10 ways an applicant tracking system can help small recruiting agencies

In a world where time is a big constraint and a world where technological advancement is going on so rampantly & with so much success, it was just a matter of time before some technology would come in the recruitment sector as well and take it by storm facilitating the same in a manifold of ways. An applicant tracking system or ATS is nowadays almost a must-have entity for companies & businesses and the same holds so very true even for small agencies as well. Applicant Tracking System is not a new introduction.

It has been there right since the mid 1990s. Only it has gone on to be more advanced technologically with ongoing time and as it was expected as well. ATS is the ideal foil for saving time for recruitment purposes. That apart, it also helps parallelly in a number of other tasks too which makes a company’s task a lot easier. Barring the time factor, there is also a multitudinous of ways how the cost factor is also reduced rather drastically courtesy of an ATS. Small businesses have been deriving a lot of advantages through an applicant tracking system. However, having said that, an ATS can very well serve the purpose of any and every business, regardless of the genre and size of it. Here are below discussed 10 ways an applicant tracking system can facilitate small recruiting agencies: -

1. Increase Efficiency and Thereby the Productivity- Especially in a small agency, reducing the time-to-fill is critical and priceless. And with a good ATS, it is indeed really easy to do tasks such as email integration, resume parsing and task generation. This is what an ATS does so well. By eradicating out the need for manually entering data, recruiters can devote the invaluable time on filling more and more of open positions.

2. Improved experience for the candidates- A lot has been discussed and dissected in the industry as to how a good and quality candidate experience can be delivered. The best of ATS is equipped with the feature of delivering a smooth and absolutely hassle-free candidate experience for both the candidate as well as the recruiter courtesy of its easy-to-use platform. It is the friendly front-end usability which wipes out all road blocks between the recruiter and the candidates making sure the fact that they have a wonderful experience and it, of course, upholds the image of the recruiting company as well.

3. Getting a competitive advantage- The basic and main difference between a decent recruiting firm and one that is highly successful in recruitments is the fact that while the former only focuses on momentary filling of positions whereas the latter always puts in effort to create a solid bench strength of worthy candidates so that whenever there is any need for recruitment they can fill it almost at a moment’s notice and without much delay whatsoever. And it is in this connection that an ATS can be so conducive by allowing small recruiting agencies the room to have a good bench strength always ready and waiting in the wings to be filled up whenever there is a need or such a situation arises.

4. Scalability for future- An applicant tracking system should be so chosen that it is also a good investment keeping future perspective in mind and an ATS definitely holds the capacity to stand up to future needs of a recruiting company if and when chosen wisely. It has got the capability to be absolutely flexible so that it can successfully accommodate unforeseen circumstances that lay down the line through customization and easy integration.

5. Reaching out to more and more people & with total ease- Reaching out to more people at one go is what an ATS does for you so very effectively. It is just a matter of few clicks to post jobs at different clients’ website, social networking sites, free & paid job boards and also on other relevant places. Thus, a wide audience can be targeted very easily owing to the efficiency of an ATS which definitely gives small recruiting agencies a great boost in their endeavour of candidate searching.

6. The quality of hiring gets a massive traction overall- With ATS facilitating and deepening the interaction between the candidates and the recruiter, the candidates feel more involved in the entire process which also champions candidate and the recruiter relation to a good extent. Moreover, by using pre-identified qualifications and standards an ATS can help small recruiting agencies sort out and select the most worthy and deserving candidates thereby enhancing the overall selection process quality.

7. Standardizing the process of hiring- An ATS can standardize the hiring process once and for all so that there is absolutely no necessary or requirement for reinventing the process every time the recruiting agency is set to hire. Thus, needless to say, a good lot of time gets saved.

8. Aids in judging performance- A good ATS can judge employee performance to perfection. Now, this can be beneficial in both ways and is like hitting two targets with a single stone. On the one hand, when the employees performing well can be rewarded by the company, on the other, those not fulfilling the desired and/or required expectations can also be identified and be made aware of.

9. HR team collaboration and communication gets a big boost up- The collaboration and communication of the HR department reach an eloquent height in the presence of a very good and effective ATS. Furthermore, an applicant tracking system also improves decision-making to a tremendous and massive extent.

10. Not only keeps compliance issues away but also helps in easy and successful maintenance of the same- The ATS technology also helps by protecting a business or company from lawsuits and government inspection in various ways. Whenever there is an audit going on in the company, an ATS has the capability to instantaneously provide and supply with the required information.

An applicant tracking system thus can be so very helpful in so many ways for a small recruiting agency. With a good ATS at disposal, small recruiting agencies can get the liberty of being more single-mindedly focused at the fundamental work at hand of recruiting keeping aside the other not-so-important stuff which in the absence of an applicant tracking system was consuming a lot of time.

The perks of an applicant tracking system are therefore more for a small recruiting agency compared to medium-sized or large ones simply because in a small agency the number of people looking at the recruitment process would quite naturally be less and thus the time gettable for devoting more time in only candidate sorting & finalising recruitments is a big blessing to have so to speak, all again owing to an ATS.

With an ATS working in full flow, small recruiting agencies also get so many other features that it is definitely worth going for one even if the size of the company is not too big and it is only at a nascent or growing stage. The only thing, however, definitely needs to be remembered though is that it should be chosen wisely so that it caters to the required requirements of the company well and continues to do the same in the long run as well when the company grows on.