In this era of cloud-based software, it has never been easier to trial new tools in the talent acquisition process. For many organisations, talent technology is an area of significant spend. Yet in the race to acquire the latest technology, early adopters can fail to consider whether it actually adds tangible business value.
Ask yourself: do your candidates prefer to chat with bots? Are you conducting video interviews and using artificial intelligence (AI) with the right cohort, at the right time? What percentage of your Applicant Tracking System’s (ATS) functionality are you using? If you are a ‘set-and-forgetter’, then now is the ideal time to review your HR tech ecosystem.
In this post, we will help you understand if your tech stack is fit for purpose, fully optimised, and, most importantly, adding value.
Focus on candidate experience
When recruiting talent, it is essential that you treat every person that applies to work for your organisation with care and respect. It’s not just about managing employer brand — it’s the right thing to do (and always has been). Your technology can empower the process, from acknowledging every application to reminding your team to provide timely feedback and updates on the hiring process.
Start by mapping your candidate journey, analysing each step a candidate takes from initial awareness of your brand or job opportunity to successfully onboarded and performing in their new role. Then consider your talent objectives and analyse whether your HR tech ecosystem is enabling you to meet those objectives at each step of the process.
Optimise and streamline the process
To help review your talent tech, collect hiring manager and candidate feedback and dive into your data for proof of value. For example, has your video interview technology reduced time-to-hire or improved quality of hire? Has using AI improved understanding of what a role requires such that it has increased new hire retention? Within core technology, such as your ATS, is your process efficient and intuitive, keeping your candidates, Talent Acquisition team and hiring managers supported and informed?
Often, issues with ATSs can be solved with simple tweaks. By tightening up the alignment between your technology and recruitment process, improving your communication templates, or working on smoother integrations with other systems, an ATS can quickly become a streamlined and incredibly useful tool.
Have tough conversations with talent tech partners
There are many, many recruitment technology options in the talent space — it’s a vibrant start-up community of specialist providers promising to amplify your employer brand, give you access to diverse candidates, position you as an employer of choice, and make better hiring decisions. But are they delivering?
If you are being promised access to women candidates, ask for the proof they can deliver. That might look like evidence of database growth and engagement, or you can look at how many applicants or clickthroughs that sourcing channel is delivering and if they are high-quality.
Consider whether your new assessment technology improves retention or quality of hire, and notice if candidates respond positively or negatively. Don’t forget integrations too. Has implementing that new chatbot increased engagement and reduced follow-up calls to your team, or are your candidates dropping out of your pipeline?
While we all want to support and trial emerging technology, we also need to be sure it is adding value. No is no better time than ever to diagnose issues and talk to your tech partners about how (or if) they can be solved.
Create a realistic recruitment technology roadmap
In short, identify where your recruitment technology needs improvement and retire those products that are not positively impacting your recruitment process and outcomes. Depending on the size and scope of your function, you may realise significant savings.
If you’d like expert advice on enhancing your HR tech ecosystem, talk to Harrier.