Investing in the right technology to help your business run smoothly is an essential part of operating in any industry. The healthcare sector, perhaps more than most, relies on technology to create efficiencies because there’s little time to waste when caring for patients. An applicant tracking system (ATS) is one product that can allow your hiring team to make strategic and accurate hiring decisions without wasting hours on reviewing each and every candidate. Below are some ways an ATS can make your healthcare agency run more efficiently.
What is an applicant tracking system?
An applicant tracking system provides you and your team an avenue to organize each and every individual that applies to an open role at your company. It’s no longer customary to rely on file cabinets to store paper applications and hard copies of certificates — everything can be managed digitally within an ATS.
Tracking systems can also help to make the hiring process more efficient by weeding out the candidates that aren’t the right fit from the start and ranking the remaining candidates so you know where each stands in terms of qualifications that you set up. The best systems go above and beyond the normal candidate search abilities, and offer in-system background checks and skills tests to more accurately portray who the best candidates are. They also communicate with your other systems so that as you hire new employees, their information syncs with your payroll and scheduling platforms to create a truly seamless experience.
Why is an applicant tracking system necessary in the healthcare industry?
Many healthcare agencies hire for multiple roles at once, which means there’s a lot to keep track of. The process can be extremely overwhelming without the proper systems and tools, and mistakes and disorganization are much more likely to impact your daily business decisions. In the healthcare industry in particular, certifications, records, and resumes are essential to each and every candidate, and there’s no easy way of filtering through the aggregated mess of paperwork without a digital system in place to take all record keeping virtual.
There’s also the seamlessness of screening candidates without having to sort through every application that gives tracking systems a leg up on a manual process. With an ATS in place, you can identify the specifications and requirements that a candidate must have, and narrow your search tremendously.
Further, staffing shortages are common in the industry, and right now, we need all hands on deck. A DHI Group Hiring Indicators Report revealed that the average time to hire a candidate in the health services space is 49 days — the highest of any industry. While it takes time to vet candidates for such important positions, that’s far too long a time to wait to fill your most essential roles. Using an ATS can dramatically reduce the time it takes your team to make a hire by keeping your people operations organized and showing you the top candidates without wasting hours of time manually reviewing resume after resume.
What should I look for in an applicant tracking system?
When looking for an applicant tracking system for your healthcare agency, there are certain considerations that can help you weed out those that won’t make your business more efficient. Here are some questions you can ask to narrow down your selection, and if you’re looking for more pointers, read our Applicant Tracking System Buyers Guide.
- Will this system ensure consistency without missing qualified candidates?
The tricky thing about many systems is that they require particular formatting for resumes and other documents to deem a candidate as “qualified” and submit for your review. Make sure that your software isn’t so strict with parameters that it ends up omitting talent that would otherwise be great for a role just because of a differently formatted resume.
- Is this ATS going to make applicants’ lives easier?
If your ATS isn’t compatible with certain web browsers or has inconsistent performance, you may frustrate an applicant enough to forgo the application all together. Yes, an ATS should definitely make the jobs of your hiring managers easier, but it also needs to be user-friendly to your applicants if you want to see real results.
- Does the applicant tracking system integrate with your other softwares?
Integrations are imperative to smoothing out the hiring process. Without systems that talk to one another, you’re still asking your hiring team to devote unnecessary time to filling in the same information into each platform. There’s also more room for error when multiple manual entries are required, so pick a system that you know will function with your payroll, scheduling, and other software tools. Pay attention to partners, as well — Hireology integrates with WellSky Personal Care and AlayaCare’s scheduling solutions, for instance, which are both trusted industry platforms. If a platform you’re already familiar with trusts an ATS, that definitely says something.
- Are others in my industry using this particular software?
If you’re thinking about using an ATS that has no influence in your industry, you may be setting yourself up for failure. Applicant tracking systems that aren’t built for healthcare will lack critical features that help keep your business running smoothly. Ask around for suggestions of software that trusted industry professionals use, and read the reviews on each product to make sure they’re able to match your expectations.
- Will I be able to easily teach my staff how to use the ATS?
As we know, not every employee you have will stick around forever, so you need to make sure that your technology is something that you or your staff can train others on with ease. Hefty manuals full of useful information is not what you or your staff should be spending their time on. Pick a product that will make your hiring process faster the same day it’s installed, not weeks or months down the road.
- Is this going to give me positive ROI?
Whether you run a small business or a larger enterprise, make sure your purchase will be cost-effective to your bottom line. Some tracking systems are built with huge companies in mind, and their price tags reflect that, and some have hidden fees for things that should come standard. Other systems are free of charge, but offer extremely limited function and will likely end up not delivering the way you’d hoped. Pick a system that helps your business without hurting your pocket book while still providing a solution.
- Does this ATS exceed my expectations?
Will this purchase help in other facets of your business, besides simple organization? The best applicant tracking systems have built in features that make the entire hiring process easier, from attracting applicants to screening, interviewing, and onboarding new hires. When you read the features included in an ATS, look for those that have more to offer than organizing applicants.
Tacking on a new technology is rarely a simple decision, but it can be with the knowledge of what will actually make your processes run smoother. Hireology has the ability to make your entire hiring process a breeze, and we’d love to show you how! If you’re interested, you can schedule a demo here.
