Mid-Market Recruitment Technology 5 Essentials Companies Should Look for When Evaluating Talent Acquisition Software

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1 White Paper Mid-Market Recruitment Technology 5 Essentials Companies Should Look for When Evaluating Talent Acquisition Software

2 Growing organizations have growing needs. When medium-sized businesses start to expand they are often required to change many of their recruiting and talent acquisition practices. Typically, emerging mid-market companies find themselves unprepared when it comes to increasing workforce changes. The solution: Implementing talent acquisition software to streamline all of your mid-market hiring needs. Talent Acquisition Challenges Faced by Mid-Market Companies Applicant Tracking Long gone are the days when folders and filing cabinets could be considered viable systems for searching and screening candidates. The war for top talent is becoming increasingly competitive and losing qualified candidates in paper piles is one preventable way mid-market companies fall behind the pack. With talent acquisition software, mid-sized companies can ensure that resumes won t get lost in the shuffle and candidates won t slip through the cracks. Primary benefits of applicant tracking include eliminating duplicate records for improved candidate tracking as well as using application history to better determine candidate qualification. Within this organized process, mid-market businesses are also able to efficiently identify and notify qualified candidates of positions within the organization as well as stay informed of all key candidate data in one centralized location. Reporting and Analytics Three out of 4 organizations claim that they are not adequately measuring the success of their recruitment and talent acquisition initiatives. Some of the more difficult tasks for mid-market businesses include determining which recruiting methods are working, which are lacking, and what these metrics mean for the future. Without a high-quality centralized reporting system, identifying important metrics can be both confusing and time consuming. A proficient talent acquisition system enables flexible reporting capabilities including such industry standard reports as cost-per-hire and time-to-fill as well as source effectiveness reports for better allocation of recruitment resources and automated EEO/OFCCP tracking and reporting to help give management piece of mind. In addition, these metrics can be reported in real time, across multiple departments, locations and business units. Onboarding With a decreasing sense of employment loyalty and increasingly expensive turnover rates in today s Generation Y dominated workforce, a well-managed plan of action is needed for mid-market businesses to succeed. Studies have shown that organizations that provide new-hires with easy access to forms and employment information prior to the first day of work benefit from enhanced employee retention, productivity, and overall satisfaction. Leaders of mid-market companies from every industry are investing additional time and financial resources in coordinating an onboarding program to ensure the retention of their top talent and decrease new-hire time-to-productivity. Utilizing talent acquisition software equipped with onboarding capabilities facilitates numerous processes including self-service completion of new-hire forms, scheduling of employee orientation, internal notification to key parties, and more.

3 The Difference While the search for talent acquisition software may be vast and sometimes confusing, it s important to realize that no two systems are the same. While the bells & whistles of a product may serve as an eye catching start in choosing a platform, it is important to determine what your mid-market company needs are and which vendor has the resources to cater to those needs. In order to evaluate exactly what your company needs, create a list of essential must haves in order to eliminate unqualified vendors. This list might include free customer support or perhaps the platform must be Software as a Service (SaaS) or web-based software rather than installed software. Identifying which vendor best fits your mid-market needs will ensure a smooth transition without unexpected disappointments. In addition, you might find it beneficial to connect with colleagues at other companies to learn from their experiences. In order to facilitate identifying your companies must-haves, take a look at some of the defining factors that follow. Selecting the Right Talent Acquisition Software: The 5 Essentials 1. Support The most essential element in ensuring your company has an ideal customer experience is support. A superior vendor will offer a product expert to work directly with you to ensure that the first, critical phase (software implementation) is handled professionally, on time, and to your satisfaction. After implementation, a team member (accustomed to your companies unique business needs) should be readily available to oversee your account with a single goal in mind: 100% customer satisfaction. The final tier should include a support expert, available 24 hours a day Monday through Friday, to answer your questions and concerns. Whether it s through a toll-free 800 number or by , your vendor should guarantee direct access to a member of their team on the first call and in real time. Truly complete customer service should also consist of alternative sources for customer assistance including free training, weekly webinars, onsite training, video library training, and more. Furthermore, training offerings need also be not straight off-the-shelf, but rather should be tailored around each organization s unique needs and preferences. In the end, every size company should benefit from unlimited access to enterprise-level support. 2. Ability to Grow One of the defining characteristics of a mid-market company, regardless of industry, is its likelihood to expand. Naturally, you would want your vendor of choice to do the same. The ability for your talent acquisition system to grow as your company expands is one of the most crucial decision making elements. Look for a vendor that provides inherent scalability where you can easily enhance your platform without purchasing, implementing, or training users on additional or new systems. The right vendor will not require you to buy additional modules, migrate to new databases, or pay premium prices for customer support if your business expands. 3. Ease of Use Having a system that is easy to use is a cornerstone of all products. What good is a software solution if it s too difficult to use? While it s easy for any vendor to claim that their platform is easy to use, take a look at some other indicators. Has the company won any awards for the ease of use of their platform? How s their customer satisfaction rating? What about their client retention rate? Many vendors will also include case studies featuring customer success stories. Take a look at these and see what other mid-market companies are saying about the system.

4 4. Speed and Security Talent acquisition software is only as effective as your ability to have 24/7/365 access to it. Find the system availability statistics on the vendor s website an ideal system will offer near perfect rates. Moreover, a talent platform should constantly be enhancing the way data is accessed and delivered to its mid-market end-users, thus the vendor should be improving delivery options upon each new release. In addition, mid-market businesses can greatly benefit from a platform that operates via Software as a Service (SaaS). Advantages include no installations as well as the relief of numerous burdens including support, maintenance, and upgrades from the end-customer. Data security is a vital component to any successful outsourced application hosting service. Look for HR Software that securely stores information remotely as well as backs up all of its data daily as part of a protocol for disaster recovery. 5. Value When a mid-market company is considering talent acquisition software, a crucial deciding factor can be the price to value ratio. Unfortunately, some vendors specialize in large and enterprise businesses and either price their product too high for mid-market businesses or offer a lesser value design. Often times, providers present mid-market clients with cheap starter systems rather than the quality full talent acquisitions software they require. Choosing talent acquisition software that operates on a single-platform is one of the most valuable, cost efficient decisions a mid-market company can make. A one-stop solution that enables the management of the entire talent life cycle through one single-source solution eliminates the need for mid-sized companies to ever purchase and maintain multiple solutions. Because mid-market businesses are constantly growing, a provider that doesn t require clients to buy additional modules or costly add-ons can offer a long term advantage. Look for scalable software that can be configured according to your company s unique hiring management processes as well as capable of accommodating your evolving needs as your organization expands or processes change. These attributes will ultimately provide a greater value to your companies needs. As we ve mentioned before, customer support is a key essential for talent acquisition software. When combined with the convenience of a single platform as well as the software s inherent scalability & configurability, it creates an overwhelming value for your mid-market company. Therefore, avoid software that offers its customer support at different levels for different prices. Your mid-market company should not be considered less than, nor should you have to pay premium price for customer support as your company expands. When these three fundamentals are offered from one vendor, they create an ultimate added value to the talent acquisition software. Accordingly, these attributes are vital assets to a mid-market company that is constantly growing and changing. Investing in the Software Once you become well-versed in the benefits of using talent acquisition software as well as what to look for, your company should begin to develop a plan for action. The timeline for a vendor selection process for talent acquisition software can range from a month to six or more to complete. The following is a suggested outline that will allow your business to project a realistic decision-making timeframe. Depending on your company s preferred implementation date, this time line is subject to change.

5 Time Line for Finding the Right Talent Acquisition Software 1st Month 2nd Month 3rd Month Form a selection committee 1 week Request RFPs to provide clarification on any topic or concern 4 weeks Finalize a vendor 3-6 weeks Identify company needs 1-2 weeks Create a long list of possible vendors 1 week Create a shortlist using your key evaluation criteria 1-2 weeks Demos ASAP Sales Presentations ASAP Site Visits TBD Once a selection committee is formed, identify your company s needs. If your business has experienced some of the pain points mentioned earlier, make sure the vendors you assess have the technology to alleviate them. Once you begin interacting with the possible vendors you can request RFPs (Request for Proposals) to clarify your company s exact needs for the software. After this process is complete you should be left with a succinct list of vendors. From there, interact with the possible vendors through demos, sales presentations, and site visits. The ultimate goal for your mid-market company should be to invest in Talent Acquisition Software that is the right fit for your unique needs and business processes.

6 How icims Can Help icims is the leading provider of talent acquisition solutions that help businesses win the war for top talent. icims empowers companies to manage their entire hiring process within the industry s most robust Platform-as-a-Service (PaaS). Built on the foundation of a best-to-market talent acquisition software suite, icims PaaS framework, UNIFi, allows employers to expand the capabilities of their core talent acquisition technology by integrating with the largest partner ecosystem in talent acquisition to help them attract, find, screen, and manage candidates. Offering scalable, easy-to-use solutions that are backed by award-winning customer service, icims supports more than 3,500 contracted customers and is one of the largest and fastest-growing talent acquisition solution providers. For more resources visit icims.com/hiring-insights Connect with icims on social media!