Combining new technology with your ATS (a.k.a. “integration”) is a way to migrate the various processes of your business and hiring into one location, which leads to a more efficient workflow for the talent acquisition team and a better collection stream for all your data. Ensuring your various technologies are compatible means you don’t have to switch between systems or migrate data from one location to another. This essentially removes the roadblocks between the people of your talent acquisition team and all the information they need, so that the team can work more efficiently and better communicate.

But with all the HR tech available, there are a few things to consider as you evaluate which new technology will enable the best business outcomes and the greatest efficiency of your integrated data system.

What Dots Are Most Important To Connect?

When you talk about tech integration, you are really talking about pooling different data streams together. In terms of business outcomes, maybe you are most interested in connecting cost-per-hire with quality of hire. Knowing how these KPIs connect would tell you the target value of a job ad campaign to get the best quality applicants. 

In terms of developing a long-term strategy, perhaps you’re most interested in connecting the source of hire with the quality of hire. If you know your best sources for quality talent, you can develop strategies that can target those sources best.

Then let’s consider sourcing and job ads. When we talk about “streamlining,” we very much want to consider what generates the source of the stream. With job ad tech, you can better target candidates particular to a certain vacancy by using algorithms, finding sources across job ad boards, and posting in multiple locations concurrently. But further, targeting quality candidates can help grow and nurture your talent pool. With a seamless integration between your ATS and your ability to track sourcing, you don’t just find a quality candidate from a single job ad—you build better applicants into your tracking system for the future so you know where to find them the next time (or your job ad tech will know using its prediction algorithm).

Side note: Have you considered your budget? The big-ticket tech item to maximize the efficiency of your hiring team will be your job ad posting software. The job ad, as one of the biggest expenses for any job search, is an important pillar of the entire process—your reach, your sourcing, and the efficiency of the search can all be optimized with the right job ad tech. Investing in this type of software offers a good return because the technology allows for better targeting, reduced cost-per-hire and reduced time to hire.

Where Does Your Current Tech Fall Short?

You’ll want to consider incorporating new tech that isn’t redundant with your current system. What can your ATS already do for you? How can you maximize your efficiency with new tech? If you focus on areas that the talent acquisition team cites as the most time-consuming, you can find a tech solution for it. If you don’t know, you may want to begin with analytics software that can offer you insight into your recruitment process. Keeping tabs on metrics with analytics is vital and can help you save time and money—as well as target long-term goals and strategies based on actual data. While the ATS keeps tabs on candidates, the analytics software keeps tabs on the process, helping you find better candidates.

How Is Your Candidate Engagement?

Your ATS tracks candidate data, but you can go one step further by incorporating candidate engagement software so that you’re not just keeping tabs on candidates, but also actually interacting with them and keeping high-quality candidates engaged in the process. Attrition rates increase when candidates feel a disconnect—or when quality talent gets peeled off by the competition. The single automated form letter may not cut it to keep candidates excited for the job.

From scheduling interviews to text messaging to surveying, candidate engagement software can streamline the tasks of interacting with candidates and allow recruiters to interact more and focus on building better relationships.