Today, employers from every industry face a major challenge finding and retaining employees who will be effective within their organization.  The types and combination of skills needed in the work place contribute to the challenge of finding and keeping good employees.  In an effort to streamline the sourcing and selection process, most organizations moved to an automated applicant tracking system which is used to identify job candidates who are a good match for open positions.

In the beginning, the move to the online process seemed like the right thing to do.  After all, everyone was talking about �??going paperless.�??   However, now many organizations are finding that they are loosing good candidates somewhere in the process.  Furthermore, applicants frequently complain about it just being a numbers game and, more than likely, they will never hear from many of the organizations even though they are a perfect match for the position, spent 30+ minutes filling out the online application and answered various questions about their background that at this point in the game probably are not relevant. 

What can organizations do to be certain they are not losing talent?

Tip #1

Test your online applicant process.  Does it work? Are you really asking for the information that is needed at this point?  Are applicants receiving errors messages after spending the better part of an hour attaching documents?

Tip #2

Check to see if the knock out questions are eliminating the wrong people?  For example, an employer recently found out that applicants did not understand the question about education.  The job required a Bachelor of Science but the preference was a Master of Science.  Because of the way the question was worded, applicants that had a Master�??s Degree were eliminated. 

Tip #3

Verify that the job description that is displayed is an accurate reflection of the opening. 

Tip #4

Don�??t leave the posting on the website for an indefinite period of time.  It is sending the wrong message to the applicants.  They may wonder about the following: �??Why has the position been open for so long?  Is the organization just testing the water and really has no intention of filling the position?�??

Tip #5

Treat the candidates with respect.  Remember the old saying about how, when individuals are not satisfied about the way they are treated, they will tell at least ten people.  Can your organization really handle that much bad press?

Remember the new generations at work are not as forgiving.  They want technology that works!