What is an ATS? Learn the Features, Benefits and Best Practices

An ATS is a software that automates the recruitment process. Companies can save hours of evaluating candidates and tracking a team’s progress. This way they are less likely to drain their valuable time, effort, and budget. The global applicant tracking system market size stood at $2.14 billion in 2021 and was expected to grow at a 6.2% CAGR from 2022 to 2030. This system is highly efficient to review resumes, send e-invites for interviews and finally bring caliber employees on board to boost the growth of a business.

ATS is the ideal solution to optimise blue-collar workforce hiring. For instance, it is an excellent tool for screening which is critical to authenticate their credentials. Blue-collar workers are also offered a convenient application process via any device. HRs can access the hiring analytics too for better decisions. Top Indian companies like Eureka Forbes and Mahindra Holidays have incorporated a robust ATS system for improved sourcing, training, and upskilling of their blue-collar worker segment. Learn the basic features and benefits before considering this digital approach for an informed choice.

Features of a Top-Tier ATS

An applicant tracking software offers tech-based sourcing at your desired speed. It is a workflow-oriented approach that helps managers track the applicant pipeline at every stage of the hiring process. This can reduce the overall time to fill an open position. You can also get useful employee insights to achieve your goals faster.

Here are ATS features:

• Collects and sorts thousands of incoming applications.
• Actively searches, identifies and reaches out to potential workers.
• Can be integrated with accounting software and CRM systems.
• Offers email templates to make sure interactions are professional.
• Publishes jobs on company sites and other portals.
• Pre-defined assessment techniques to screen multiple applicants.
• Can run through background checks so you are better safe than sorry.
• Sends advanced reports and real-time data on hiring trends and job seekers.
• Helps find ‘hidden workers’ which is due to its automation effectiveness.

HRs can pick an ATS with a full-service suite of tools or simple database functionality. It is useful for businesses of all sizes to manage, refine and assess potential workers. You are unlikely to lose them to poor engagement or slow response time. There is superb visibility of the applicant lifecycle too so you can keep a track of their activities.

Benefits of a Good ATS

The primary purpose is to simplify the hiring process, which is otherwise time-consuming and frustrating, especially for a distributed workforce. It is a powerful centralised platform that can be fully customised to suit your organisation needs. SMEs, enterprise-level companies, and recruitment agencies can benefit from an ATS This is due to the coming together of cloud computing and AI to deliver relevant information to managers for quick hiring. It can lower workload, store applicant information, automate keyword-based filtering, set up and record interviews and even send documents to new hires with e-signatures. All of these make sure your competitiveness and growth prospects are not put at risk while you focus on tasks that require manual intervention.

The Best ATS Practices

The features and functionalities of an ATS will differ from brand to brand. But you must look for the following for sound decisions:

• Simple UI and UX
• Data-privacy compliance tools
• Comprehensive reports for required modifications
• API integration to solutions like ADP and Oracle

According to a Harvard Business Review survey, 88% employers said that even highly qualitied candidates were excluded from the recruitment process because they failed to match the exact criteria. This figure touched 94% for middle-skill workers. It is caused by highly keyword-based searches which narrow down the applicants. This makes job searches harder for blue-collar workers since their resumes are not too sophisticated. So, carefully personalise the ATS to craft a good candidate experience.