If you do business in Japan, the phrase “digital transformation” is no doubt buzzing around you. It may sound like an umbrella term that is too broad to convey clear benefits, and what the shift means for companies and individuals depends on industry and job roles. For human resources (HR), digital transformation will significantly streamline the work of recruiters and drastically boost efficacy and productivity.

The good news is that the perfect tech solution for HR digitalization—an applicant tracking system (ATS)—is available now, and the transition is easy.

An ATS is designed specifically to assist recruiters. Think of it as a project management system, such as Asana or Basecamp, or a customer relationship management system, such as Salesforce, but with a tool kit focused on the hiring process, supercharged with technologies such as artificial intelligence (AI).

With an ATS, you can simplify your workflow, boost productivity, employ and test new strategies, improve accessibility to the best talent, and easily track metrics to reduce time to hire and deliver a better candidate experience.

Be More Productive

Recruiters must handle an array of tasks throughout the day. Crafting and distributing engaging job posts, reviewing applications, and scheduling interviews are all important parts of the hiring process that can take significant time. According to The State of Workflow Automation Report, published by workplace productivity and digitization company Formstack, four in 10 organizations—ranging from small and medium-sized businesses to large corporations—still use manual tools, such as Excel spreadsheets and email. This is an inefficient way to work, and managers reported that administrative tasks take them an average of eight hours per week. One quarter said they spend a whopping four hours per day on such tasks.

With the ultimate goal for recruiters being interaction with candidates to identify the right talent to grow the business, finding ways to automate or streamline the hiring process—to become more productive—is a must.

One time-consuming task that can have serious consequences if not handled efficiently is scheduling interviews. If doing so requires a series of manual steps, using multiple pieces of software, not only do you fall into a time-sink, you may also lose the perfect hire. Some 60 percent of recruiters report that they lose candidates on a regular basis because they are unable to schedule an interview quickly enough. An ATS can help you avoid this scenario. Because all the candidate’s information is at your fingertips in this central repository, you can manage all interview scheduling within the ATS. This includes cancellations and rescheduling.

Other routine tasks can be sped up as well through the use of automation or quick actions.

Make Metrics Work for You

Knowing that there are inefficiencies in your hiring process and fixing those speed bumps are two different things. Formulating a new strategy can be difficult if you do not have a clear view into what is holding things up. First, you need metrics. Then, you need a way to extract insight from the data. And doing so must be easy.

This is another area in which an ATS can help. Unlike some systems that attempt to meet all needs for everyone, a well-designed, streamlined ATS can provide intuitive metrics that give you only the numbers you need, where you need them. In other words, the system surfaces the most pertinent data so that you can make better-informed decisions.

With that information in hand, you can more effectively formulate strategies that create a free flow of candidates through your hiring pipeline. You can even A/B test approaches to search and screening to see which works best for a given position. Develop a series of game-based assessments or conduct video interviews and record the results in the ATS. Then easily compare and contrast the efficacy of each using AI, filtering, side-by-side views, and other tools. This is something that is not possible with a mishmash of spreadsheets, emails, folders of PDFs, and scattered notes.

Create a Better Experience for Everyone

These are just a few ways in which an ATS can reduce costs and boost productivity for your HR team. And getting started is far easier than you may think. Digital transformation sounds like a big process, but with a tool built by hiring professionals for hiring professionals, it’s really just a matter of taking a step into a world made more efficient by those who have already experienced and solved the same pain points.

See for yourself what an advantage an ATS can give your organization, and how little it costs. Book a free demo today at: https://www.zookeep.com