By Caitrin O'Sullivan
It is commonly understand that the execution of HR processes has a monumental impact on the bottom line of business outcomes. While many organizations out there are still recording such things as applicant tracking, on-boarding, employee management, etc. the archaic way with Excel sheets and filing cabinets, more and more companies have taken the plunge into HR management of the 21st century. Getting away from paper piles and manual data entry, many are recognizing the undeniable value of having all their HR processes automated and streamlined with the use of a talent technology.
For the last decade or so, word of the immediate and long-term benefits of utilizing HR technology has spread. The consideration of talent platforms as a best practice for businesses of all sizes and industries has been solidified as these technologies have evolved to be capable of modernizing and simplifying the post-hire side of the HR equation as well. While an HR talent platform is a worthy investment, many companies are now strapped with budgetary restraints and may not be able to justify the implementation of an HR technology aimed at streamlining hiring when little to no hiring is being done. More progressive companies are realizing, however, that the value of leveraging a talent platform to drive business outcomes is not diminished in a down economy, but rather great than ever.
The unemployment rate is at a 25-year high of over 8.1%. A consequence of millions of people losing their jobs at company A is that every job vacancy at companies B, C and D, whether posted on job boards, internal company sites or the new one, Twitter, are all being flooded with hundreds or even thousands of applications. Regardless of the size of the company and its respective HR department, this is overwhelming, time-consuming and costly.
At a time when the number of job applicants is increasing exponentially, the HR staffs who manage this influx are not growing proportionately and, in many cases, are being cut due to budgetary restraints. So what can a company due to accommodate these demands while maintaining efficient hiring practices? What is the best practice that successful companies are employing to weather the proverbial storm?
HR talent management software is one method that is becoming increasingly in favor with HR professionals, because it not only puts them in the best position to make the strongest hiring and employee management decisions, but can also save their organization’s valuable (and limited) time and money. With hundreds or even thousands of resumes, the difficulties of searching and screening candidates through email folders are obvious. Attempting to track applications with a filing cabinet is equally inefficient, and can lead to resumes getting lost in the shuffle and qualified candidates slipping through the cracks. Regardless of the applicant pool size, no recruiter can afford to lose a qualified candidate in the paper piles. Ensuring candidate data is centrally stored in an easily accessible format is the first step to improvement is one of the key advantages a talent platform has to offer to ensure greater end results in hiring.
Say, for example, a recruiter is looking to fill one position which has received 1,000 applications. A talent platform's applicant tracking system can insert screening questions to automatically filter candidates who do not meet preset job qualifications. Without ever having to look at the resume, the recruiter can rest assured that the platform has weeded out those who do not meet the requirements, has contacted each one with a personalized email alerting them of their status and can focus their time and energy on the remaining applicants. This not only increases the speed and efficiency of the hiring process, but also decreases the reliance on manual work, enabling fewer people to accomplish the task.
Remaining on schedule to fill a position can also be streamlined with the assistance of a talent platform where you can store notes, emails and calendar schedules. While the ability to automate communications with large applicant pools makes it easier to inform those who haven't been chosen of their status, it also more quickly and efficiently connects recruiters with the applicants who move on in the selection process for first round phone interviews and secondary interviews.
Northwest Airlines, with more than 32,000 employees worldwide, is a prime example of an organization that grew tired of the inefficiencies of paper piles and Excel sheets and turned to a talent platform as their method of choice for improving the execution of HR processes. Receiving about 1,500 applications a day and tasked with hiring close to 6,000 employees per year, they found it difficult to remain a timely and cost effective hiring process while ensuring a positive candidate and HR manager experience. After implementing their talent platform of choice, they were able to cut time-to-fill from 60 days down to just 21. Time to hire was reduced by 50% and they only had to spend $2 per candidate per advertising dollar as opposed to the $14 it was costing them previously. They also dramatically reduced the $450 it used to cost them per job offer made down to just $50. Finally, when before around 50% of applications were done online, now 100% are. The success of Northwest Airlines alone stands as a compelling testament to the value of HR technology.
Automating your pre-hire HR functions drives a number of bottom-line business outcomes. It enables organizations to reduce Cost-per-Hire and Time-to-Fill, and can present the organization with a tangible Return-on-Investment, which is obviously crucial in these tough economic times. Having these tools readily available also keeps its users ahead of the competition by making them more organized and well-informed, with all key candidate data in one central, easily-accessible location. Not only will job candidates have a better experience, but the quality of hire will be vastly improved, as will communication between applicants, managers and vendors. When all recruiting efforts are streamlined, an overall more efficient and cost-effective hiring process is possible.
These advantages are not only applicable at large organizations. Even small- to medium-sized businesses are switching over to HR software from previously executing all processes manually, in which case, any automation whatsoever would be considered an improvement. In many ways it is even more cost-effective and time-saving for SMBs because they can utilize one, all-encompassing platform acting as their HRMS for the entire employee lifecycle, eliminating the need to ever purchase costly, disparate solutions or having to rely on multiple implementations or source codes. Because of this ability, there has been a recent trend of SMB decision-makers replacing their Applicant Tracking or Talent Management systems, recognizing the long-term value of a single platform that is inherently flexible and scalable for future needs. While larger companies tend to implement separate point-solutions for each HR process, SMBs have the great advantage of being able to implement just one system as their HRMS with a single, web-based system. Especially in today’s economy, organizations of all sizes should consider implementing a platform that allows them to avoid investing tens of thousands of dollars to create or support an HRIT infrastructure, while also avoiding cost creep for maintenance, upgrades or service fees.
On the other hand, because most companies are experiencing little to no hiring, the majority of organizations may not be stressing the importance of streamlining recruiting efforts right now. As a result, it is more important than ever to develop and retain the existing talent pool- which brings us to automating post-hire processes. Streamlining all post-hire HR processes, like Succession Planning, Employee Data Management and Talent Profiling, enables an organization to optimally manage and retain its current employees, while again cutting costs and saving time. If you’re unable to bring on new employees due to the economy, then you must get the most out of the ones you already have. Implementing a talent platform is one of the best methods to do so.
Athletes’ Performance recognized not only the necessity of optimizing their post-hire processes, but also the compatibility of an HR technology to aid them in doing so. An elite privately-held athletic training business, AP has long been a supporter of HR technologies to drive business outcomes for such pre-hire processes as applicant tracking and workforce planning, but recently decided to test the value of leveraging that same technology to automate and streamline all of their post-hire processes as well. The automation of such processes as performance management and succession planning helped them see a drastic improvement in their business’s bottom line. Like Northwest Airlines, they saw a reduction in time-to-fill and cost-per-hire. But furthermore, by implementing the post-hire tools of their HR technology vendor, they were able to attract and retain better quality hires. This led to increased retention rate, reduction in turnover and improved employee morale. Loss of productivity, downtime and the “scrambling effect” were all decreased, as well. Leveraging a talent platform for both their pre and post hire needs didn’t just make their lives easier at Athletes’ Performance, but gave them a tangible return on investment and greater bottom-line business outcomes.
While each organization has the liberty to execute their HR processes in any way they prefer, it is becoming increasingly difficult to deny the many advantages of an automated HR technology. HR decision-makers at organizations of all sizes and industries are saying the same thing: using talent management technology simplifies hiring efforts and can be used to streamline the entire employee lifecycle. This can drive business outcomes in any economy, but doing so has become even more valuable during the downturn.
Caitrin O’Sullivan (Caitrin.osullivan@icims.com) works as the Public Relations Coordinator at iCIMS, the third-largest provider of Software-as-a-Service (SaaS) talent acquisition solutions. For more information, visit www.icims.com.
