Is your human resources department spending too many hours scanning resumes and corresponding with potential job candidates?

If so, your association might want to consider implementing recruiting software, applications or algorithms that help HR professionals do their jobs more efficiently.

According to a recently released Marketresearchpro report, the recruiting software market is set to experience worldwide growth by 2025.  And for Mike McGuiness, the talent initiatives director at the HR Policy Association, that’s not surprising.

In fact, this growth drove HRPA’s new Recruiting Software Initiative, a project that aims to provide a transparent picture about the different software out there and their efficacies to HRPA members, who tend to be larger, for-profit organizations.

While it makes sense that larger organizations and for-profits would use this technology, is it also a good fit for nonprofits and associations?

“Any organization that has a clear conundrum that they want some help with … or an area they want to improve efficiencies absolutely could utilize something like this,” McGuiness said.

But that’s the key: Associations should first identify what their specific goals are when it comes to improving efficiencies within the HR function. Different applications will have different strengths. “Ultimately, there’s no panacea out there today,” McGuiness said. So, as associations begin to use this technology, McGuiness said they need to understand not only what they want help with but also how it fits into their broader strategy over the next year to five years.

For instance, to fulfill strategic objectives, does your HR department need to eliminate some of the “time sucks,” such as interview scheduling or communication? In that case, an application that manages scheduling or includes a chat feature could be helpful. Or maybe your HR department needs help building brand consistency or improving messaging on job boards. In that case, associations should turn to a software with those strengths.

“At the bottom line, the machines are the supplement to help the talent-acquisition team just perform more efficiently,” McGuiness said. “At the end of the day, it’s the human that’s making the decision. But if that human is sitting down and spending eight hours to review resumes on any given day, [and] they now have an application and only need to review resumes for 90 minutes, that time efficiency is worth its weight in gold.”

How has your HR department improved its efficiency with recruiting software? Please tell us about it in the comment box below.

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