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The benefits of adopting a one-platform approach to talent acquisition explained…
Before we jump in, it’s important we define the term recruitment platform. Depending on the technology you’re used to your answer might be different, but we believe it should be a single system from which you can handle your end-to-end talent acquisition processes, from sourcing all the way through to onboarding.
Fifteen years ago, the recruiting platform first came into vogue promising to offer professionals across the talent acquisition spectrum access to a whole range of cutting-edge recruitment solutions from one centralized location. IT teams rejoiced at the thought of being free from the burden of integrations, but TA teams soon realized that the future wasn’t so rosy.
Anyone who has used one of these original recruitment suites will sympathize. Processes were clunky and rigid and anything but user-friendly. And it seemed that there was a compulsory trade-off of functionality when opting for the convenience of a singular recruiting platform.
The Rise of Recruiting Point Solutions
In the face of severe stakeholder frustration, point solutions began to emerge in the recruiting software market and adoption soared. You could contract the best-in-class solution for your every need. But the result is today’s highly complex ecosystem of vendors and systems that is almost impossible to manage.
So where do you go from here? Though the word suite fills many with horror as they think back to systems of the past, today it’s possible to implement a recruiting platform composed of best-in-class solutions that truly meets your needs. And it no longer comes at the cost of powerful functionality!
In this blog, we’ll offer some guidance for selecting your vendor. But first, here are six reasons why you should invest in an agile, best-in-class recruitment platform and adopt a more holistic approach to talent acquisition!
1. The right recruitment software will drive increased internal stakeholder efficiency, engagement and adoption
Having to remember different login details for multiple systems, as well as how to use each one, is a common bugbear that can prevent employees from using the technology you’ve invested in. By comparison, a recruiting platform delivers an enhanced user experience by requiring just one login and the knowledge of a single interface. Furthermore, it provides access to one centralized set of candidate and employee records.
A best-in-class talent acquisition platform delivers convenience, which helps engage the most critical stakeholders. Providing hiring managers with a one-stop-shop for all HM activities related to the recruiting process is a great way to drive adoption. And the same can be said for store managers in the retail sector. With access to on-demand talent pools, they can meet their hiring needs much more efficiently. So they’ll be keener to adopt the technology a recruitment platform provides.
Make sure to invest in a mobile friendly talent acquisition suite so you can take full advantage of the benefits. That way stakeholders can manage the hiring process on-the-go from any device.
2. A truly agile recruitment platform can grow with you, meeting your needs today and in the future
Opting for a single point solution that meets your current needs might seem like a sensible investment today. But as your objectives or requirements change over time, these solutions offer limited scalability. By comparison, one of the key benefits of a recruiting platform is that it can grow with you.
Imagine that, originally, you only really needed an ATS. But at some point in the future you decide to implement a CRM to engage with your leads, a rewards-based referrals program to capture passive candidates, an onboarding solution to deliver a better employee experience, or even an internal mobility program to promote talent across your organization.
If you only invested in an ATS at the start, you now need to find an additional solution provider that offers an integrated service with your current technology. Additionally, you’ll need the budget to pay for the new solution and any integrations, and the support of IT teams to maintain this new relationship. However, if you initially chose a best-in-class recruiting platform, you can easily enhance and scale your hiring process without reliance on vendor support and the headache integrations can bring.
3. A recruitment platform will give you increased visibility of your recruiting performance and the power to optimize processes
We’re all conscious of the power of data, but the silos between individual point solutions make 360-degree reporting almost impossible. With a single platform, you can measure recruiting processes much more effectively from sourcing to hire. This has clear benefits for the business. Not only does centralized data management make it easier to ensure you meet compliance requirements. Sharing relevant metrics with stakeholders also means they can make more impactful data-driven decisions.
A recruitment platform that provides you with customizable dashboards will allow you to benefit further. With data presented visually, it’s much easier to prioritize tasks and identify risks so you can take appropriate action if required.
4. A talent acquisition platform will drive significant cost savings for your company
Contracting technology from a single vendor, rather than multiple providers, grants you with increased purchasing power and a decrease in associated costs. To ensure you maximize the potential of these savings it’s important to make sure that the vendor you choose offers robust, best-in-class recruiting solutions that meet your needs and requirements. If not, it’s likely you’ll have to purchase OTT solutions to fill the gaps.
Investing in a recruitment platform also reduces operational expenses. IT teams aren’t required to set up and maintain costly integrations and administrative tasks are simplified. As a result, you can benefit from even greater cost savings.
5. The right recruitment platform addresses candidate experience issues head on
One of the biggest challenges you face in today’s market is cutting through the noise when it comes to engaging with top talent. Delivering an exceptional candidate experience is the first step in ensuring you do just that. And it’s easy to do so once you’ve adopted a one-platform approach.
With all recruiting processes taking place in one platform, it’s easier to ensure timely responses to candidates, no matter what stage of the sourcing or hiring process they’re at. It’s also much easier to avoid duplicate outreach. This can have a damaging impact – especially if a candidate has recently been rejected or stated that they aren’t open to opportunities.
On the flip side, a recruitment platform enables the efficient re-engagement of silver medalists. This can have a really positive impact on candidate experience. An individual might not have been selected for a specific position. But you can continue to foster that relationship by sharing relevant content and communicating future opportunities where appropriate. It’s much harder to engage these candidates across separate point solutions: many simply get lost between silos.
6. You can harness tools normally reserved for marketing to engage candidates as you would customers
Those companies that can move away from managing recruiting solely as an HR process are the most likely to succeed in today’s competitive market. Though there are many recruitment marketing tools out there, a best-in-class recruitment platform empowers you to activate a compelling communications strategy that’s embedded within your sourcing and hiring processes. From a branding and messaging perspective, one platform ensures consistency across all touch points and minimizes duplication of efforts.
Recruiting should be a strategic enabler amid fierce competition for top talent. After all, business success is directly related to the success of your recruiting teams to hire the right candidates. Empowering them with a robust suite of integrated tools is the first step to taking advantage of the benefits mentioned above.
Making the right investment
Suite and platform have become buzzwords in the industry as vendors look to capitalize on the growing appetite of talent acquisition professionals to return to a simpler, centralized technology model. With no industry standard definition, how can you be sure that the products within the suite are robust enough to deliver the level of functionality you require?
A true recruitment platform must support your end-to-end processes, including onboarding and referrals. Making sure that the technology on offer meets your needs for each of these important steps is a great way to verify that the suite you’re considering is good enough. Identify the established processes that you need to follow and go through them with the vendor. Together you can scope out how the technology will meet your needs and, where possible, they will show you key functionality in action through demos.
If you’re looking for a system that will grow with you, enabling you to overcome future challenges; that will empower you to build agility into your processes, facilitating experimentation and the opportunity to test out your ideas; that allows you to design and implement a comprehensive experience for all stakeholders; and that will unlock your siloed data, then Avature is your best-in-class recruitment platform of choice.
