can take longer to fill. This is where hidden ATS efficiencies can be beneficial. 

First, it can scan multiple resumes of applicants at the same time. Second, third-party integration ensures you access major job boards, including niche job boards, within seconds. It can also use programmatic advertising, so those job ads are only seen by qualified potential candidates. 

It's like digital marketing on steroids. You can use social media and other digital marketing channels to reach potential candidates. The result is a faster, data-driven hiring process. This means you can fill positions in days or weeks instead of months. 

4. It's Scalable Based on Your Company's Needs and Size

As a company, you can increase or decrease the number of positions depending on your needs and the season. For example, if you run an online or physical store, December may bring a lot of product demand. Therefore, you may need more support staff at this time of year than at other times. 

You do not need to add more HR administrative staff to handle recruiting new support staff while you prepare for seasonal sales and demand. The applicant tracking system software can cover you. You are not hiring a new team every day, and most ATSs only charge you for appropriate usage. Therefore, you can use ATS to scale your recruiting based on need and size. 

5. Develops High-Quality Talent Pool 

One of the great hidden treasures of applicant tracking systems is their ability to build a high-quality talent pool. Qualified candidates will respond to every ad and job posting you create. You may not take them all on, but you will build a talent pool of qualified potential. 

This is very useful the next time you need to hire new employees. You will not start from scratch because you can sift through your talent pool, select the best ones and check their availability. It will reduce costs and speed up the process of filling a position. 

Summary 

An applicant tracking system is more than just an automation tool. As an applicant screening system checker, it will simultaneously evaluate and score multiple resumes. It also helps you find qualified applicants, build a talent pool, and facilitate onboarding. 

But the hidden treasures of ATS include cost reductions, efficiency, faster recruitment, and exceptional scalability. However, it's better to use an ATS that understands your region's recruitment challenges and regulations. So, an ATS with extensive knowledge of the UK hiring and labor landscape is beneficial if you are a UK company.