Applicant Tracking System
Business Case
Executive Summary
As our company grows it is increasingly important to streamline processes while supporting the organization
with the best talent.
Currently, [The Company’s] recruiting processes are labor intensive, manual, and unstructured. Statistically,
inefficiencies like these increase recruitment costs and decrease overall company profitability. In order to
improve on recruitment efficiency, this presentation proposes the use of an Applicant Tracking System (ATS)
to:
•
•
•
•
Increase Recruitment Productivity
Standardize Recruitment Processes
Improve Recruitment and Hiring Compliance
Facilitate Access to a Larger, More Qualified Candidate Pool
In the pages that follow, a careful analysis of the problem and proposed solution are covered including
quantitative and qualitative return on investment from financial, technical, operational, and strategic
perspectives.
Based on the many quantitative and qualitative benefits associated with the use of recruitment technology, it is
recommended that [The Company] implement an Applicant Tracking System and supporting technology for job
distribution.
Business Problem
(Delete any that do not apply)
• Extended Time-to-Fill
Financial
•Prolonged Absence of Revenue-Generating Staff Member
•Temporary Staffing Costs
•Overtime for Workers “Filling in the Gap”
•Overtaxed Staff Resulting in Decreased Morale
• Time-Consuming, Manual, Disparate Processes
Operational
•Resume Review and Screening
•Applicant and Recruiter Workflow
•Manual Tracking (Candidate Flow, EEO, OFCCP, Etc.)
• Insufficient Number of High-Quality Applicants
Strategic
•Good Candidates May be Overlooked
•Quality Candidates May Not be Able to Find Our Job Listings Amid Competitors’ Noise
• Inability to Generate Reports
Technical
•Measure Productivity
•Identify Areas for Improvement
•Monitor ROI of Recruitment Dollars Spent
Proposal & Objectives
Proposal: Implement the following recruitment technology(ies):
(Delete any that do not apply)
• Applicant Tracking System (ATS)
• Automated Job Board Posting
• Social Media Recruitment Software
Objectives:
(Delete any that do not apply)
Realize Financial, Strategic, Technical, and Operational ROI
•
•
•
•
Improve Recruitment Productivity
Reduce Time and Cost-to-Fill
Expand and Improve Quality of Applicant Pool
Achieve and/or Maintain Compliance (EEO, OFCCP, Etc.)
ATS Can Change Problems to Opportunities
(Delete any that do not apply)
Financial:
Financial
Operational
• Reducing Time-to-Fill Improves Revenue1
• Reducing Time-to-Fill Improves Employee
Morale, Customer Satisfaction, and
Competitive Advantage2
Strategic:
• 85% of Job Seekers Rely on Career Portals5
• Career Portals and Facebook are the Two
•
Most Important Places for Talent and
Employers to Meet6
73% of Companies Successfully Hired Using
Social Media7
1. http://www.careerbuilder.com/jobposter/smallbusiness/article.aspx?articleid=ATL_0093COSTOFUNFILLEDPOSITIONS
2. http://www.ropella.com/pdfs/Ropella-Cost_of_Vacant_Postions.pdf
3. http://www.emeraldinsight.com/journals.htm?articleid=1876817
4. http://www.eeoc.gov/policy/docs/national-origin.html
Operational:
Strategic
Technical
• Studies Show Standardization of Recruitment
•
Processes Result in 25% Reduction in Time-toFill and 30% Reduction in Cost-to-Fill3
EEOC Recommends Recruitment
Standardization to Reduce the Risk of
Discrimination in Hiring4
Technical:
• According to SHRM, Effectively Managing
•
Workforce Productivity with Reporting can
Increase Shareholder Value by 10 – 20%8
Organizations Using Workforce Analytics
have 8% Higher Sales Growth, 24% Higher
Net operating Income Growth, and 58%
Higher Sales Per Employee9
5. http://www.blogging4jobs.com/hr/blogging4jobs-exclusive-85-of-job-seekers-rely-on-career-sites/
6. http://www.potentialpark.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/02/OTaC-2013-Global-Results-Release.pdf
7. http://visual.ly/social-media-and-effect-recruitment
8. http://www.shrm.org/Research/Articles/Articles/Pages/ROI_20Series__20Benchmarking_20For_20Continuous_20Improvement.aspx
9. http://www.ilr.cornell.edu/cahrs/research/upload/Round-2-Moon-and-Li.pdf
ATS Return on Investment Summary
(Delete any that do not apply)
•Increased Productivity
•Elimination of Manual Processes
•Time to Focus on Projects that Improve
Profitability (e.g. Retention)
•Improved Compliance
•Access to Larger Candidate Pool
& Higher-Quality Hires
•Improved Candidate Experience
•Increased Employment Brand
Recognition
•Single Database with Unlimited
Data Storage
•Easy Integrations
•Web-based Solution Requires
No Internal IT
•Upgrades & Training Included at
No Additional Cost
Financial
Technical
Strategic
Operational
•Standardized Processes
•Process Automation
•Advanced Reporting for
Continuous Improvement
ATS Financial ROI: Quantitative
Company Profile
 Increased Productivity
 Improved Compliance
 Web-Based Solution
Requires No Internal
IT Support
(Edit the Company Profile to Personalize This ROI Calculation)
Company Revenue
# of Employees in the Company
Total number of Vacant Positions
Average # of Resumes Received Per Position
Recruiter Cost Per Hour ($45k + benefits)
Hiring Manager Cost Per Hour ($100K salary + benefits)
# of Hours Per Week Spent Sourcing - Cumulative for all Recruiters
# of Hours Per Week Spent on Manual Processes - Cumulative for all Recruiters (Excel Spreadsheets and Email
Folders for Tracking Applicants, EEO, Manual Reporting)
$25,000,000
200
5
200
$25.96
$57.69
5
Annual
40
Hours
Per Hour
Per Hour
Hours
ROI Calculations
Without ATS With ATS
Recruiting Costs
Cost of Employment Advertising Per Vacancy
Cost of Resume's Received, Sorted, & Reviewed (2 minutes per resume)
Cost of Sourcing Activities
$2,500.00
$865.33
$129.80
Recruiting Cost Total $3,495.13
$2,500.00
$432.67
$64.90
$2,997.57
Interviews Costs
Recruiter Phone Screens (Assuming 10% of all resumes are phone screened)
Hiring Manager Phone Screens (50% of Recruiter's phone screens are referred to hiring manager)
1 hour Face-to-Face Interviews - Recruiter (50% of Hiring Manager's phone screens equal interview)
$259.60
$288.45
$129.80
$129.80
$144.23
$64.90
1 hour Face-to-Face Interviews - Hiring Manager (50% of Hiring Manager's phone screens equal interview)
Interviews Costs Total
$288.45
$966.30
$144.23
$483.15
Manual Processes
Manual Processes (Excel Spreadsheets, Email Folders for Tracking Applicants, EEO, Manual Reporting
$1,038.40
Manual Processes $1,038.40
$0.00
$0.00
Lost Revenue from Vacancy
Average Lost Revenue per Day (calculated total annual revenue/# of employees/average 220 work days)
$2,840.91
$2,840.91
Average time to fill in days
37
24
Lost Revenue from Vacancy Total $105,113.64 $68,181.82
Minimum Total costs (excluding travel expenses and onboarding) $110,613.47 $71,662.53
ROI
$38,950.93
Technical ROI: Qualitative
(Delete any that do not apply)
Single Database & Unlimited
Data Storage
Easy Integration with other
HR Systems
 All Candidates’ Information in a Single
Location
 Eliminates Redundant Data Entry
 Facilitates Information Sharing
 Accessible by Recruiting Staff in All
Locations
Minimal / No IT Requirements
Upgrades and Training
 Web-based Solution = No Onsite Servers
 Always have the Latest Technology
 Maximum Security
 Included at No Additional Cost
Strategic ROI: Qualitative
(Delete any that do not apply)
Compliance
Larger Candidate Pool
 Automated EEOC Tracking
 Social Media Job Distribution
 Automated OFCCP Tracking
 Employee Referral Programs
Better Candidate Experience
Employment Brand Awareness
 Standardized Application Process
 Social Media Job Advertising
 Branded Career Portal
 Branded, SEO Career Microsites
 Apply with Social Media Profile
 Branded Career Portal
Operational ROI: Qualitative
(Delete any that do not apply)
Standardization
Process Automation
 Standardized Application Process
 Automated Screening
 Standardized Recruiter Workflow
 Automated Candidate Ranking
 Standardized Documentation
 Automated Approvals Process
Advanced Reporting
 Monitor Productivity
 Continuous Process Improvement
 Measure ROI of Recruitment Dollars
ATS Risk Assessment
Risk
Risk Mitigation
Purchasing an Applicant Tracking System that
provides little/no tangible value to the recruiting
team (Buyer’s remorse)
During the initial selection phase, we will evaluate the value and quality of each vendors product offering.
Considerations will include: free maintenance and software upgrades, extended hours for technical
support, dedicated account management, free and unlimited data storage, and software configurability.
Strategic
Type
Financial
(Delete any that do not apply)
To mitigate this risk it is imperative that our company select a highly scalable Applicant Tracking System. A
Business developments result in dramatic growth highly scalable Applicant Tracking System will be able to quickly add new users and provide additional
before ROI is realized (outgrow software too
career portals. Additionally, a scalable Applicant Tracking System will not charge higher rates for data
quickly)
storage increases, increases in the number of jobs posted to the career portal, and will not require
additional databases/modules to support our growth.
Technical
Operational
Existing processes do not 'fit' into software
capabilities
While the recruitment team recognizes and accepts that some of our existing processes may benefit from
change, other processes must be maintained because of our unique business needs. Accordingly, it is
imperative to select an Applicant Tracking System that is highly configurable while supporting best practice
strategies.
Recruitment staff resistant to required process
changes
While a single point of contact must be selected to lead the Applicant Tracking System selection and
implementation project, others on the recruitment team will be included in the requirements setting and
selection process. Team inclusion will garner support and commitment as well as help to mitigate the risk
of buyers remorse.
Insufficient human resource experience with
implementations and recruitment best practices
As part of the selection phase we will consider the vendor's implementation experience and
presence/absence of a consultative implementation approach as part of the value of the vendor's product
offering. The goal is to identify an Applicant Tracking System vendor that can provide best-practice
guidance for a streamlined implementation.
Existing hardware cannot support new software
requirements
Selecting a web-based Applicant Tracking System will reduce/eliminate hardware concerns and expenses.
Failure to identify all feature and functionality
requirements
While a single point of contact must be selected to lead the Applicant Tracking System selection and
implementation project, others on the recruitment team will be included in the requirements setting and
selection process. Team inclusion will garner support and commitment as well as help to mitigate the risk
of failing to identify requirements.
Conclusion
(Delete any that do not apply)
Implementing an Applicant Tracking System and associated job distribution will provide
the company many benefits. These are:
Recruitment Technology Benefits
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
Significant Return on Investment in All Areas of the Company
Significantly Higher Productivity
Faster Time-to-Fill
Improved Compliance
Standardized, Automated Process
Better Candidate Experience
Higher Quality Candidates
From a technical perspective the barriers to entry are low as web-based software will
eliminate the costs associated with internal IT and training /software updates are
included at no additional cost by some vendors.
Based on these findings, it is recommended that [The Company] move forward with
implementing an Applicant Tracking System as soon as possible.
Additional Opportunities Worthy of Investigation
Talent CRM Software
• Talent CRM Software provides an easy way to engage and nurture candidates who may not yet be
ready to apply for a job, but are interested in the company’s employment brand.
Career Microsites
• Search engine optimized Career Microsites help to reduce reliance on third-party job board
postings and other recruitment marketing techniques while increasing traffic to the company’s
career portal.
Onboarding Software
• Onboarding software automates the candidate’s transition to productive new hire by reducing
paperwork, and manage tasks more efficiently. This leads to improved HR productivity and
employee engagement.
I-9 and E-Verify Compliance Tool
• I-9 and E-Verify Software provides automated and paperless preparation, signing, management,
compliance auditing, and storage of Form I-9s, as well as automatic E-Verify submission.