Key Benefits of Applicant Tracking Systems (ATS) and Top Examples

Although it’s crucial to your company’s success to hire the right person, recruitment takes time and energy. You can put your whole attention into finding the most qualified candidates for open positions. This is possible since an application tracking system eliminates many time-consuming tasks associated with recruitment and onboarding. The benefits of applicant tracking systems (ATS) can be seen across the entire organization, from attracting top talents to boosting the company’s bottom line.

So, what exactly is applicant tracking software? It’s a hub for all the data you need to manage your candidate pipeline, from sourcing to onboarding. In a nutshell, it simultaneously facilitates the evaluation of several applications. A good applicant tracking system will be useful from the minute a qualified candidate applies through the whole hiring process. These tools also come with features like interview scheduling tools, approval procedures, employee onboarding, and document management.

With the best applicant tracking system, benefits range from saving time and resources to streamlining the onboarding process. This article examines all these advantages to highlight why your company needs an applicant tracking system (ATS).

Companies may be hesitant to begin recruiting despite a critical shortage of personnel because of the costs involved. It’s easy to lose sight of the fact that there is a significant investment involved in hiring new staff members. When you throw in things like hiring, onboarding, and training, you see how quickly the costs build up.

The Society for Human Resource Management (SHRM) has released data showing that the average cost per recruit is over $4,700. However, many businesses believe that the cost of hiring a new worker might be up to four times the position’s annual compensation. So, to fill a position that pays $60,000 annually, you might have to spend upwards of $180,000.

The process of hiring brings a number of hidden expenses. These include the cost of advertising the vacancy, paying an internal recruiter, and paying an assistant to review resumes and handle other related tasks. Companies also have to compensate staff who do interviews, perform drug tests and background checks, and administer pre-employment processes.

Most businesses know that they need to invest in recruitment to keep up with the demand for qualified workers. However, few have taken the necessary steps to develop and execute an effective recruitment marketing plan. Recent hiring data also indicate that 60% of companies do not have access to resources for acquiring the right talent.

As a result, recruiting teams turn to smart solutions to reduce this overhead spending. A popular tool is an applicant tracking system (ATS) that benefits the HR department and the entire organization. With such growing demands, the ATS industry generated a total of $1.43 billion worldwide in 2021. From 2022 to 2030, experts expect an increase at a compound annual growth rate of 9.05%. Increases in automation across industries are expected to boost demand for applicant tracking systems worldwide as well.

So, what are the benefits of applicant tracking systems (ATS)? We have compiled some of the top reasons why companies of all sizes should consider using an ATS.

Benefits of Applicant Tracking Systems (ATS)

1. Efficient Recruitment Process With Automation

It takes time and effort to set up and monitor your candidate pipeline, what with having to schedule many stakeholders at once and scouring through inboxes to find the relevant attachment. With an intuitive interface and suite of time-saving features, the best applicant tracking systems streamline the recruitment process.

The framework provided by an applicant tracking system allows for significant time savings at every stage of the hiring process. The benefits of applicant tracking systems (ATS) include their ability to assist in a wide variety of recruitment tasks. These include creating custom hiring workflows for implementation across departments or interview stages to incorporating endorsement flows into the system. In addition, shared calendars make it easy to see everyone’s schedule at a glance and set up meetings.

Additionally, an ATS allows you to view resumes and communicate with top prospects from a single interface. Because it streamlines the recruiting process, an ATS frees up more time for you. In this way, you can focus on the quality of your applicant screening and interviews. Therefore, it facilitates your search for top-tier employees in less time.

2. Publish Job Posts Everywhere

It is not necessary to repeatedly publish the same job description in order to attract a large pool of applicants. Important applicant tracking system benefits include the distribution of job ads across numerous channels. In this way, you save time and learn which channels bring in the most qualified applicants.

When job openings are advertised in many places, more qualified applicants will see them. It might take a lot of time to choose the platforms and go through each site’s registration procedure. Potential employees easily apply to positions, thanks to ATS’ rapid dissemination of a branded job ad across all sites and the company’s website. The time you save in maintaining job postings can be spent crafting compelling job descriptions that attract qualified candidates.

Features of applicant tracking systems typically include the ability to post any number of job boards, even those in foreign countries. This allows your team to monitor various channels that attract candidates and prioritize platforms that produce the best hires. It may also use content marketing campaigns to publish updates on social media automatically. As more applicants utilize social media to look for jobs, engaging them in these platforms significantly expands your talent pool.

3. Better Candidate Experience

Applicant tracking system benefits include streamlined communication with applicants. Send them a message to inform them where their application stands or request further information if necessary. This function can also be used to inform interested parties about new employment opportunities with your firm.

As a result of the ATS’ consistent and simplified communication approach, candidates feel considerably more engaged in the recruiting process. An ATS provides a central location where candidates can arrange interviews, check the progress of their applications, and even accept the offer. It’s far more convenient than waiting for a phone call or email to get updates.

Furthermore, it helps you remain in touch with potential workers. Not hearing back from a firm quickly after applying for a job might be frustrating for some otherwise eligible applicants. The candidate may even decide they no longer want to work for the company if consistent communication is not maintained. Applicant tracking tools help you get off the right foot by streamlining communication with job seekers.

4. Enhanced Candidate Rating, Reviews, and Selection

Hiring sometimes takes up too much time and effort. On the other hand, technology provides more effective ways to streamline the hiring process. One of the benefits of an applicant tracking system is that you get a smaller, more qualified applicant pool. Moreover, recent hiring statistics indicate that 70% of companies using an ATS think that recruitment technology greatly eases hiring workflows.

An ATS scans a résumé or application to see whether the applicant’s skills and experience meet the position’s requirements. Algorithms evaluate various credentials such as education, experience, and certifications. This implies that by utilizing an ATS, businesses have a better chance of finding the ideal candidate for their open positions. Companies don’t need to get a bigger hiring team.

More than that, a smart, AI-powered ATS provides HR specialists with straightforward resources. These resources help streamline tasks like applicant screening, filtering, and rating. It stores and processes resumes automatically and rate applicants according to user-defined criteria. These systems also organize applicant data in a standardized format for easy comparisons.

To further guarantee that employers always make the best placement selections, an ATS powered by semantic search engines eliminates prejudice. As a result, this prevents any candidate from being overlooked and increases the likelihood that they will be hired.

5. Centralized Candidate Database for Easy Collaboration

To maintain order throughout the recruiting process, having a single repository for all applicant data proves helpful. In an ATS, you can produce reports for metrics like applicant feedback to share with key decision-makers and filters that put candidates into groups, such as by hiring stage, enabling you to adjust your perspective to meet your requirements.

Having a consolidated view of all of your applicants not only saves you time but also reveals trends that inform and improve your future hiring efforts. Through the use of such a system, you can track the interest in your job advertising and learn from them where you find your most promising candidates.

In addition, applicant tracking tools facilitate communication and teamwork throughout the organization. An effective ATS also eases collaboration and communication among many stakeholders, including recruiters, department managers, and other decision-makers. Other team members can also provide comments and share information about prospects at any point in the application review process, fostering a culture of collaborative recruiting. In addition to helping individuals by providing a smooth application procedure, this boosts group output and enhances decision-making.

6. Better Quality-of-Hire

Quality of hire, the entire value that new workers provide to a firm via their performance, is an important recruiting metric. The quality of a recruit can be measured in a number of ways: how quickly they learn their new role, how low their turnover and retention rates are, how satisfied their hiring manager is, etc. The metric also indicates the correctness of your assessments and the efficacy of your recruiting procedure.

If you utilize an applicant tracking system (ATS), you’ll rapidly find the most qualified prospects, which increases the quality of your hiring. The decision-making process may also be sped up by this simplified procedure, allowing you to employ the best candidate sooner. Moreover, applicant tracking system benefits include the automation of common recruitment processes such as functionality evaluations, personality tests, telephone interviews, background checks, and drug testing.

Also, you can avoid losing the best talent to a competitor if you move quickly to fill open positions. Improving candidate engagement and experience may be greatly aided by automated emails to guarantee frequent and timely connection with your applicants. Candidates who have a pleasant experience during the hiring process tend to be more likely to accept offers, apply again, and recommend other qualified individuals to work for your organization.

7. Examples of Applicant Tracking Systems (ATS)

It’s not easy to compare and contrast different software and choose one that provides the most important benefits of applicant tracking system tools. We’ve made it easier for you by providing you with the top-notch applicant tracking software available in the market.

BambooHRVISIT WEBSITE

BambooHR, the best applicant tracking system in the market, comes with automated capabilities that provide the benefits mentioned above. With the included statistics and analytics, you can track hiring times, locate bottlenecks, and uncover discrepancies. The HR software boosts the recruitment process by streamlining the hiring procedure, enhancing the quality of the applicant experience, and improving the company’s reputation as an employer.

In addition, setting up individual permissions makes it simple to get opinions from team members and stakeholders at any time. The consolidated candidate data is sent promptly to desktop and mobile, and automatic notifications and in-system communications keep things flowing without hiccups in communication.

GreenhouseVISIT WEBSITE

Greenhouse tracks applicants and helps businesses of all sizes improve their methods of recruiting and optimize the tasks of their hiring staff. From posting a job opening to welcoming new employees into the fold, this ATS helps establish a streamlined, data-driven recruitment procedure. Furthermore, it helps with the consistency and impartiality of application evaluations, which furthers the company’s diversity, equality, and inclusion goals.

Utilizing this system, businesses streamline their whole recruiting workflow. At the onset, they gain access to more than a thousand major and specialized job sites to identify suitable prospective workers. Users can work together throughout the review phase by utilizing @mentions, shared reviews, and other necessary approvals. Job setup processes can be tailored to the needs of each individual user on this platform.

SubmittableVISIT WEBSITE

Submittable works as an online submissions management software designed for various charities, NGOs, and other non-profits. It’s a breeze to set up, personalize, and release this platform for collecting and reviewing submissions or applications. Submittable’s powerful features make it easy to create review procedures for applications for funding, scholarships, showcasing skills, peer review, honors, nominations, and corporate donations.

The software aids you in developing and releasing a smooth application process. It provides helpful features such as intuitive interfaces, sophisticated forms, and adaptable file uploads to facilitate this training. You can modify the application site and any associated web forms by dragging and dropping various components. In this approach, you build a branded gateway that includes comprehensive guidelines.

Sage HR

Sage HR helps companies of all sizes and in a wide range of sectors better manage their workforce. Recruitment, performance reviews, shift planning, expenditure tracking, and more are just some of the HR-related tasks that could be simplified using this tool. Sage HR emphasizes the significance of a smooth and efficient recruiting process in addition to its user-friendly design. The platform also supports digital recruitment, screening, and onboarding.

Furthermore, Sage HR already makes it possible for HR professionals to digitally and conveniently handle the recruiting process. Managers can provide employees with reliable feedback on their performance. Employees with access to Sage HR can view and make changes to their shift and vacation schedules online, eliminating the need for a large amount of paperwork.

Rippling

Rippling works as an integrated human resources (HR) and information technology (IT) platform that streamlines the administration of employee benefits, payroll, and mobile applications and devices. It has robust capabilities for application monitoring and personnel management, allowing you to easily discover, cultivate, and engage the best possible talent for your company. It streamlines the whole recruiting process for you, from finding qualified candidates to keeping track of their progress to generating any report you may need.

Share job openings on all major sites at once, including Indeed and LinkedIn, to attract the most qualified candidates and fill your pipeline in record time. In addition, you tailor the interview process for each available job in your organization by position, department, or level and set up approval procedures and notifications. It also syncs with calendaring apps like Outlook, iCal, and Google Calendar to make it easy to see when potential interviewees are free.

An ATS can be a part of a fully featured HR system like BambooHR.

Improve Your Hiring Process With an ATS

In addition to reducing costs and increasing efficiency, an applicant tracking system (ATS) can propel your business to new heights by assisting in the pursuit of strategic goals, providing tangible benefits to your recruiting team, and speeding up the process of finding and selecting the best candidates. Employing productivity suite software like an applicant tracking system potentially has far-reaching positive effects on a company’s operations.

By keeping everyone on the same page and reducing the kind of busy work that may bog down the workday, this method helps cut down on employee burnout. Having a positive work environment not only makes workers happier but also increases the value of their time spent there. These are just some of the benefits of applicant tracking systems beyond the recruitment process.

Among the numerous applicant tracking systems in the market, our top choice is BambooHR. You get to focus on identifying the best candidates for open positions and providing them with a positive application process because of the recruiting software’s ability to keep all applicant data structured throughout the whole hiring process. In addition to streamlining the candidates’ recruiting process, this system guarantees timely communication at each stage of the review process, making members of your hiring team appear like rock stars and elevating the company’s reputation.

If you’re still looking for more advice on choosing an applicant tracking system, check our guide to tips and tools for choosing the best ATS.

By Jenny Chang

Jenny Chang is a senior writer specializing in SaaS and B2B software solutions. Her decision to focus on these two industries was spurred by their explosive growth in the last decade, much of it she attributes to the emergence of disruptive technologies and the quick adoption by businesses that were quick to recognize their values to their organizations. She has covered all the major developments in SaaS and B2B software solutions, from the introduction of massive ERPs to small business platforms to help startups on their way to success.