Featured Research: Keys To The Successful Adoption Of A New Applicant Tracking System

Making a business case to your senior management to make a large purchase can sometimes be intimidating

Making the decision to invest in a new applicant tracking and electronic onboarding software for your Human Resources department can be a major undertaking.

Making a business case to your senior management to make a large purchase can sometimes be intimidating. You know you’d love to add an applicant tracking system (ATS) to your HR strategy. How do you demonstrate the value of such a purchase to someone who does not see the day-to-day minutia of your time consuming HR tasks like posting jobs to different job boards, or communicating with candidates? One option to offset the potential cost of an applicant tracking software is to investigate the Work Opportunity Tax Credit “WOTC,” which can often pay for the cost of an ATS purchase.


 

An applicant tracking software can drastically increase your time-to-find, time-to-fill metrics, help you recruit and engage potential candidates more efficiently, as well as provide mandatory compliance reporting.

According to author, and talent management expert, Dr. John Sullivan, “You will lose significant revenue and productivity because vacant positions are open for too many days – the economic damage caused by having a revenue-generating position vacant longer than necessary may be as much as $5,000 per day simply because a vacant seat in a sales job or revenue collection job can’t create or capture revenue.”

If you are currently working with a time consuming manual process, or are working with an older software, a new ATS can benefit you by significantly reducing your time spent on manual processes. In addition, an ATS and onboarding software can be used as part of your employer branding and recruitment marketing strategy. A good ATS will help you save time, and provide a positive return on investment.

Define Your Requirements

It is critically important for you to take the time to define your requirements as well as “nice to have” features, get your budget approved, and research available products. To define your requirements, start with your current processes. Are things done manually now? What would you need to do to replace the manual process while remaining as efficient as possible? What reports do you need? If you have an older ATS that you would like to replace, think of what’s not working, and how you would like to improve. This could take several weeks to do. Think of your desired “go live date,” and work backwards from there to create a potential timeframe.

Most human resources software implementations take place over several phases that include a product demonstration, purchase, planning, set-up, user testing, adjustments to configuration, training, and going live. On average this can take several weeks, or even months depending on the complexity of your set-up and the availability of the individuals involved. It’s easy to lose your momentum during this period from the initial excitement of selection to going live.

Creating a plan, knowing your users’ training needs, and establishing a training platform are all vital elements in the success of launching your new applicant tracking software.

Plan, Plan and Plan, and have a Realistic Timetable

Createa project plan and assign a project manager who can help you stick to the deliverables. It’s easy to get off track when you’re busy and other projects clamor for your attentionon a day-to-day basis. Carve out time on your schedule for important tasks with target dates for setting up, testing, training and going live. Know who will be involved during each step, and which tasks they are responsible for. An experienced project manager can help keep things on schedule when things get busy.

Establish a Go To “Super User”

Someone on your team should be the champion, mentoring others and providing support, assistance and advice. Someone who’s willing to take on the task of becoming the ‘super user’ who knows as much as possible about the software and how it works. The ‘super user’ should be involved from Day One, involved in the selection, set up and training, and working closely with your account manager. They may also be responsible for training the other users, and they understand it is an important part of your company strategy.

Training and Support for your ATS

Training is a key component of getting any software purchase up and running successfully. Training should be a continuous ongoing process, not a One and Done. Some people are naturally resistant to change, especially if comfortable with a previous manual process or software, or not particularly technology savvy. It can be a struggle to get them onboard. It can help to provide a tailored hands-on training session to make sure they are comfortable with their tasks in the software, and that they can see the benefits of using it.

Understand that people learn differently, some people prefer hands-on (learn while doing), and others prefer to watch and learn. You may also like the option of having both live training sessions, and recordings so that users can watch on their own schedules. Regular training can help keep your investment on track.

How to Recover When it all goes Sideways

Should your software implementation stall at any point, schedule a phone call with your account manager to reestablish contact. Take time to look at where you are in the process, what has been set up, what tasks are still pending. Request additional training, especially if there has been any changes in the software. Set a new potential go live date.
 
About 68.3% of HR.com'sThe State of Applicant Tracking Systems 2018 survey responders reported that they implemented an ATS because they wanted to reduce time to hire. Following the above steps can help you have a successful applicant tracking and electronic onboarding software implementation.

Author Bio

Brian M. Kelly is Managing Partner of Cost Management Services (CMS). CMS is focused on automating recruiting and human resources departments. Brian has taken his 25 years in the HR industry to design iRecruit& electronic onboarding tool iConnect to completely streamline the applicant tracking, recruiting & onboarding process. Connect Brian M. Kelly Visit www.cmshris.com Additional Resource Dr. John Sullivan