The State of Applicant Tracking Systems 2020

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The State of Applicant Tracking Systems 2020
SEPTEMBER 2020
Sponsored by
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CONTENTS
3
Executive Summary
7
How Has the Recruitment Function Been Coping in
an Uncertain Era?
10
How Effective Is Talent Acquisition Today?
12
How Prevalent Are Applicant Tracking Systems?
16
What Are the Benefits of Using an ATS?
19
What Do ATS Do Well and Not So Well?
27
What Is the Candidate Experience Like?
In What Ways Do High-Performing and
Lower-Performing TA Organizations Differ?
30
38
What Are the Most Exciting Major Innovations of
Today and Tomorrow?
41
Key Takeaways
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Executive Summary
About this Survey
The survey, called State of Applicant Tracking
Systems 2020, ran in September and October of
2020. There were usable responses from 285 HR
and recruitment professionals. The study was
conducted by HR.com through its HR Research
Institute.
What a difference a year makes. In September
2019, the U.S. unemployment rate stood at 3.7,
a mark that some economists deem full
employment. A year later, the U.S. September
unemployment rate was 7.9.
This means, of course, that the circumstances
surrounding last years survey on applicant
tracking systems (ATS) were dramatically
different from this years. In light of the
global pandemic and accompanying global
recession, some recruitment professionals have
been forced to adopt modified recruitment
approaches. These modifications often result in
changes in the way ATS are leveraged as well.
The participants are HR professionals
representing a broad cross-section of employers
by number of employees, ranging from small
businesses with under 50 employees to
enterprises with 20,000 or more employees.
HR.coms HR Research Institute surveyed the human
resources (HR) community during the autumn of
2020 to learn the details of those changes.
Weve summarized the key findings below.
Finding 1 Key

• Most organizations have an ATS and more are
  considering one.
• A substantial majority of HR professionals (73)
  say their organizations use an ATS. Thirty-five
  percent use at least one stand-alone solution
  and 44 use a recruitment module that is part of
  a larger human capital management system. Some
  organizations have both stand-alone solutions
  and modules that are part of larger systems.
• Large organizations (those with more than 1,000
  employees) are most likely to have an ATS, with
  88 reporting they have at least one. Whats
  more, large organizations are about as likely to
  use a point solution (49) as a system that is
  part of a larger HR technology platform (47).
• A majority (56) of those without an ATS are
  either planning to acquire one or considering it.

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The data suggests that firms that use an ATS have
2
Key Finding

• advantages in the area of talent acquisition.
• More than half (54) of HR professionals say that
  talent acquisition in their organizations is
  good or excellent.
• Those organizations that say theyre good at
  talent acquisition (i.e., high- performing TA
  organizations) use an ATS at a higher than
  average rate 81. In contrast, only 65 of
  those with lower-performing TA functions use an
  ATS.
• A majority of respondents describe their ATS as
  being essential for adding/exporting candidate
  information (66) and sending/organizing
  messages to candidates (59). Nearly half say
  essential capabilities include
  scheduling/calendaring (49) and providing access
  on mobile devices (48).
• Managing the volume of applications is the most
  widely cited benefit of using an ATS (71) and
  reducing time-to-hire is the second most widely
  cited benefit (60).

Finding 3
Despite the utility of ATS, many HR professionals
still say that, for now, their systems suffer
from a number of weaknesses.
Key

• Just 46 of respondents say their ATS is good or
  very good at automatically matching candidates
  to the right job postings and only 47 say they
  are good or very good at gathering and
  integrating employee referrals. What they are
  best at, of course, is tracking candidates as
  they move through the recruitment process (81).
• Integration with other technology systems remains
  a challenge in some areas. Although there is
  fairly widespread integration with HRIS/HRMS,
  assessments and E-verify, there is considerably
  less integration with reference checking,
  candidate satisfaction data, and video
  interviewing platforms.
• Only a minority of participants agree that their
  ATS enables them to locate internal talent (41)
  or helps identify candidates who are passively
  looking for jobs (40).
• When asked to identify what they like least about
  their ATS, the most common response is that
  their system does not have enough of the
  features users need (40), followed by the
  complaint that their system does not have good
  reporting/analytics functionality.
• More than two-fifths (44) say their ATS offers
  no way of gauging job candidate experiences.
  Among those with systems that can gauge such
  experience, 53 describe that experience as good
  or excellent.

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Finding 4
Key

• In terms of their ATS usage, organizations with
  high- performing TA functions are overall more
  satisfied with their ATS than lower-performing
  firms.
• High-performing TA organizations get higher
  levels of performance from their ATS across the
  board. One example is that 77 of high-performing
  TA firms say their ATS is good at customizing
  the application process, compared to just 34 of
  lower-performing TA firms. Another is that
• high-performing TA organizations say their ATS
  offers candidates a
• high-quality experience at a much higher rate
  than their lower-performing counterparts do77
  to just 36.
• Why do high-performing TA firms provide a better
  overall candidate experience? One key factor may
  be that they are more likely to gauge the
  candidate experience. Among those that do measure
  employee experience as well as candidate
  satisfaction data, high-performing TA firms are
  considerably more likely to use candidate surveys
  and obtain written feedback from candidates.
• On a more basic level, only 51 of
  lower-performing TA organizations say their ATS
  is easy to use whereas 86 of high-performing TA
  firms say the same.

Finding 5 Key
Participants are excited about some recent
developments and are expecting advancements over
the next three to five years.

• When responding to a question about which recent
  improvements and innovations are most exciting,
  participants were most likely to select
• text messaging capability to improve candidate
  engagement
• integration with a new hire onboarding process
• improved capability to autofill applications
  from candidates resumes and online social
  profiles
• integration with online social media sites
• When responding to a question about the most
  beneficial ATS enhancements over the next three
  to five years, respondents were most likely to
  select
• greater personalization
• improved assessment and filtering tools
• ability to anonymize applicants and/or candidates
  to reduce the potential for hiring bias

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Finding 6
Key

• Most organizations have been adapting their
  technology systems and recruitment processes to
  circumstances associated with the Covid-19
  pandemic
• Seventy-eight percent say they have taken talent
  acquisition actions in response to the pandemic.
  Among these organizations
• 89 have adopted some form of video conferencing
  platform with 60 saying they have begun doing
  more interviews virtually
• 56 have adopted some electronic signature
  application
• 24 have implemented new technologies to handle
  remote hiring issues

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How Has the Recruitment Function Been Coping in
an Uncertain Era?
Finding Most employers began doing more remote
interviews in response to the pandemic

• In early 2020, the Covid-19 pandemic struck the
  world. Within a matter of weeks, many business
  operations were disrupted as nations adopted
  social distancing strategies in an effort to slow
  the spread of the
• virus. Not only did this drive many businesses to
  adopt remote work arrangements as never before,
  but it also changed talent acquisition practices
  in many organizations.
• Economic slowdowns accompanied the pandemic,
  which contributed to less recruitment activity
  in some organizations. But even among employers
  where recruitment efforts did not slow (or,
  indeed, ramped up as in certain essential
  service industries such as healthcare),
  organizations often adopted remote hiring
  strategies to maintain social distancing.
• In fact, began doing more interviews virtually
  is the clear strategy when we asked survey
  participants, Which of the following talent
  acquisition actions has your organization taken
  as a result of the global pandemic and related
  events?
• Although this is the most widely selected action,
  it is by no means the only one. Less than a
  quarter of respondents (22) say that they have
  taken no talent acquisition actions in response
  to the pandemic.
• Aside from conducting more virtual interviews,
  the next three most commonly cited actions have
  been
• implemented new technologies to handle remote
  hiring issues
• changed recruitment messaging
• adopted modified assessment processes

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Survey Question Which of the following talent
acquisition actions has your organization taken
as a result of the global pandemic and related
events? (select all that apply)
Began doing more interviews virtually
60
Implemented new technologies to handle remote
hiring issues
24
Changed recruitment messaging
22
Adopted modified assessment processes
20
18
Adjusted talent pooling strategy
Began hiring more remote, non-local candidates
14
Made adjustments to cope with more applications
14
Reconfigured applicant tracking systems (ATS) in
some way
11
Started accepting more applications from
non-local applicants
10
Modified the candidate- profile-building feature
6
We have taken no particular actions
22
0
10 20 30 40 50 60
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Finding Video conferencing platforms and
electronic signatures applications have become
more common
Among employers that have taken TA actions in
response to the pandemic, most have adopted
video conferencing platforms and electronic
signature applications. This is expected, as
these solution technologies are fairly easy to
implement and can be seen as low hanging
fruit. Meanwhile, nearly a fifth (17) adopted a
diversity and inclusion solution that is
intended to remove or reduce unintended bias in
the recruitment process. Survey Question Aside
from possible features included with your ATS,
what third-party recruitment-related solution
technologies has your organization adopted in
response to the Covid-19 pandemic, economic
slowdowns and/or protest movements?
Video conferencing platform (e.g., Zoom)
89
Electronic signature (e.g., DocuSign, Adobe)
56
Diversity and inclusion solution to remove
unintended bias
17
Enhanced top-of- funnel filtering
and/or matching tools
13
0
20
40
60
80
100
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How Effective Is Talent Acquisition Today?
Finding Slightly more than half of respondents
rate the overall effectiveness of their TA
efforts as good or excellent

• A little more than half (54) of HR professionals
  say their organizations current TA efforts are
  either excellent or good. This is not
  significantly different from the 52 mark seen
  in 2019. On one hand, this indicates that the
  overall quality of recruitment practices has only
  held steady.
• On the other hand, it suggests that, taken as a
  whole, talent acquisition professionals have
  generally been able to maintain their levels of
  effectiveness even during a turbulent period.
  Perhaps we would be seeing a larger increase had
  the Covid-19 pandemic not happened.
• An era of labor uncertainty
• Responding effectively in this period of
  uncertainty may be one reason that the average
  cost to attract a job seeker and convert them
  into a job applicantaka, cost per applicant
  (CPA)rose from about 12 in January of 2020 to
  19 by June. Another factor might be that many
  people stopped seeking work during the initial
  period of urgency when many households were
  striving to contend with an array of factors,
• including childcare emergencies as schools and
  daycare centers closed.
• As of this writing, the U.S. employment situation
  remains hard to predict. Unemployment rates rose
  from 3.5 in February 2020 to 14.7 in April and
  then back down to 8.4 within four months. Many
  jobs that require an onsite presence have
  reportedly been going unfilled, perhaps due to
  the potential danger from the Covid-19 virus.
  Moreover, many Americans have been moving due to
  Covid-19, which can make filling certain jobs
  more complicated. And, no one is sure what the
  next economic quarter will bring.

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However we view these shifting circumstances, it
does not appear that recruitment has suddenly
become an easy task for most employers or that
most job applicants are having an easy time
locating work. In short, the U.S. job and labor
markets remain in flux at the time of this
writing, and it is uncertain when they will
become more predictable again. In the meantime,
HR professionals generallyand talent acquisition
experts more specificallymust stay agile and
able to quickly respond to new developments as
they occur. Survey Question How would you rate
the overall effectiveness of talent
acquisition/recruitment in your organization?
13
Excellent
41
Good
35
Average
7
Below average
4
Far below average
0
10
20
30
40
50

• Later in this report, we will use the answers to
  this question to analyze differences between two
  survey cohorts
• High-performing TA firms These represent
  respondents who indicate that their firms are
  good or excellent at talent acquisition/
  recruitment.
• Lower-performing TA firms These represent
  respondents who say that their firms are
  average, below average, or far below average at
  talent acquisition/recruitment.

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How Prevalent Are Applicant Tracking Systems?
Finding Nearly three-quarters of responding
organization use an ATS

• A majority (73) of organizations now use an ATS,
  up from 64 in 2018. Thirty-five percent use at
  least one stand-alone system and 44 use an ATS
  that is part of a larger HR technology platform.
  Of course, some organizations use both so there
  is some overlap between the two. These are
  typically larger organizations that have multiple
  strategic business units, some of which may have
  their own ATS.
• Large organizations (those with more than 1,000
  employees) are most likely to have an ATS, with
  88 reporting they have at least one. Whats
  more, large organizations are also more likely
  than average to use a point solution (49)
  compared to a system that is part of a larger HR
  technology platform (47).
• Survey Question Does your organization currently
  use one or more applicant tracking systems
  (ATS)? (select all that apply)

Yes, at least one recruitment module of a
larger system/platform (e.g., HRIS)
44
Yes, at least one stand-alone (that is,
point solution) system
35
27
No
0
10
20
30
40
50
Editors Note Some organizations use both
stand-alone systems and systems that are a module
of a larger platform.
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Finding High-performing TA firms are more likely
than other organizations to use an ATS
Among high-performing TA firms, 81 currently use
an ATS, compared to just 65 of their
lower-performing counterparts. The data does not
prove a causal relationship between recruitment
excellence and using an ATS, but it does suggest
a correlation. We interpret this to mean that,
although higher ATS usage is correlated with
higher TA performance, it does not guarantee it.
To be successful, an ATS must be used well in
conjunction with other talent acquisition best
practices. Survey Question Does your
organization currently use one or more
application tracking systems (that is an
ATS)? Percent using an ATS High-performing TA
firms
81
Lower-performing TA firms
65
0
20
40
60
80
100
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Finding Sixteen percent of firms without an ATS
have definite plans to implement one in the next
two years, and another 40 are considering
implementing one in the future
Among organizations that do not currently have an
ATS, only 16 plan to implement one within the
next year or more. This is a sharp decrease from
43 in 2019. We assume this is due to the
Covid-19 pandemic and associated economic
downturn. However, there was a modest increase
in the proportion saying they are thinking
about implementing one in the future, from 31
in 2019 to 40 in 2020. We interpret this to
mean that many organizations would still like to
implement an ATS in the future but, given todays
uncertain climate, have not formulated definite
plans. Survey Question Do you plan to implement
an ATS in the future?
44
No
40
Were thinking about it
Yes, though more than a year from now
9
7
Yes, within the next year
0
10
20
30
40
50
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Finding The primary barriers to further ATS
usage are cost and a perceived lack of need

• The most commonly reported barrier to ATS usage,
  cited by 46 of respondents, is cost/expense. No
  other single reason for not using an ATS was
  selected by even 30 of the participants. The
  second and third most commonly cited reasons
  are
• don't need one for our purposes (29)
• dont understand the benefits of ATS for us (25)
• We should note, however, that this varies by size
  of organization. Among large organizations, the
  top perceived barriers (cited by 60) are that
  leadership will not commit to an investment in
  ATS. This suggests that the perceived need may
  be there for some larger firms, but HR has not
  yet been able to convince leaders to invest in
  this area. In such cases, it may be incumbent on
  recruiters and HR practitioners to build stronger
  business cases for ATS use by illustrating the
  bottom line business benefits of ATS adoption.
• Survey Question What are the most important
  reasons your organization does not currently use
  an ATS? (select all that apply)

46
Cost or expense
Don't need one for our purposes
29
Leadership will not commit to investment in ATS
25
Dont understand the benefits of ATS for us
25
Recruitment is working fine without one
24
Other projects/products are a higher priority
20
Lack of internal skills to effectively use one
14
7
Cannot find an ATS we like
0
10
20
30
40
50
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What Are the Benefits of Using an ATS?
Finding The most widely cited benefit of using
an ATS is the ability to better manage the
volume of applications/resumes
Of those with an ATS, 71 say the ability to
manage the volume of applications and resumes is
the primary benefit of using an ATS in their
organization. This will be an especially
important benefit for organizations that are
seeing more applicants per open position in a
softer economy. In some organizations, there may
also be fewer talent acquisition professionals
on staff given recent downsizings. This
potentially means fewer recruitment
professionals handling a larger volume of
applicants per open position so being able to
efficiently manage applications is even more
crucial now. A related issue, and the second
most commonly cited benefit at 60, is the need
to reduce time to hire. For organizations seeing
more applicants per open position, it can be
challenging to locate the best candidates and
then get them through the interview and
assessment process in a timely manner. The
third mostly widely cited issue is the ability to
screen candidates better (58). Again, this ATS
capability is especially important when there
are many applicants. We dont think it is a
coincidence that all three of these areas are
cited by more than half of respondents.
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Survey Question What are the top four benefits
of using an ATS in your organization? (choose up
to four)
Manage volume of applications/resumes
71
60
Reduce time to hire
58
Screen candidates better
Acquire better talent acquisition metrics
39
38
Make better hires
35
Improve ability to assess
33
Optimize our recruiting spend
29
Do compliance reporting
0 10 20 30 40 50 60 70 80
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Finding Organizational and collaboration
capabilities are most essential in ATS
We asked about which five ATS capabilities are
most essential for organizations. Three of the
top five relate to organizational capabilities
such as adding/exporting candidate information
(66), sending/organizing messages to candidates
(59) and scheduling/ calendaring (49). The
other two items relate to collaboration among TA
team members (46), which might also be viewed
as an organizational capability, and lastly,
providing access on mobile devices (48).
Providing mobile ATS access has, of course, been
a long-term goal of recruitment professionals,
who want candidates to be able to apply to
positions from the convenience of their own
mobile devices. However, the issue seems to have
taken on new urgency in the current era of
widespread remote work. Survey Question Of
the following capabilities, which five do you
consider most essential for your organization's
ATS? (select up to five)
Easily add and export candidate information
(e.g., resumes)
66
Send and organize emails/ messages to candidates
Permit scheduling and calendaring
Provide access on mobile devices
Allow easy collaboration among talent acquisition
team members Integrate with other needed
59 49 48 46
44
systems and applications
42
Permit enhanced search and matching
Consolidate and show authorized information on a
given candidate
40
39
Distribute job ads
36
Allow for employment branding
0
10
20
30
40
50
60
70
80
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What Do ATS Do Well and Not So Well?
Finding ATS perform three tasks especially well

• We asked participants how well their
  organizations ATS perform a variety of tasks.
  The three tasks most commonly cited are
• tracking candidates as they move through the
  recruitment process
• providing notification and alerts
• routing jobs and offers for executive approval
• These are crucial tasks. Of course, tracking is
  what ATS should do well, since the systems were
  designed for this and the word tracking is in
  the name of these systems. Tracking helps
  recruitment experts to follow candidate movement
  through stages such as assessments and
  screenings so they can bring the most qualified
  candidates to the
• forefront more quickly. Notifications and alerts
  can be viewed as integral to such tracking and
  can increase and automate efficiency. Routing
  jobs and offers for executive approval is, of
  course, also key to the process.
• Survey participants are less likely to be
  enthused about the ability of their ATS to
  gather and integrate employee referrals or
  automatically match candidates to the right job
  postings.

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Survey Question How good is your organization's
ATS at the following tasks? Percent responding
very good and good only
Tracking candidates as they move through the
process
33
48
81
31 41 72

33 33 66

34 28 62

34 28 62

34 26 60

34 26 60
Providing notifications and alerts Routing jobs
and offers for executive approval Reporting
mandatory compliance data in a format that is
easy to understand Giving the candidate a
high-quality experience Customizing the
application process to specific needs of
different jobs Building or incorporating useful
dashboards
Tracking key performance indicators (e.g.,
quality of hire, time to fill)
32
25
57
26 21 47

28 18 46
Gathering and integrating employee
referrals Automatically matching candidates to
the right job postings
0
20
40
60
80
Good
Very good
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Finding A majority say their ATS helps organize
the recruiting process and saves them time
Most HR professionals agree that their ATS helps
them stay organized (88) and save time (78),
which is an increase from the data gathered in
2019 (75 and 70 respectively). This supports
the previous finding that organizational
capabilities represent the core strength of
ATS. Perhaps even more encouraging, 72 say
their systems are easy to use (unchanged from
2019). High ease-of-use scores are always a good
sign for powerful and potentially complex
technologies. The characteristic least commonly
selected, however, is the ability to locate
internal talent (just 41). This jibes with the
previous finding about how ATS do not tend to be
good at gathering and integrating employee
referrals. Survey Question To what extent do
you agree with the following statements for the
ATS in your organization?
58
30
88
It helps us stay organized
48
30 78
It saves us time
45
27
It is easy to use
72
48
It helps schedule and manage interviews
17 65
37
27
64
It provides a positive return on investment
40
20
60
It has good customer service/support
36
12
48
It results in higher application completion
It helps us understand how we spend our
recruitment budget
31
15
46
26
15
41
It enables us to locate internal talent
It helps us identify candidates who are passively
looking for jobs
29
11
40
0
20 40 Agree Strongly agree
60
80
100
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Finding Most respondents say they make use of
all or most of their ATS functionality
We asked participants whether they make full use
of the features and functionality of their ATS.
About two-thirds (66) say they do, whereas 35
say they do not. Although this 66 proportion is
higher than in previous versions of this survey,
it still indicates that many HR and/or
recruitment professionals do not get the most
out of their ATS, either because they do not need
all the functionality or because they are not
knowledgeable enough about how to leverage it
well. We believe organizations should at least be
aware of the full capabilities of their systems,
even if they dont always use them.
Survey Question Does your organization utilize
all or most of the capabilities of its
ATS? 35 No 66 Yes
Editors Note This does not include the 11 that
say they dont know whether or not most
capabilities are used. Numbers do not add up to
100 due to rounding.
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Finding ATS could be better at integrating with
other systems

• We live in a world where applications must
  increasingly communicate and integrate with
  other applications. ATS have a mixed record in
  this area.
• Among participants who know how well their ATS
  integrate with other applications, three
  integrations are most commonly cited
• HRIS (or similar)
• integration is good or fair with these platforms
  (60)
• there is a built-in component relationship (28)
• the rest say integration is poor
• Assessments
• integration is good or fair (57)
• they are a built-in component (22)
• the rest say integration is poor
• E-verify (which determines a candidates
  eligibility to legally work)
• integration is good or fair (42)
• this is a built-in component (27)
• the rest say integration is poor
• Greater integration with other components can
  often bring strategic advantages. For instance,
  workforce planning is a process by which
  organizations prepare employees, managers and
  organizational structures for success in the
  future. Having an ATS that integrates with
  workforce planning applications might help
  employers to better identify internal candidates
  and match the skills and experience of external
  candidates to specific internal needs.

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Survey Question How good is your organization's
ATS at integrating the following? Human
Resource Information System (or similar)
18
42 28 88
Assessments
20
37 22 79
E-Verify/determine eligibility to legally work
14
38 26 78
Social media applications 40
20
77
17
Workforce planning 32
22
75
21
Advanced sourcing tools 36 20 75
19
Video conferencing platform (e.g., Zoom)
15
38 13 66
Video interviewing platform 37 13 66 Candidate
satisfaction data (e.g., net promoter score)
16
14
34 12 60
Automated reference checking 27 16 56
13
0
20
40
60
80
100
Fair
Good
This is already a built-in component
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Finding Most (71) are satisfied with their
ATS, but there is still considerable room for
improvement
A majority (71) say they are satisfied with
their current ATS, up from 61 in 2019. This
still leaves, however, 29 who are not satisfied
at all, implying theres much room for
improvement. Moreover, only about a fifth (21)
are very satisfied. This study suggests that
there is fairly widespread (if tepid)
satisfaction as well as considerable
dissatisfaction. On one hand, ATS bring various
benefits such ease of use as well as the ability
to save time and stay organized. On the other
hand, there are still concerns about areas such
as integration with other systems, the inability
to find internal talent, or problems reaching
passive job seekers. Survey Question Overall,
how satisfied are you with your
applicant tracking system (ATS)?
21
Very satisfied
50
Satisfied
22
Neutral
6
Dissatisfied
2
Very dissatisfied
0
10
20
30
40
50
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Finding A lack of ATS features is the most
problematic aspect for HR professionals
About two-fifths (40) of the participants say
their ATS does not have enough of the features
they need, the most widely cited weakness of
todays systems (and also the most widely
reported weakness in 2019 at 47). The second
most widely cited weakness in this years (24)
and also the 2019 survey (37) is an absence of
high quality report/analytics functionality. It
is, of course, difficult to make good decisions
without good data, so this could be an area
where ATS vendors could improve in the
future. Most respondents are dissatisfied with
some aspect of their systems, with only 30
saying they like everything about our
ATS. Survey Question What do you like least
about your ATS? (select all that apply)
It does not have enough of the features that I
need
40
It does not have good reporting/analytics
functionality It can't be used to effectively
communicate with candidates It provides a poor
candidate experience
24
22 20
It is buggy
17
16
It is too complicated
It is difficult to use
16
13
It has bad customer service
I like everything about our ATS
30
0 5 10 15 20 25 30 35 40
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What Is the Candidate Experience Like?
Finding Many have no way to gauge the quality
of the candidate experience
We asked participants how they measure whether
candidates have a positive experience when using
their organizations ATS. The most common answer
to this question is, We have no way of gauging
their experience, cited by 44. As troubling as
this appears, this actually represents a modest
improvement over 2019 (47) and 2018
(52). Among those that do measure such
experience, their most widely-used measurement
tool is candidate surveys, closely followed by
written feedback from candidates. In the
write-in portion of this question, some
respondents also mention directly asking
candidates about their experience. Even among
those that measure, they may not measure the
experience of every candidate. One participant
specified, for example, that they only seek
feedback from candidates who made the first
screening cut. Someone who abandoned their
application and a candidate who made it through
several screenings may have very different
experiences and pain points. Gathering data from
all types of candidates can make these systems
more robust. Survey Question How does your
organization measure whether candidates are
having a positive experience using the ATS?
(select all that apply) We have no way of
gauging their experience 44
Candidate surveys
31
Written feedback from candidates
29
Abandonment rates
26
0
10
20
30
40
50
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Finding About half believe the candidate
experience with their ATS is good or excellent
Among the subgroup that can gauge candidate
experience, 53 say their ATS delivers a good or
excellent candidate experience. Although this
sounds somewhat impressive, we should remember
that this is only a minority of all
organizations with an ATS. Many do not measure
the candidate experience at all. We believe it
is important to both measure and, when possible,
improve the candidate experience. As the old
adage says, You only get one chance to make a
first impression. The candidate experience with
the ATS often represents this one
chance. Survey Question Based on feedback
and/or usage data, how would you describe the
overall experience of applicants/candidates with
your ATS system?
15
Excellent
38
Good
40
Average
5
Below average
2
Poor
0
5 10 15 20 25 30 35 40
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29
Finding Even with so many having no way to
measure the experience, a significant majority
have taken steps to improve the candidate
experience in the last two years
We asked respondents, Has your organization
embarked on a project to improve the candidate
experience in the last two years? Sixty-nine
percent say they have done so, which is about the
same as in 2019 (70). Therefore, whether
organizations are measuring the quality of the
candidate experience or not, most are involved in
some effort to improve it. This demonstrates the
continued importance of candidate experience in
the minds of most recruitment and HR experts.
Survey Question Has your organization embarked
on a project to improve the candidate experience
in the last two years? 31 No 69 Yes
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In What Ways Do High-Performing and
Lower-Performing TA Organizations Differ?
Finding High-performing TA firms appear
to provide a better candidate experience
More than two-thirds of respondents from
high-performing TA firms (66) say their
organization provides a good or excellent
candidate experience. In contrast, just 24 of
the lower-performing TA firms say the same
thing, albeit with none saying they provide an
excellent candidate experience. Just as
striking are the percentages of these cohorts
saying they provide a below average or poor
experience. In high-performing TA organizations,
a scant 2 say they provide a below average
experience and none of them say the experience
is poor. In the lower-performing TA firms, 18
say their candidate experience is either below
average or poor. These findings are virtually
unchanged from 2019. Survey Question Based on
feedback and/or usage data, how would you
describe the overall experience of
applicants/candidates with your ATS system?
21
45
High-performing TA firms
66
24
Lower-performing TA firms
24
0 10 20 30 40 50 60 70 80 Good Excellent
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Finding The ATS in high-performing TA firms
perform a variety of tasks at higher levels than
those in lower-performing TA firms
High-performing TA firms get higher levels of
performance from their ATS across the board. In
what may help explain the different quality of
the candidate experience, 77 of high-performing
TA firms say their ATS is good at customizing
the application process, compared to 34 of
lower-performing TA firms. High-performing TA
firms also say their ATS offers candidates a
high-quality experience at a much higher rate
than lower-performing TA firms77 to just
36. More than half of both cohorts say their
ATS is good at tracking candidates through the
process. But that is only one of two tasks that
more than half of lower-performing TA firms say
their ATS performs well, along with providing
notifications and alerts. Conversely, there are
no tasks that fewer than half of
higher-performing TA firms say their ATS
performs well, with the lowest being
automatically matching candidates to the right
job postings at 60. Just 63 of
lower-performing TA firms say their ATS is good
or very good at tracking candidates compared
with nearly all of high-performing TA firms.
Tracking candidates is the most basic function an
ATS should be able to do, yet more than a third
of lower performers arent happy with the most
crucial of tasks.
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Survey Question How good is your organization's
ATS at the following tasks? Percent responding
good or very good Tracking candidates as
they 91 move through the process
63
81
Providing notifications and alerts
54
Customizing the application process to specific
needs of different jobs
77
34
77
Giving the candidate a high-quality experience
36
75
Routing jobs and offers for executive approval
49
Reporting mandatory compliance data in a format
that is easy to understand
75
39
71
Building or incorporating useful dashboards
30
71
Tracking key performance indicators
(e.g., quality of hire, time to fill)
34
Automatically matching candidates to the right
job postings and alerting the recruiter
60
25
0 20 40 60 High-performing TA firms Lower-perform
ing TA firms
80
100
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33
Finding High-performing TA firms make greater
use of their ATS capabilities
As we just saw, ATS in high-performing TA firms
are more likely to perform every task at a
higher level than in lower-performing TA firms.
While we cant say for certain the data are
clearly related, 76 of higher- performing TA
firms say that they utilize all or most of the
capabilities of their ATS, compared to just 48
of lower-performing TA firms. It seems fair to
infer that the firms utilizing more of the
capabilities of their ATS would see better
overall performance, and the data supports such
an inference. Survey Question Does your
organization utilize all or most of the
capabilities of its ATS? 76 Yes 48 0 10 20 30
40 50 60 70 80 High-performing TA
firms Lower-performing TA firms
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Finding High-performing TA firms gauge the
quality of the candidate experience at much
higher levels than their lower- performing peers
Why do high-performing TA firms provide a better
overall candidate experience? One key factor may
be that they bother to measure that experience,
with only 40 saying they have no way to gauge
the candidate experience. In contrast, 53 of
lower-performing firms have no way to gauge the
candidate experience. Among those that do
measure employee experience, high-performing TA
firms are considerably more likely to use
candidate surveys and obtain written feedback
from candidates. Survey Question How does your
organization measure whether candidates are
having a positive experience using the ATS?
(select all that apply)
40
We have no way of gauging their experience
53
33
Candidate surveys
28
35
Written feedback from candidates
17
29
Abandonment rates
19
0
10 20 30 40 50 60
High-performing TA firms
Lower-performing TA firms
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Finding High-performing TA firms are almost
twice as likely to say they are satisfied or
very satisfied with their ATS
High-performing TA firms are far more likely to
be satisfied or very satisfied with their ATS.
Since these organizations are also far more
likely to utilize more capabilities of their ATS,
they most likely have a deeper understanding of
the capabilities and how they can benefit their
organizational recruiting needs. Survey
Question Overall, how satisfied are you
with your applicant tracking system
(ATS)? Percent responding satisfied and very
satisfied
86
41 pt. gap
45
0 20 40 High-performing TA firms
60 80 100 Lower-performing TA firms
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Finding Integrating advanced sourcing tools and
social media applications represent the largest
gaps between high- performing and
lower-performing TA firms
Just over half of high-performing TA firms (57)
integrate advanced sourcing tools into their
ATS, compared with just 31 of lower- performing
TA firms, a 26 percentage-point gap. The second
largest gap (at 20 percentage-points) is
integrating social media applications. High-perfo
rming TA firms are also more likely to integrate
candidate satisfaction data such as net promoter
scores. This could be one of the reasons why
high-performing firms are more than twice as
likely to say they give candidates a
high-quality experience. Survey Question How
good is your organization's ATS at integrating
the following? Percent responding good or this
is already a built-in component
57 31
Advanced sourcing tools
26 pt. gap
56 36
Social media applications
20 pt. gap
49 34
Video interviewing platform
15 pt. gap
46 29
Workforce planning
17 pt. gap
43 27
Candidate satisfaction data (e.g., net promoter
score)
16 pt. gap
0 10
20 30 40 50
60
High-performing TA firms
Lower-performing TA firms
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Finding Nearly half of lower-performing TA firms
feel their ATS is not easy to use
Just half (51) of lower-performing TA firms
agree or strongly agree that their ATS is easy
to use compared with 86 of high-performing TA
firms. Because of this, lower-performing TA
firms are probably unable to use or unaware of
more advanced functionalities that their ATS is
capable of. More concerning is that fewer than
half of respondents at lower- performing TA
firms feel their ATS provides a positive return
on investment (ROI). The cost per applicant at
these organizations might be higher than at
those that do believe the ROI of their ATS
investment is positive. Again, this is
potentially because these organizations are not
maximizing the available capabilities, or simply
lack such capabilities. Survey Question To
what extent do you agree with the following
statements for the ATS in your organization? Perc
ent responding agree or strongly agree 86 It
is easy to use
35 pt. gap
51
78
It provides a positive return on investment
44
34 pt. gap
0 20 High-performing TA firms
40 60 80 Lower-performing TA firms
100
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38
What Are the Most Exciting Major Innovations of
Today and Tomorrow?
Finding Participants are most likely to cite
text messaging capability as an exciting new
improvement and innovation
This years respondents are most likely to choose
text messaging capability to improve candidate
engagement and integration with new hire
onboarding process as examples of exciting
improvements and innovations (cited by 56 in
both cases). The movement of text messaging to
the top response is an interesting development.
In 2019, 51 of participants cited text messaging
as an important development, but it was only the
fourth most commonly chosen item. However, this
year we asked the question a little differently,
referring to excitement rather than
importance. What makes this capability so
exciting? It allows recruitment professionals to
engage in one of the most effective means of
candidate communication. According to Aman Brar,
CEO of Canvas, Texting...is different. A job
candidate can respond in less than 1 minute
without disrupting his or her day. Its fast,
obscure, and doesnt pull the candidate away from
current work. With robust recruiting platforms,
the average time to screen a candidate is just
4.4 minutes.1 Of course, because it is such an
intimate form of communication, text messaging
brings its own challenges and recruitment
professionals must use it with care. As for
integration with onboarding, this is probably
viewed with
1
Brar, Aman. 5 Ways Text Interviews Will Surprise
You. Undercover Recruiter. Retrieved from
https//theundercoverrecruiter.com/text-interviews
/
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39
excitement because it, among other things, makes
the onboarding process more seamless. One of the
chief complaints about current ATS is their
inability to integrate effectively with other key
systems or applications. This is slowly changing
as vendors respond to user needs. Two other
exciting innovations mentioned by more than half
of participating HR professionals include
improved capability to autofill application
from candidates resumes and online social
profiles and integration with online social
media sites such as LinkedIn.
Survey Question What recent improvements and
innovations in ATS excite you most? (select all
that apply)
Text messaging capability to improve candidate
engagement
56
Integration with new hire onboarding process
56
Improved capability to autofill application
from candidates resumes and online social
profiles
52
Integration with online social media sites such
as LinkedIn
52
Ability to better communicate with candidates
who do not complete applications
46
Ability to monitor diversity in hiring
45
Mobile ATS features
44
Use of artificial intelligence to improve
screening of candidates
41
Emergence of recruitment marketing technologies
23
0
10
20
30
40
50
60
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40
Finding In the next three to five years,
participants say they expect to see greater
personalization and improved assessment
Internet users encounter an astounding amount of
highly personalized online experiences every
day, so it makes sense that applicants expect to
see similar levels of personalized content and
information in their job search and application
process. Sixty percent of HR and recruitment
professionals say greater personalization will be
among the most beneficial ATS enhancements over
the next three to five years. The second most
widely cited near-future enhancement is
improved assessment and filtering tools. When
they work well, such tools can boost the
productivity of talent acquisition professionals
by automatically filtering out less qualified
candidates. However, there is also a danger that
the wrong kind of assessments or filters could
have an adverse impact on people based on their
ethnicity, age, sexuality, gender, etc. To help
prevent bias from creeping into the recruitment
process, more recruitment professionals are
seeking to anonymize applicants and/or
candidates (to reduce the potential for bias).
This is seen as a beneficial possibility by 48
of respondents. Survey Question What do you
believe will be the most beneficial ATS
enhancements over the next three to five years?
(select all that apply)
Greater personalization
60
Improved assessment and filtering tools
58
Ability to anonymize applicants and/or
candidates (to reduce the potential for bias)
48
More flexible reporting capability
47
Integration of features that harness artificial
intelligence capabilities
46
Appending data with current publicly available
data
25
0
10
20
30
40
50
60
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41
Key Takeaways
Takeaway 1
Maximize the features and functionality of your
ATS. Your TA professionals need to keep
learning, develop new skills, and adopt a
continuous learning and improvement approach. The
data in the report shows that high-performing TA
organizations tend to get greater use out of
their ATS across the board. So, commit to a
process of continuous learning and improvement
with your ATS. Conduct continuous training.
Engage more deeply with your ATS vendor to keep
abreast of enhancements, changes, best practices
and tips. Find user communities that have the
same ATS program and then learn from others in
those communities.
Key
Takeaway 2
Gather data on the candidate experience. This can
include application completion rates (the rate
at which people who start your online
application actually complete it) and the rate at
which applications are completed without errors.
It can also include items such as the top
sources of quality candidates and good hires. Did
they find you through social media? Did they use
a job board, and if so which ones? You can also
survey applicants and candidates, and you might
even gather feedback through candidate
interviews. The data you gather in each area can
serve as a starting point from which you can
benchmark the organizations progress.
Key
Takeaway 3
Find ways to improve the candidate experience.
Once you collect candidate experience data, seek
ways to leverage it to improve the candidate
experience. In some cases, this means improving
existing processes and technologies. One
important factor to evaluate thoroughly and
objectively is your online application process.
Candidates get frustrated with the length of
applications, so make sure you are asking for
just the key information you need to successfully
complete a first stage screening. Use your ATS
to track the amount of time it takes from start
to finish and watch those application abandonment
rates! If your candidates are dropping off at
specific places, make adjustments.
Key
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4
Find passive job seekers. Many of the very best
candidates are not actively pursuing new jobs.
This is an area where most ATS and TA operations
may be improved. The best candidates are likely
on LinkedIn, use Twitter and enjoy Facebook.
LinkedIn in particular can be a valuable
platform for searching for hard-to-find skills or
qualifications. But you wont find these
candidates unless you are actively engaged on the
platform. Be ready and able to attract the
attention of top candidates. Think like the
marketing department! Publish engaging content to
create leads (meaning qualified applicants).
Some ATS have the capability to effectively
download social media profiles into your system.
Consider running key word searches on those
profiles. When you find matches, you may want to
send those people direct messages with a link to
your online application or a job posting and
encourage them to apply.
Key Takeaway
5 Pay close attention to reporting functionality
in ATS. When making purchasing decisions or
deciding whether or not to update a
current system, make sure you examine reporting
capabilities. Its also a good idea to reach out
to your current ATS customer success team. Ask
questions about both current and future reporting
capabilities, and make sure you are using all of
the data reporting tools at your disposal.
Key Takeaway
6 Examine integration capabilities. Based on
this research, its important to consider the
integration capabilities of any ATS when making
renewal, purchasing or implementation decisions.
For instance, your organization may use an
automated drug screening and reporting tool. Test
whether your ATS can integrate with these tools
so results can be attached to candidate records
in real time.
Key Takeaway
Takeaway 7
Look for systems that help meet strategic and not
just tactical needs. Strategic talent
acquisition goals may include improved quality of
hires, greater employee retention, greater
engagement with passive job candidates, and
acceleration of the organizational learning curve
for newly hired employees. For example, lets
assume the organization needs to hire skilled
employees in a specific job category to meet
strategic corporate goals. This may require
improved candidate screening and improved
matching of resumes and qualifications to
job openings. With these two specific features in
mind, you can evaluate ATS capabilities and, if
they are not satisfactory, look for ways of
upgrading the current system or seeking new
systems that meet organizational needs better.
Key
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8
Understand how talent acquisition is changing due
to the Covid-19 pandemic. Recruiting and talent
acquisition have been deeply affected in some
areas. Ensure your ATS can adapt to the changing
trends such as video-interviewing capabilities
and compliance checks of more non-local
candidates. Moreover, stay agile and resilient.
Recruitment professionals cannot be sure how
things will change from quarter to quarter these
days. They need to be prepared for multiple
contingencies and react quickly to these changes
as they occur.
Key Takeaway
9 Leverage internal candidate capabilities when
it is to your advantage. Recruiters sometimes
fail to look internally for candidates for
open positions. Part of the issue is that many
recruitment technologies are not designed for
this purpose. Consider implementing processes and
systems that seek inward as well as outward for
good candidates. This often requires good
internal communication as well as a database that
allows recruiters to identify internal skill
sets.
Key Takeaway
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About EMP Trust
EMP Trust HR provides human capital management
(HCM) and talent management solutions and
services for a global workforce. Our secure
solutions help companies recruit and hire talent,
complete new hire onboarding with electronic
forms, and comply with DHS/USCIS regulations. We
provide Human Resources solutions and services
for electronic form I-9, E-Verify, HR
Onboarding, and provide tools for workforce
management to maximize employee efficiency and
improve your business processes. We are a United
States Corporation incorporated in Maryland as a
Limited Liability Corporation in 2009.
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