Via CareerBuilder.com …

Employers throughout the world are increasingly struggling to keep pace with expanding hiring needs. A recent workforce planning study conducted by Aon Consulting for one of its clients showed that nearly 60 percent of its key knowledge workers and leaders would need to be replaced in the next five years.

But, demand for talented employees exceeds the supply, leaving many organizations wondering what strategies to adopt to retain and expand the workforce to maintain competitive advantage. Systematic workforce planning linked to key strategies and business challenges is a foundation for informed talent strategies and processes that will impact the bottom line favorably.

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Via Harvard Business Publishing …

A recession might seem like good news for employers looking to hire: with unemployment rates up, you’ve got more people to choose from and the opportunity to hire at a lower price.

While the current economic situation might make this a great time for you to expand your team, it can actually make hiring more expensive. Post a job ad and you’re likely to be swamped with potential applicants; and if budget is tight on your end, you’ve probably got limited capacity to screen a large pool.

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Today’s job market has created a conundrum for growing companies. The landscape is rich with qualified candidates. But issue a want ad, and some statistics note that 200 applications are likely to respond.

How can any employer reasonably cope with that flood of candidates?

Those corporations, healthcare organizations and government departments using an applicant tracking system find they have a powerful, enterprise-wide job acquisition and talent management solution ideal for businesses in hiring mode – or even those that are fully staffed.

Today’s ATS provides web-based applicant tracking and candidate management systems that empower businesses with easy-to-acquire and easy-to-use tools to reduce costs and streamline business operations. They automate candidate application and resume management – and create an invaluable competitive advantage.

The solution starts at the beginning of the job requisition life cycle. Job requests entered into the system automatically are distributed to Indeed.com, SimplyHired.com and GoogleBase, expanding the reach of the company’s corporate career center and saving thousands of dollars in premium job board costs. Some ATS providers even leverage social media sites for locating applicants.

Once applicants begin responding, that’s where the magic occurs. Employers with an ATS solution in place make quick work of managing inbound resumes and pre-qualifying candidates. Even unsolicited resumes are handled easily and quickly. Every required form or document, from resumes to supporting documentation, is submitted online and stored on the host server. No more paper resumes and faxed applications, thereby simplifying handling, review and storage needs. Once reviewed, the candidate immediately can be entered into the prospect pool, or saved for future consideration.

The solution manages applications by categories, enables cross-department searches, facilitates job requisition approval chains, and allows for feedback on specific candidates from anyone in the organization– even if those submitting feedback aren’t paid users on the system.

What about the list of qualified applicants who weren’t hired? Companies used to delete or toss those applications. No longer. An ATS enables companies to retain documentation of pre-qualified applicants for when job openings arise. Just search – by geography, criteria, skills or other fields – from among the pool of highly skilled candidates who already have been vetted and met company criteria. Having this storehouse of candidates close at hand makes filling openings fast and easy.

An ATS also enables a company to be less reliant upon its human resources staff for such processes as forwarding applicants to appropriate departments or managers for review. The system collects and organizes information in a centralized database accessible not only to a particular HR staffer’s computer, but to anyone with account access.

A well-designed ATS also is highly scalable to meet the needs of a growing organization. Like many software-as-a-service (SaaS) solutions, the modern ATS is an evolving tool. New features and functionality that help users gain efficiency and streamline the candidate management process are added seamlessly. More recent additions include background check, onboarding and payroll functions. This makes today’s ATS an end-to-end solution for the entire candidate-to-employee life cycle.

Moreover, the best solutions feature a short learning curve. They’re staffed by experienced advisors with a wealth of knowledge about candidate management, and customer service representatives are standard as part of the service.

Simply put, a right-priced ATS application delivers leading-edge solutions and compelling return on investment. Starting at $100 a month, an ATS can be a cost-effective solution at a reasonable expense – regardless of whether your company is hiring today or tomorrow.

Human resources research and information site Staffing.org has published an excellent report titled, “Internet Best Practices,” which details how candidates are finding and applying to job opportunities.

It is packed with interesting stats that most recruiters will find useful and informative, for example, “While the Internet is it not yet a universal tool, it approaches that in certain demographic groups. And as it continues to mature, usage patterns are continually changing. Three years ago, major job boards were all the rage. Then niche job boards started gaining ground. Now it’s all about Twitter, Facebook and social media.”

Here is a link to the report: http://staffing.org/library_ViewArticle.asp?ArticleID=450

Via Knowledge@Wharton …

Failing to manage your company’s talent needs, says Wharton management professor Peter Cappelli, “is the equivalent of failing to manage your supply chain.” And yet the majority of employers have abysmal track records when it comes to the age-old problem of finding and retaining talent.

Supply chain managers “ask questions like, ‘Do we have the right parts in stock?’ ‘Do we know where to get these parts when we need them?’ and ‘Does it cost a lot of money to carry inventory?’ These questions are just as relevant to companies that are trying to manage their talent needs,” he says. In other words, the principles of supply chain management, with its emphasis on just-in-time manufacturing, can be applied to talent management.

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Via Human Resources Leader …

The economic downturn is putting significant pressure on many organisations. In such times, CEOs usually turn to finance and operations to assist them in adapting to the times. However, HR can also make a valuable contribution at the executive table.

HR needs to play a pragmatic role in these times. However, this role may not necessarily fall under the banner of strategy, according to Justyn Sturrock, human capital management service line leader, A/NZ, IBM Global Business Services. “HR must have the skill set to drive operational efficiency and effectiveness. This is about creating an adaptable work force that can rapidly respond to changes in the market,” he says.

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From ITworld …

For growing businesses, I know of no better way to purchase software than as a hosted service, paid for on a per-user/per-month basis. While the equation may not work for the smallest companies, and some IT departments avoid it in order to build an ever-larger empire for themselves, Software-as-a-Service (SaaS) is the up-and-coming thing. And it’s a perfect solution expand or contract in a roller-coaster economy.

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Houston, TX – PreCheck, Inc.™ and Hirebridge LLC, today announced the integration between PreCheck’s background screening service and Hirebridge’s applicant tracking and hiring management system.  Through these system integrations, both companies are able to offer clients the five core integration components and as a result abridge the hiring processes for their clients.

“We saw this as a favorable partnership because both PreCheck and Hirebridge are committed to providing outstanding customer service, as well as offering customizable solutions to meet the unique needs of our healthcare clients,”  stated Bruce Smith, President and Chief Operations Officer at PreCheck, Inc.  “With over fifteen years of exclusive industry focus, PreCheck also brings valuable experience in recognizing our clients’ needs and providing innovative solutions.”

This partnership helps meet human resource departments’ demands of quickly staffing qualified individuals in their facility.  The full integration between PreCheck and Hirebridge allows human resources and hiring professionals to easily order background screening services and receive results through the applicant tracking and candidate management system.  Hirebridge provides the web-based application platform for applicants to apply for a job on any computer, anywhere in the world, while PreCheck delivers the background screening report which could include, criminal and sanction screening, employment, licensing and education verification, plus credit and motor vehicle registration checks.  These background check components are important when hiring individuals within the strict guidelines of the healthcare industry and promote patient and employee safety, along with assisting in risk mitigation for the healthcare facility.

“Our clients are consistently looking for ways in which they can reduce their costs and streamline their business operations.  Ease of use and efficiency of workflow are vital to them.  Partnering with PreCheck, enables us to offer a complete packaged solution that greatly reduces the inefficient, manual and repetitive tasks that are often present in running background checks,” stated Marc Berman, Chief Executive Officer for Hirebridge LLC.

Both companies offer a suite of cost-saving, web-based services that help streamline human resource departments’ daily tasks.

About PreCheck, Inc.

PreCheck Inc. is the nation’s leading provider of background verification and credentialing services for the healthcare industry. PreCheck provides healthcare organizations dedicated to patient safety with the information they need to verify and preserve the integrity of their people and programs.  PreCheck’s services for healthcare organizations expand beyond background verifications and credentialing to include innovative outsourcing solutions to handle employee sanction screening, professional license management, employment verification, vendor credentialing and student background screening.  For more information about PreCheck’s products and services, call 888-PreCheck (773-2432) or visit www.PreCheck.com.

About Hirebridge

Hirebridge, LLC, (http://www.hirebridge.com/) located in Coral Springs, FL, is a provider of web-based Applicant Tracking and Hiring Management Solutions. Its products and services includes Hirebridge Recruiter, a powerful, web-based applicant tracking and candidate management system that provides businesses with easy-to-acquire and easy-to-use tools to reduce costs and streamline business operations. Hirebridge has successfully deployed solutions for more than 125 leading companies, inculding GoDaddy.com, Chicos, White House|Black Market, Snowbird Resort, Menards, Maurices, Tulane University Hospital and Campus Management.

Contact:  Lindsey Reczek - lindseyreczek@precheck.com - 713.590.1139

Via JobMachine …

A person buys the best hammer in the world only to discover that it doesn’t change their ability to hammer a nail.  Sounds silly, yet companies that set out to buy what they’ve determined is the best ATS often find nothing has improved a year after installing it.  Their mistake is buying an ATS thinking it’s a solution, when in reality, it’s a tool only as effective as it is used.  The irony is companies who install ATSs often end up in worse shape than before, through no fault of the ATS vendor.

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Via ERE.net …

What’s a marketing manager?

Ask five people, and you’ll get five definitions. Look for resumes, and you’ll get hundreds of people doing vastly different things.

Mark Bielecki is trying to clean it all up with a new site, Joblish. (And you thought startups had used up every possible fanciful variation of the word “job”!)

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