Applicant Tracking System, or ATS in tech recruitment, has changed how HR departments function and recruit new members to the workforce. Hiring fresh talent has always been a challenging task and is perhaps more complex than ever.
With thousands of applicants for hundreds of openings, manually tracking and managing applicants is no longer feasible. An ATS on the other hand brings together the best of automation and data aggregation to monitor, scan, and assess candidates.
One of the many benefits of ATS is its ability to diversify the workforce. But as you may wonder – why is it essential in the first place?
The Benefits of ATS to Diversify Hiring
A simple example will help us understand why a diverse workforce is almost always better than a homogeneous team.
Consider a situation where a team needs to identify why a particular product fails in the market. If each team member has the same perspective and background, they’ll keep moving in circles without coming up with any solution.
But if the same team has a member who is a part of the product’s target customer base, they’ll be able to figure out what makes it a failure. They’ll genuinely get into the customers’ minds and see their pain points.
The goal of diversifying the workforce is to get together the best minds from different backgrounds. Diversity breeds creativity, whether it is differences in race, gender, sex, orientation, ethnicity, nationality, or anything else.
The creative team can develop better ideas – and that’s not an arbitrary, pedagogical statement. Companies with more racial diversity record 35% more growth than the national median in their respective sector.
Diverse teams are more likely to be productive than homogenous teams for several reasons:
- Diversity in the workplace promotes teamwork and cooperation. When people come out of their closed circles, they learn how to deal better with different people. It directly bears customer support, public relations, and related sectors.
- With diverse hiring strategies, the likelihood of creating a strong talent pool goes up. However, a talent pool cannot be a pool without diversity. If every talent pool member has the same skillset or analytical capability, it would be of very little use to the company.
- A more diverse workforce directly correlates to a better brand image. Sensibilities around gender, race, and ethnicity are at an all-time high following the Covid-19 pandemic and subsequent global movements. Diversity in the workplace is now a social statement as it is a pragmatic necessity. Millennials, in particular, value diversity more than the previous generations.
- A diversified approach will also help you reach better candidates if you are a recruiter. Diversity is an essential criterion for job selection for 76% of job seekers. They would prefer to work in a company that prioritises diversity. If recruitment drives do not emphasise the company’s diversification policies, many eligible and competent candidates would be reluctant to move forward with the offer.
Why an ATS is the Best Tool to Diversify Hiring
Applicant tracking systems are much more efficient than manual HR teams in almost every aspect of recruitment. However, they do not exist as binaries, and a competent HR team can bring out the best applicant tracking systems.
An ATS brings diversity to a workforce by carefully screening thousands of CVs and categorising them on various metrics.
Automated processes make diversifying easy
Automation is the buzzword in almost every sector now. However, automation also works in obvious ways. For example, it might seem far-fetched to think that an applicant tracking system can boost diversity, but it can indeed do so.
With automated CV screening, HR personnel can quickly get background information about thousands of candidates. However, manually retrieving this information can take time, money, and other resources without delivering accurate results.
For instance, if a company aims to make diversity a key component of hiring, automation will help them reach its goal faster.
Eliminate bias and discrimination
While the argument against using automated systems focuses on the lack of insight, the same argument favours diversifying recruitment. Implicit or explicit bias on hiring managers can be a detriment to diversifying a workforce.
An ATS takes this bias out of the question and assesses candidates based on their merit alone. If a company wants to be more inclusive, an applicant tracking system will ensure human tendencies do not come in the way.
Candidates feel more comfortable with ATS-based hiring
Applicant Tracking Systems ATS in tech recruitment can bring transparency and credibility to the hiring process, which can boost the confidence of candidates from marginalized communities. This increased confidence can lead to more diverse candidates applying for positions, ultimately improving the overall quality of applicants. With a larger applicant pool, it becomes easier to diversify the hiring process.
ATS in tech recruitment is becoming increasingly popular worldwide due to its many advantages. However, not making the best use of them can be a costly mistake for companies in the long run. Utilizing an ATS can streamline the hiring process and make diversification fast and uncomplicated, ultimately leading to better outcomes for both the company and the candidates.
For more insights on finding suitable candidates and creating a great team, head to the CodeQuotient blog for hiring and career advice. If you are a recruiter looking to hire the best software engineers, you can contact us at info@codequotient.com.
