Applicant Tracking Systems for Not-For-Profits
Applicant tracking systems (ATS) can be appropriate for many different industries and many different business sizes…the right system for your organization will depend on the unique needs or your business as features will vary depending on the software application. In this blog, I would like to focus on how applicant tracking software can be beneficial to a not-for-profit organization. Many think that a nonprofit means that an organization has little money or no budget, this is not necessarily true. Not-For-Profits are run similarly to many other organizations when it comes to their financial controls and hiring processes. Most however, do a have strict set up guidelines and a board of directors to monitor and regulate key business decisions.
Here are several reasons why Not-For-Profits would benefit from having an ATS:
Applicant tracking systems make hiring more efficient
Often, these organizations run pretty lean on manpower so it’s important that every aspect of their processes are efficient. This is no different when it comes to hiring. Using an ATS will help quickly launch new job postings with minimal manual effort; as well as, sort out applicants that best fit the needs of the organization based on custom filters that may be predetermined by the organization.
Having the right software makes hiring less costly
It’s no secret that hiring a new employee can be costly so it pays to make the correct decision the first time around. Our applicant tracking software is especially budget friendly to nonprofit organizations and is suited well for small- to medium-sized companies. Hiring right the first time keeps costs down, as well, and allows HR staff to spend less time re-training and on other busy work activities that cause an organization to be less productive in the long run.
Leaves applicants with a positive impression
Using ATS software allows you to have a streamlined and consistent hiring process. This is a bonus for your employment brand, as well. More specifically, your jobs portal will make it easy for applicants to search for available positions and then apply in a consistent, standardized manner each time. You may even include an FAQ page on your career site to answer common questions so that your potential applicants know what to expect from your hiring process. Your company, big or small, will be seen as professional and attentive to the needs of its applicants and employees. That’s a huge plus when you want to create a working environment that is engaging to employees who are passionate about the mission of your nonprofit organization.
Grows your passive applicant database for future reference
Any applicant that has applied to a previous job in your application will be stored and may be easily referenced by searching for items such as name, email, phone, and various keywords. If you are trying to source candidates for a specific position, you can always search your database of previous applicants to see if one of them fits well with the needs of the new job. Contacting those people that were finalists for previous jobs can be a great way to reduce your time to hire for critical positions for which you need to make hiring decisions quickly.
These reasons are all noteworthy for not-for-profit businesses, but can certainly be applicable to other industries, as well. As with any potential change to your recruiting and hiring process, keep your company culture top of mind when implementing software tools and designing screening process steps to make the overall experience a positive one for the candidate and the company.
For more information regarding our HireCentric applicant tracking software and our other hiring software solutions, please visit our resources page or contact us today.
