Research: Why 57% of Recruiters at Large Organizations are NOT Satisfied with their ATS

Your Applicant Tracking System (ATS) is likely the foundation of your recruiting efforts. But are you happy with it?

If you’re like most recruiters, you probably are not — especially if you work at a larger organization. According to an HR.com study, nearly six in 10 recruiters at organizations with 10,000+ employees say they are not satisfied with their ATS platform. The picture is much different at smaller organizations, where the majority (81%) of recruiters are at least satisfied with their ATS.

What’s causing the disconnect?

Why it matters

ATS systems are designed to help recruiting and HR teams track candidates, but larger organizations tend to have very specific needs. They operate at scale, working with much larger volumes and often have more detailed application management processes.

In other words, these systems aren’t built with everything enterprise recruiters need to do their jobs efficiently.

When HR.com asked recruiters why they were unhappy with their ATS, more than half pointed to a lack of features or analytics:

• 32% – It does not have enough of the features that I need
• 27% – It does not have good reporting/analytics functionalities
• 21% – It is buggy
• 18% – I cannot use it to effectively communicate with candidates

Without that key functionality available in ATS platforms, recruiters have to push through inefficient processes to get the job done. That’s why the majority of recruiting and HR managers spend eight hours (a full workday!) per week on manual, repetitive tasks.

What you can do

When recruiters have to spend time on manual tasks like data entry or updating spreadsheets, that means they have less time for critical work. Instead of building relationships with candidates and advancing them quickly down the pipeline, recruiters are treading water in never-ending loops of inefficient processes.

In our candidate-driven hiring market, those delays make a significant impact — even beyond the talent acquisition department. More than 60% of CEOs believe their organizations are not hiring fast enough or well enough. And Glassdoor estimates that the average employer spends about $4,000 to hire a new worker.

Ultimately, the functionality gaps in your ATS can create problems across the organization: from the C-suite to the bottom line.

To remedy this, recruiting teams are using automation to fill the gaps. According to HR Technologist, among employers who have automated parts of their talent acquisition processes:

• 93% say they’ve saved time and increased efficiency
• 71% say they’ve improved the candidate experience
• 67% say they’ve saved money and resources

Automation also helps companies hire more effectively. Among organizations who have made high-quality hires, nearly twice as many teams use more mature technology (like automation) to ensure they can secure top talent before competitors.

Bottom line: recruiting teams that use automation to fill the gaps in their ATS ultimately provide a better candidate experience, work more efficiently and make better quality hires.

Yello’s automated Application Workflows are configurable to fit your unique hiring process, working in tandem with your ATS to easily advance candidates from hello to hire. Application Workflows also help your team enhance the candidate experience, access applicant pool reports and insights, and speed up the hiring process. Here’s how they can support your recruiting efforts, and what current Yello clients have to say about them: