There’s a very definite trend in just about every industry these days. Let’s go digital! Get ALL the data! Technology makes our lives easier, and will help us hire better! It’s likely you’ve heard some variation on that, and your organization has taken steps toward this digital reality. But once you have made the time and money investment in hiring and recruiting technology, how do you make sure you’re getting the most out of it?

Make sure it’s actually useful for you

This may sound like a no-brainer, but we tend to be dazzled when we hear about the number of features something has before we consider how much we actually need it. For example, your smartphone probably came with lots of pre-loaded apps. But do you find yourself using that stocks app every day, or that news app? What your tech can do, and what you actually need it to do, may be two different things.

When it comes to your recruiting technology, ask yourself:

• What human efforts are saved with this tool?
• How much money is saved by using this tool, versus how much we pay for it?
• Does this create extra work?
• Do we truly need information on X, Y, and Z, or just X?
• What do we get from this technology that we weren’t getting before?

Putting serious thought into these considerations can help you pick the right technology—not just the one that seems like it has the most bells and whistles. For example, using chatbots to handle initial candidate interactions and questions is popular right now. But if you find that your team has to do just as much outreach as they did before you implemented the chatbot, what is it actually doing for you? It’s okay to find that your tech isn’t doing everything for you.

Knowing your needs, and exactly how the tech will help you meet those needs, is essential.

It’s about working smarter

Simply automating your processes (like having an applicant tracking system) probably won’t get you far enough. Sure, it saves time, but you still have what’s essentially in inbox, unless you’re able to “teach” it what you need. With the growth of AI in recruiting, these tools can be used for more than just checking keywords and sending automated thank you emails. You can use them to avoid bias, or collect candidate data that will help you make decisions in other areas of recruiting, like advertising. Make sure your organization’s individual needs are reflected in the high-tech tools whenever possible.

Don’t get overwhelmed by your tech

Any technology you introduce into your hiring process should be easy to learn and use. That’s not to say it has to be push-button-simple—but with basic training and a bit of a learning curve, it should be something you and your team are able to work into your day fairly seamlessly. If you have programs or systems that are overly sophisticated and require a lot of finicky handling, what are you really gaining in efficiency? It’s important to consider the everyday use in addition to overall strategy.

If the most common feedback about your new system is, “It’s so much easier if I just do this myself,” that’s a red flag. If it’s overly complicated, then it’s likely to be abandoned.

Don’t accept the status quo

Once you’ve implemented your new recruiting technology, it’s important to keep re-evaluating how it works in your organization. At the end of the year, you should have solid metrics you can look at and decide whether your tech has been the help it should be, or if there are ways to make it even more efficient. Your needs are likely to evolve over time, and the industry will as well. So if you want tech tools that will work for you tomorrow as well as today, it’s crucial to stay on top of results and make sure you’re getting what you thought you were getting.