The right talent acquisition software is integral to finding the right candidates. However, not all HR hiring software is created equal.
The recruitment game has evolved over the years. It has become more of a science than art when meeting present-day teams' challenges. To win in today's tight labor market, you need to know what tools do (in reality) and how sparks can fly when you bring the right tools together.
The difference between a CRM and ATS
Applicant Tracking Systems (ATS) and Candidate Relationship Management (CRM) systems are the most commonly used options by recruiters, sourcers and HR professionals.
An ATS facilitates and optimizes the hiring process, allowing recruiters and hiring managers to create and post job openings; gather and organize applications; and screen, evaluate, select, and move candidates through each step of the candidate journey. On the other hand, a CRM is part of your recruitment marketing strategy, scaling efforts ahead of demand and allowing you to build a passive talent pool and strengthening relationships, so potential, vetted candidates remain warm to your brand down the line through targeted messaging.
An ATS acts as a workflow and compliance tool that helps manage applicants while adding ease to the selection and hiring process by eliminating time-consuming, repetitive tasks. CRM systems work to scale a recruiter's sourcing efforts by attracting passive candidates ahead of demand.
Knowing if your CRM and ATS are optimized
Not all CRMs and ATSs play well together, but the reality is integration is key. Here are some signs that indicate they're not optimized:
- Manual input is required in multiple entry fields
- Candidates are not categorized as desired work but instead their current role
- You're unable to evaluate and measure the candidate-recruiter relationship
- There is no ROI, be it quality of hire, time to hire or cost per hire
- Your ATS is focused on administrative work
- It takes months to hire hard-to-fill jobs
In today's candidate-centric economy, it's integral to have your CRM and ATS working in tandem, improving the candidate experience from pre-application to hiring and beyond. That requires a powerful talent acquisition platform that seamlessly integrates your CRM and ATS in a single platform.
How a CRM and ATS work in tandem
Although some organizations believe they only need one of these systems, strategically, that's not true. Combining the capabilities of a CRM and ATS is a heady mix that lets recruiters fuel on-demand hiring, candidate relationship management and workforce planning at once.
Offering the right tools so a recruiter can do their job effectively, a CRM and ATS together let your team establish and foster connections to drive business growth:
- An ATS helps efficiently facilitate the hiring process
- Integrated data between your ATS and CRM reveals open rates, the average time to fill, diversity metrics and the skills possessed by passive talent
- Combined, an ATS and CRM help recruiters engage with applicants, answer questions and build relationships
- Sets you apart from the competition by creating an excellent talent experience from the very first touchpoint
A seamless, single platform CRM and ATS help simplify, expedite and maintain candidate relationships, so you don't lose top talent to other organizations. They ensure the hiring process is easier, more cost-effective and just plain more effective. They also let you create a unique, personalized and memorable journey that sticks, so candidates choose you and feel good doing so.
