Recruitment software has become vital for SMBs to ensure their teams are packed with the right talent to drive their business forward. Before choosing to buy a recruitment software here are some pros and cons worth considering.
What is Recruitment Software?
A recruitment software is a suite of tools (or individual standalone modules) that automate the hiring process, thereby providing higher efficiency while lowering costs and errors related to manual effort. Some of the most common versions of recruitment software include Application Tracking System (ATS), Resume Parsing and/or Screening, Candidate Relationship Management, and Integrated Interview Scheduling software. An ATS is the more comprehensive variant that usually encompasses most of the other standalone features within itself. It is also able to integrate to other HR tools such as payroll, time tracking, leave/absence management etc. and in return giving you the option to have a seamless automated system from hire-to-retire.
How Does Recruiting Software Help Small Businesses?
Small firms that want to expand need to hire more employees. Small firms cannot hope to expand up substantially without finding top talent and attracting candidates to open positions. However, finding the proper employee for a position might be difficult at times. The caliber of your staff is the single most accurate indicator of future success in any venture.
A recruiting software gives you access to a multitude of job sites and job boards, significantly expanding your search spectrum. Being a rule based system, it minimizes errors or lost opportunities due to manual inaccuracies in data input or interpretation. It is also able to provide tangible ROI due to reduction in the cost and duration of hiring of candidates, something that is known to consume a significant chunk of the recruiter’s daily work day. Intangible benefits include a streamlined process, maintenance of a resume database for future requirements, and proper data repository to meet with any compliance or regulatory requirements.
3 Essentials for Small Businesses When Choosing Recruiting Software
There are several factors that should be taken into account while choosing the ideal recruiting software for your business. However, some of the more prominent ones include:
- Functionality and Flexibility: The right recruiting software for YOU depends entirely on YOUR business needs. Whether there are just 1 or 2 specific areas that need automation or an entire system overhaul is required, are just of the questions you need to consider before beginning your search. Keep in mind that not only should the features have an immediate impact on your hiring operations but there should be sufficient flexibility or customization that the software permits. The software needs to adapt to your ways of working and not the other way round.
- Degree of Complexity To Implement and Operate: User training and system awareness needs to be taken into account when you build your business case. Quick to learn systems with intuitive or predictive technology are far more desirable. Being able to integrate to your existing systems through APIs or easy plug–in will make the entire process quicker and less disruptive to your daily business.
- Setup Time and Cost: Budget, of course, is a vital consideration for businesses of all sizes, and maybe more so for smaller enterprises. Sufficient attention needs to be paid to understand the pricing model and timelines. Questions regarding phase-wise pricing versus all-inclusive or pay as you use commercial models are important to be clarified early on. Do not forget to consider the user training, multichannel support etc. that may be required post implementation and whether it is explicitly covered in the final pricing.
The Pros of Using Recruiting Software for Small Businesses
The benefits of using recruitment software are manifold.
- Reduction in Manual Effort: Several industry reports suggest a whopping 25% of a recruiter’s time is spent on manual tasks like searching and screening resumes. Recruitment software, like the one provided by Wisestep, has been proven to save up to10 hrs per recruiter per week. You can do the math on how much this saves in time and effort which is then better put to use by engaging with candidates to better understand their cultural fitment to your organization.
- Multi-Channel Sourcing: Recruiting software gives you access to a wider pool of talent across multiple platforms, job boards, career sites, social media etc. Your presence on these platforms also enhances your visibility towards candidates allowing you to attract more candidates and a higher quality of talent.
- Increased Collaboration: Especially useful in the present times of remote hiring, recruiting software allows multiple stakeholders to actively participate in the hiring process and share real-time feedback. It is easy to consolidate this feedback and get an overall candidate rating. Moreover, the automated system makes the application process easily visible to every relevant participant.
- Streamlined Processes: You will finally be able to do away with those bulky excel files, unwanted emails and all the rest of the paperwork that has been cluttering your workplace. Recruiting software will streamline the entire process, bring in efficiencies, reduce waste, minimize errors, and create an easy to refer and simple to retrieve archive.
- Analytics Driven Insights: All businesses rely on data to make strategic decisions. The efficacy of the decision is directly proportional to the quality and integrity of underlying data. The best recruitment software comes with strong reporting capabilities that can be used to make swift and effective data-driven decisions regarding the workforce.
The Cons of Using Recruiting Software for Small Businesses
Like all good things, there are certain challenges that come with recruiting software that you need to be aware of, in order to nullify them.
- Reduction of Human Quotient In Hiring: Since a recruiting software uses algorithms to screen resumes, it is possible that some potentially talented candidates might get eliminated simply based on their resume not meeting the inbuilt rules. Even those candidates who have not updated their resumes or profiles recently are likely to not get picked up by the algorithm or bot.
- System Manipulation: On the other hand, there can be cases where candidates try to manipulate the automated system by peppering their resume with relevant keywords which may not be a true reflection of their actual skill and experience. The system will not differentiate and pick these profiles up as they meet the guideline.
- Technical Snags: As with any technical product, there can be user based or system based snags and glitches that may arise from time to time. It is important to include robust multichannel support in your recruitment software so your users can get back in action ASAP.
Bottom Line
As you can see, the benefits of a recruitment software far outweigh the perceived cons. More importantly, the biggest benefit is the ability to hire top quality talent at a faster pace to propel your business forward and stay ahead among the competition.
