Any time I come across a job posting on LinkedIn, I notice there are 100+ applicants. So, I get how tough it must be for recruiters to sift through so many resumes and find the right candidate.
And it doesn’t even stop there. Statistics show that around 50% of candidates who accepted a job offer last year backed out right before starting. Not exactly an ideal scenario, is it?
Well, you can’t change the job market—it is what it is. But you can make recruiting and workforce planning a lot easier with the right tools. This is your guide to how.
How technology helps in recruitment and workforce planning
Recruiting by itself is a big challenge, as it’s not only about filling in that one position. As a recruiter, you tend to see the bigger picture. You’re not only looking for talented candidates but also ones who will fit in well with the rest of the team and the company’s culture.
Finding the right fit for each position means you can better plan your workforce to achieve the company’s goals. You won’t be running around trying to connect the missing pieces. Instead, you’ll have a team made up of individuals who excel at their roles but also work well together.
So, which tools can you use to optimize this process?
Applicant tracking system (ATS)
Going over hundreds of resumes manually is a lot to handle, which is why many businesses have gotten used to relying on ATS to help them in the hiring process. ATS is designed to:
- Manage job listings: Since you never know where you might find the right person for the job, you’re probably posting job ads on more than one platform. An ATS allows you to create these ads on one single platform, and then it automatically sprinkles them across different platforms. You’ve now taken care of the first step, so onto the next one.
- Organizes resumes: Once the resumes start pouring in, the system will automatically sort and filter them based on the criteria you’re after, lifting a huge weight off your chest. However, I’d kindly recommend informing candidates that you rely on an ATS, as not everyone is aware they need an ATS-friendly resume template to stand out. Doing this will help you avoid missing out on a lot of potential candidates who could be the right fit.
- It makes communication easy. I’ve seen many applicants complain about never receiving a response after an interview. Not only is this unfair to them, but it also negatively reflects on your company. An ATS can prevent this from happening by sending automated messages to candidates to schedule interviews or inform them about their application status, so you can continue the search for the best without any delays.
You know what’s interesting? We first got familiar with ATS in the 1970s but these systems are now more relevant than ever. So, you might just be showing interest at the right time.
Recruitment marketing platform
Yes, marketing also works for recruiting. We can see this best in recruitment marketing platforms, which help you attract top talent by optimizing your job postings and displaying them in front of the right audience, as well as assisting you in building a top-notch career page.
Why is this so important?
Imagine giving your all in writing the perfect job ad without it yielding fruit. You receive barely any applicants or only unsuitable ones. This means that regardless of its quality, your job ad fails to reach the right audience. And with every second that your job postings go unseen, you’re potentially losing out on top talent, making the recruiting process seem harder than it is.
Recruitment marketing platforms take your job postings and exhibit them in front of the right people. They don’t just scatter your job postings around different platforms but analyze the profiles of job seekers first to see who would be best interested in what your company has to offer. Then, they directly place them on the platforms where these candidates are most active.
Needless to say, targeted advertising is their forte. But besides taking care of your job postings, recruitment marketing platforms help you to:
- Create and promote employer branding content, such as a career website or social media campaign that shows why your company is the ideal place to work;
- Stay in touch with candidates who you think might be a good fit for your company but aren’t looking for a job at the moment;
- Gain insight into how your job ads are performing, so you’ll always know which strategies work in your favor, as well as what you need to improve.
If you’re looking to surpass basic recruitment, recruitment marketing platforms are your best bet, as they make sure the effort you put into creating job ads isn’t in vain.
Shift scheduling software
When you manage a team, especially when employees are required to work different shifts, you need all the help you can get. Well, you can finally put an end to your struggles by implementing shift scheduling software to help you assign all employees at the right time so that when the time comes, you’ll know that all shifts are covered and nothing interferes with work operations.
Good shift scheduling is more important than you might think. It’s not just about filling in those blank spots but also about making sure that there’s always someone available to help customers and that your employees can handle all of their shifts to avoid burnout.
For example, it often happens in restaurants that one single waiter is responsible for taking the orders of multiple tables at once. Now, think of the ripple effect this can have—long waiting times, frustrated customers, unsatisfied employees, mistakes in orders… complete chaos.
Shift scheduling software helps you avoid this by:
- Automatically assigning shifts to employees based on their availability and your company’s needs. Thus, you’re not required to manually write out schedules.
- Responding timely to all unexpected changes. If an employee calls in sick, for example, the software will automatically fill in the schedule and find a replacement.
But besides helping you, shift scheduling software also makes employees’ jobs a lot easier by allowing them to swap shifts on their own (only if they find a suitable replacement, of course).
Talent management software
Your job as a recruiter isn’t done as soon as you find the talent. You later have to manage it as well. A single tool, such as talent management software can help you take care of everything from attracting and hiring top talent to tracking their performance and developing their careers.
This software covers many of the aspects we’ve discussed up until now and more, which is why I left the best for last. It’s designed to help you handle job postings and resumes, but considering you have that part covered thanks to the applicant tracking system, I’m going to focus only on what comes after – workforce planning.
Talent management software helps you make the most out of employees’ skills, which not only helps you achieve your company’s long-term goals but also helps employees grow in their roles.
It does this by:
- Keeping an eye on how well employees are doing in their jobs and providing them with regular feedback to make sure that you’re all headed in the right direction.
- Monitoring workforce data (all information about employees and their work activities) to determine whether certain skills are lacking allows you to identify and address them in a timely manner by promoting existing employees or hiring new ones if necessary.
From here, it only continues to support your employees in their growth—tracking their progress, identifying potential training needs, and providing them with opportunities to improve their skills—all with the goal of keeping them motivated when doing their jobs.
Recruit, plan, succeed
As a recruiter, you’re not only required to recruit. You need to make sure that future employees aren’t only skilled but also align with your company’s culture and that they are never stagnant but rather continue to grow and develop. Only then can you say recruitment has been successful.
Ultimately, all the above-listed tools help you achieve the same goal – keeping your employees as happy in their roles as they were the day they got the job. Remember what Anne Frank once said, “Whoever is happy will make others happy too.” Let this be your motivation.
Makedonka Micajkova is a freelance content writer and translator, always bringing creativity and originality to the table. Being multilingual with professional proficiency in English, German, and Spanish, it’s needless to say that languages are her biggest passion in life. She is also a skilled communicator, as a result of having three years of experience as a sales representative. You can find her on Linkedin.