Most professionals agree
that “employees are an
organisation’s greatest
asset”. It therefore stands
to reason that the business
of attracting, screening
and appointing these
people (i.e. recruitment)
is a critical component of
any growing organisation’s
overall strategy.
The thing is – recruitment isn’t easy. The challenges of recruitment depend on the organisation, but can range from a volatile job market, to under-supply or over-supply of candidates, to economic pressures. These challenges make it difficult for even the most competent recruitment team to operate effectively.
By adopting a candidate management system (CMS), an organisation is better equipped to recruit high-quality staff into the organisation in an efficient manner. Benefits of candidate management systems that will be explored in this guide include savings in time, development of talent pools, and increased candidate care.
Evaluating different candidate management systems can be challenging. This guide will:
• Assist you in identifying your needs when it comes to a CMS
• Explain Software-as-a-Service (Saas) and cloud-based solutions
• Identify a range of features modern CMS solutions should be able to offer you
Introduction
Save time
Develop Talent Pools
increase candidate care
A candidate management
system is a software
application designed
to help an organisation
recruit employees
more efficiently.
Features may include:
Careers portals that integrate with your website
Integration with external advertising mediums (eg. job boards, social networks) Rating and ranking tools to
help you screen candidates Interviewing tools to assist in booking and conducting interviews
Communication tools (eg.
e-mail and/or SMS)
Internal workflows to support the ‘Request to Hire’ process Ability to manage the internal
application process via your Intranet
What is a candidate management system?
If your organisation is focused on saving money and improving processes, investing in a candidate management system (CMS) is an ideal way to recruit high-quality candidates quickly and cost- effectively. In fact, implementing a candidate management system can reduce the time you spend on recruitment administration by over 50%. With less wasted time, HR professionals and/or Hiring Managers are free to focus on choosing the best candidate for the role (as well as all of their other duties outside of recruitment!).
A CMS can also help you build a valuable database of engaged candidates, which you can draw upon for future vacancies. You may
hear this referred to as a talent pool. Talent pools have potential to decrease your spend on external advertising or recruitment agencies.
Finally, because a CMS streamlines and automates a number of steps in the recruitment process, it can greatly assist in increasing your organisation’s level of candidate care. For example, bulk e-mail features in a CMS make it easy to notify all candidates once a job has been filled, ensuring you never leave anyone ‘hanging’ again. Be sure to test out the application process before choosing a CMS to ensure it is simple, streamlined and doesn’t require too many steps.
Why do you need a
candidate management system?
Before you begin the research process into candidate
management systems, you may want to consider these
questions.
What is your budget?
CMS solutions vary greatly in terms of price, from a few hundred dollars per month to tens of thousands of dollars per month.
Who will be accessing the system?
Is it a tool for HR/Recruitment only, or are Hiring Managers going to need access also?
What demographic forms your ideal candidate market?
For example, if you are targeting Gen Z or Gen Y candidates, you may wish to ensure the CMS you choose integrates well with social networks and is mobile-compatible.
Where will you be when you need to access the system?
Would you like to be able to access your CMS when travelling or moving between offices? If so, a SaaS solution is important.
How will you be accessing the system?
Will you ever use a mobile device or tablet to access your CMS? If so, you will need a solution that is mobile-compatible.
How to identify your needs What is your budget?
Who will be accessing
the system?
What demographic forms your
ideal candidate market?
Where will you be when you
need to access the system?
How will you be accessing
the system?
In the past, many
business applications
were complicated and
expensive. The amount
and variety of hardware
and software required to
run them was significant
and an organisation
needed a whole team
of experts to install,
configure, test, run,
secure, and update them.
With SaaS applications, you eliminate those headaches because you’re not managing hardware and software - that’s the responsibility of your experienced
candidate management system vendor. The shared infrastructure means it works like a utility:
you only pay for what you need, upgrades are automatic, and scaling up or down is easy.
SaaS solutions are delivered via the web, meaning you can access your account from anywhere with Internet access.
‘Cloud computing’ centres around the sharing of resources to achieve coherence and economies of scale. The cloud also focuses on maximising the effectiveness of the shared resources. Basically, it’s a secure and reliable way to store large amounts of data.
Software-as-a-Service (SaaS)
and 'the cloud' explained!
centres around the sharing of
resources to achieve coherence
and economies of scale.
'Cloud computing'
1
How will your Careers Portal be managed and what functionality is available?2
Is the system mobile-optimised for users and applicants?3
Is the application process simple and streamlined for applicants?Can they apply in 1-2 steps or does it involve multiple stages?
4
Does the CMS integrate with social networks, and in what way(s)?How about job boards?
5
What are the screening question and filtering options?6
Through which mediums can you communicate with candidates (eg. e-mail, SMS)?7
Can you use the CMS to manage interview and reference check stages?8
What tools are available to manage the requisition creation process?9
Does the CMS integrate with third parties (eg. your payroll, HRIS or testing systems)?10
What are the reporting and analytics capabilities?11
What is the approach to training and ongoing support?12
How long does implementation take on average? How involved will your organisation need to be in implementation?Candidate Management System Checklist
Here are some
questions you may
wish to ask when
researching
candidate
management
systems
SCOUT is a web-based
candidate management
system that helps
organisations reach
their recruitment goals.
Established in 2004,
SCOUT is backed by
Employment Office, a
leading recruitment
solutions organisation with
operations in Australia,
Canada and the UK.
With over 5,000 clients and nearly 10,000 users, SCOUT has allowed over 500,000 candidates apply for jobs in the past 12 months.
To learn more, please visit:
www.scouterecruit.com
