Tag: Recruitment Technology

New Research on the Talent Acquisition Market: The Aptitude Index Report

Post author By Madeline Laurano
Post date July 14, 2016

If you read Mollie’s blog post on Monday, you can probably sense that we are very excited to announce the launch of the Aptitude Index report today. This is a comprehensive study of the leading talent acquisition system providers and their unique differentiators. It is not a ranking report. It is not a traditional buyer’s guide. It is not a magic quadrant. Instead, it provides in-depth analysis of the market and information that is not necessarily available in a demo or on a website. We spent over 8 months interviewing customers, demoing solutions, and getting briefings from providers. We are ready to share our findings. I learned a lot and I am very impressed by how far the ATS market has come in just the past year.

(Check out our video describing the report here)

If you are still unsure about what the Index is or how you can use it, the information below might help.

Who is Included? We looked at the leading talent acquisition system providers including: ADP, Cornerstone OnDemand, Greenhouse Software, iBM Kenexa BrassRing, iCIMS, Lever, Lumesse, Newton Software, Oracle, PeopleFluent, SAP, SilkRoad, SmartRecruiters, Workday

What is it? It provides an overview of the market and helps companies rethink the evaluation criteria used to select partners and what providers might meet their unique requirements. As the market becomes more complex, organizations must take a step back and reexamine what is driving success and ask new questions around technology decisions. The final section of this report includes profiles of ATS providers describing their attributes along these criteria. The appendix includes a list of providers in the ecosystem that partner with talent acquisition systems.

When does it publish? Today!

Where can we find it? Download a copy here: http://aptituderesearchpartners.com/ATS-Index-2016

Why should we care? Companies spend a lot of money on talent acquisition technology. It is hard to figure out if you are getting value from your providers and what solutions might match your unique hiring needs. Today, the decision to purchase technology is not just about price and product capabilities. It involves services, leadership, culture, and viability of these providers.

We launched this report to start a new conversation around talent acquisition systems. One that looks beyond just functionality and instead at what providers will serve as true partners. Check it out and let us know what you think!

Tags ATS, HR Technology, Recruitment Technology, talent acquisition systems

Blog Talent Acquisition Strategies

Stop Being So Fancy

Post author By Madeline Laurano
Post date March 7, 2016

Talent acquisition is incredibly complex. Recruiters are facing new responsibilities, new pressures and new challenges. But what surprises me is that many of the talent acquisition technology providers- with all of their products and enhancements- are adding to the complexity not alleviating it. The large, traditional Applicant Tracking Systems (ATS) are so quick to transform recruitment technology into more of a finance or business solution that they seem to have forgotten their audience. And, in the rush to innovate, the recruiter’s needs have gone ignored.

Recruiters have one major problem. They need an easier way to attract, recruit and hire talent. If a technology provider is not solving that problem, they do not have a viable solution. According to Aptitude’s 2016 Hire, Engage and Retain survey, only 3% of companies are using the full functionality of their ATS system. Companies either don’t know the functionality is there or they don’t understand how to use it. Again, many of these solutions are too complicated. If you want to give recruiters and candidates what they need- technology providers need to make it simple.

Below are a few ways that recruitment technology providers can get back to the basics:

Don’t Overcomplicate Analytics: The use of statistical algorithms and machine learning can help organizations perform in the future. And yes, predictive analytics can help transform a talent acquisition department into a more strategic function. But the reality is that most recruiters still struggle with basic reporting. When talent acquisition providers overcomplicate analytics, recruiters will shy away. Providers should focus on providing information that will help recruiters do their job and make better decisions (ie, data around conversion rates and pipeline analytics).
Keep Users on the Platform: I have said this before and I will say it again. Recruiters should not have to leave their ATS to perform core aspects of talent acquisition. Scheduling interviews, viewing documents such as a resume or sending an email to a candidate should all be down in the platform.
Make Communication Easy: Communication is important. Ninety-three (93%)of companies say it is a priority for the upcoming year but few recruiters and hiring managers have the time to send out personal communication to candidates. More systems are including a library of templates throughout the recruiting process to communicate with candidates and even create a cadence of that communication. It may not sound sexy, but having templates for reaching out to candidates is becoming a critical tool for recruiters. Leveraging a template- can take less than a minute to send compared to a personal email that could take 15 or 20 minutes to write.
Understand the Value of Your Marketplace: One reason that talent acquisition has become so complex is that there are so many categories of technology and new providers entering the market. It is challenging to understand the ecosystem of talent acquisition and how these solutions integrate with an ATS. The goal of a marketplace should be to help customers make quick decisions and quick transactions on the third-party solutions.

The more complex talent acquisition becomes, the more simple technology should be. Recruiters don’t need the extra pressure and stress from a solutions that they don’t understand how to use. As we finish up briefings for our Aptitude Index reports, simplicity and ease of use are key differentiators.

Tags ATS, Recruitment Technology, talent acquisition

Blog Talent Acquisition Strategies

Raytheon: Improving the Candidate Experience through Better Communication

Post author By Madeline Laurano
Post date February 29, 2016

As customers, we want to feel important. We expect a customer experience that is personal, simple and human. Fortunately, most companies are committed to meeting these needs. If I think about the sites I visit regularly (Adidas, Fiverr, Amazon or even sites for my kid’s activities), they all share two things in common. First, they offer real-time chat options and second, they ask for feedback about the experience. Chat and messaging help us feel supported in a friendly and familiar way. Feedback is important because we want to know that our opinions matter. Again, customers want to feel important.

The same is true for our workforce. Candidates and employees also want an experience that is personal, simple and human. Why should messaging and feedback be limited to just the consumer world? The good news is that more solutions are becoming candidate-centric and employee-centric – committed to providing the same experience we see in the customer world to our workforce. In my opinion, the key to making candidates happy is making solutions simple. One candidate-centric provider that has really impressed me this year is Brazen. They are able to put the individual first by providing exactly what candidates want…communication and feedback. Brazen offers a simple solution for attracting and engaging passive talent through real-time messaging.

Raytheon has been using Brazen for the past four years to improve the candidate experience. With so many positions available and too many applicants, providing a 1:1 engagement was a challenge for the defense contractor. With Brazen, Raytheon is now able to provide a more personal experience through individual chat-based events. Candidates are attracted to Raytheon and then have the option to schedule a chat with a recruiter or hiring manager to learn more about the organization and the recruitment process. The process of looking for a job is transformed from scary and unknown to friendly and familiar.

Below are a few ways that Raytheon is using the solution:

Enterprise Tool: To support its four business units, Raytheon has been leveraging Brazen for over 4 years to schedule chats with candidates that typically last for 20 minutes.
Targeted Events: Raytheon uses Brazen to schedule very specific, targeted events for military hires or women (just two examples). These events go into greater detail about the culture and work environment at Raytheon. These events are also much longer – sometimes lasting between sixty to ninety minutes. The military events attract 60-140 candidates and are held 8-10 times a year.
Target Specific Jobs and Roles: Raytheon uses Brazen to target specific types of roles, locations and market to a specific demographic.

Through this solution, Raytheon has been able to identify candidates quickly, engage with them in a meaningful way and gather more information to make better decisions about candidates. They have also been able to save money that would be spent flying candidates to meet with recruiters and hiring managers. Overall, it has proved to be a win-win for both candidates and recruiters.

In a world where experience is defining our workforce, we need more solutions that make communication easy and simple.

Tags employee communication, Future of Work, HR Technology, Recruitment Technology

Blog

Just In: New Data on Talent Acquisition Technology

Post author By Madeline Laurano
Post date February 19, 2016

Our first Aptitude survey is off to a great start with close to 300 responses. The goal of this research is to explore how companies are leveraging technology to improve the way they hire, engage and retain talent. We are looking at the challenges and strategies through every stage of the customer’s journey from readiness to selection, implementation and adoption. The good news is that with so many new products and services, it is an exciting time to be an HR technology buyer. The bad news is that most companies still struggle when making decisions on what technology will best meet their unique needs.

We are committed to helping companies navigate through the customer journey and understand how to identify their own priorities. Below is a sneak peek at some of the data that aligns with the customer journey.

Readiness: Readiness involves understanding your organization’s true business needs, requirements and limitations, as well as the underlying talent strategy. Companies must think about what technology they currently have in place and what changes will help them achieve their business objectives. Currently, only 3% of companies are using the full functionality of their ATS and one third of companies are still using their ERP.
Selection: Selecting the right provider involves more than product capabilities. It is the process for identifying the best partner. Companies have to look at differentiators and how they help to meet their own business needs. Eighty percent of companies rely on word of mouth to help make decisions. Key criteria for selecting an ATS includes:
- Product Capabilities- 65%
- Price – 63%
- Demonstrated ROI- 60%
- Approach to integration- 56%
- Demonstrated expertise in a related industry- 56%
- Financial Viability – 54%
- Relationship management Resources- 52%
Implementation: Implementation is often when the relationship with a vendor goes wrong. The process of getting the solution operational in your unique business context. Thirty-four (34%) of companies implement their system in 90 days or less.
Adoption: Organizational change management is critical to success, and planning for how to support user adoption is a key to unlocking technology ROI. Adoption is the true sign of how successful the customer journey has been. Only 20%of companies have a change management strategy in place and only 43% of companies view their providers as a partner.

Over the next few weeks, we will be publishing highlights from this research and recommendations for companies looking to better understand the technology landscape and their own customer journey.

Tags HR Technology, Recruitment Technology, talent acquisition