Improve Efficiency with a Software Platform

It goes without saying: Process inefficiency can cause productivity to stagnate. However, most professionals may not realize the extent to which that happens. According to The Boston Consulting Group, “business complexity” refers to “the number of requirements companies have to satisfy.” From 1955 to 2010, that value has grown by 35 times, while corporate requirements have also increased six-fold. The BCG surveyed 100 U.S. and European companies, and since 1995 “the amount of procedures, vertical layers, interface structures, coordination bodies, and decision approvals needed in each of those firms has increased by anywhere from 50 percent to 350 percent.”

This data shows companies have had to jump through more and more hoops with each passing year, and productivity suffers. In the top 20 most complex businesses, managers spend 40 percent of their time writing reports and between 30 and 60 percent of their time in coordination meetings—time that cuts into productivity. Instead, these organizations should focus on eliminating redundancies and unnecessary processes wherever possible. HR is an area that would clearly benefit from such an effort.

HR teams dragged down by old processes
For most businesses, the HR department is a crucial engine: It can identify, hire, and train the talent necessary to push the company forward. If the HR department is inefficient, that can easily affect the rest of the organization. HR teams that must cope with outdated methods and practices ultimately struggle to maintain peak efficiency.

Part of the problem is when executives or managers are accustomed to a certain way of doing things and are unwilling to entertain a different option, according to ZDNet. That’s why it’s important for them not just to consider new technologies, but to understand specifically how a new system will speak to certain needs.

“Most senior executives will not be interested in technology for technology’s sake,” former CIO Andrew Marks told ZDNet. “Show them, instead, how... technology might solve existing business challenges and make their day better, and you will get a very different type of reaction.”

Applicant tracking software meets certain HR needs
One easy solution for eliminating redundancy in HR is to replace stacks of papers, old operating systems, and outdated hiring practices with a single, streamlined applicant tracking system (ATS). The right ATS does more than just organize applicants into a neat and tidy spreadsheet—it can amass data for trending, adjust online ad listings, identify stronger or weaker candidates, and create a single job application interface.

When HR teams switch from paper-and-ink recruiting methods to a fully-integrated online system, it also frees up the individual team members to be more productive with their time. Rather than chasing down applications or entering in tedious data, they can spend their time accomplishing more complex, demanding, and rewarding tasks. Best of all, the candidates themselves will find the process to be easier to navigate and will be more likely to follow through with an application.

Rather than linger in the past, HR professionals should allow hiring management software to consolidate their efforts and bring about a more productive process.