We Asked. You Answered
Recently, BHI utilized our survey technology to assess what industry leaders wanted in an Applicant Tracking System (ATS). We surveyed multi-industry HR leaders to discover what they believed to be the leading trends and their most desired ATS features. In addition, we wanted to uncover favorite aspects of these systems as well as generate a wish list of improvements. Thanks to our many participants, we found some really interesting results and wanted to share!
Our survey participants consisted of HR leaders within the hospitality, manufacturing, and health care fields with the majority of respondents within the hospitality- food service industry. Of our sample, 42% were at the Director or VP level, another 42% were HR Managers, and the remaining 16% were field managers, recruiters or unspecified. Organizations of all sizes were represented from under 1,000 employees (21%) to over 50,000 employees (7%). Of our sample, approximately half reported current usage of an applicant tracking system (ATS), whereas 7% reported concurrent ATS implementation, 21% indicated that they are considering an ATS and 23% replied with no use or future need. Further, our sample represented a wide range of various ATS systems including our own Click and Hire™ system as well as many others, both large and small.
If you could design your own ATS, what would you include?
We were primarily interested in discovering what our population desired in an ATS. We asked our survey respondents to rank order many of the leading edge ATS functionality options from three viewpoints: 1) the candidate 2) the user and 3) the administrator experience.
Candidate.The ability to upload a resume that pre-populates an application and a fun, interactive process were both ranked as top priorities for the candidate experience. Both of these options help shorten the candidate's experience and leave the applicant with a good impression of the company. Surprisingly, we found a slight difference of opinion with regard to a mobile platform site option. Those currently using an ATS valued that functionality more so than those that do not. Both groups indicated the ability to add or edit candidate information was less important, followed by a completely paperless on-boarding process. This is likely the case because these options occur later in the applicant tracking process.
User (Hiring Manager/ Recruiter). Our respondents most valued a dynamic search feature that allows users to quickly identify candidates fit for a given position. Second on the list of desired features was email/Outlook integration that can be used to simplify scheduling hiring interviews. Those that currently are using an ATS then picked a completely paperless on-boarding process as their third choice, whereas non-ATS respondents desired the ability to re-profile candidates. A mobile platform feature was a last choice for both groups.
Administrator (HR Director). Top on the list for administrators (the majority of respondents in this survey) is the ability to customize analytic reports. Certainly, real-time, custom analytics options are one of the most prominent benefits of today's ATS systems. Integration with job boards and aggregators fell second in importance closely followed by the ability to track drop-off rates and send batch reminders. Those currently using an ATS then valued the ability to manage email content, whereas non-ATS users valued the ability to change user access levels.
In addition to the above mentioned features, our survey participants also indicated that complete integration with their selection assessment provider and branding customization are highly important to them.
Let's Talk Numbers
One of the most important features of an ATS is the analytics functionality- specifically, a system's ability to produce standard and customized reports. So, we were interested in what reports our participants utilize the most. Our leaders ranked turnover reports as most useful, closely followed by sourcing reports. While these are fairly standard reports, respondents indicated their general satisfaction with being able to generate these reports at the touch of a button. Assessment results, EEOC reports, and Candidate drop-off reports came in as third, fourth and fifth in importance, respectively.
Other types of reports such as time-to-fill and cost-to-hire were also suggested as useful and important to recruiters and hiring managers. It is clear that ATS analytics functions need to be robust and conformable to a variety of reporting needs.
Areas For Improvement
Of course, we also wanted to understand where all ATS systems (including our own) could stand to make some improvements. One of the most consistent suggestions was to improve the navigational features for users and administrators. Many of our respondents indicated that some systems are not as intuitive as they could be and the process of opening every piece of information about a candidate can be time consuming.
Overwhelmingly, we were given great feedback about the benefits of applicant tracking systems such as Click and Hire™. As a leading edge organization, we strive to continually innovate and improve, thus the reason we conducted this survey. Many of the desired features are already in the works to be implemented, if they aren't options already! We are very grateful for the input of our survey participants and look forward to meeting and exceeding your expectations in the future.
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