Is it time to change your recruitment solution?
"Have you been using a recruitment software for over 10 years but it might no longer be suitable? Are you experiencing issues with slowness and performance? Has your provider significantly increased prices without improving the quality of their tool? Or do you simply want to see the best available recruitment management solutions today?"
To assist you in your approach, we have prepared a list of key steps to follow for successfully migrating to new recruitment software.
Define your needs
Do not act in haste, anticipate your change, as the need to evolve to another recruitment solution usually doesn’t happen overnight.
It is crucial that you consider the functionalities your recruitment firm or company needs and how it will be used.
Assess the current recruitment software (if you're using an Excel file, that works too), identify what you want to keep, the new features you desire, what you no longer want, and recognize the positives and negatives.
When it comes to selecting software, do not limit yourself during your search. After synthesizing the multiple existing solutions, your choice will be significantly simplified.
Establish a specification document
After analyzing the existing system, gathering user needs and the functions used, you now know your needs and can now establish a specification document as follows:
· What is the context of the project (reasons for the change)
· What are the positive & negative aspects of the current solution? (Excel or ATS)
· What are the needs of your firm or company (quantitative and qualitative objectives)
· What are the potential constraints (financial, time-related…)
· What is the planned budget (include the number of licenses, cost per license, implementation, and training…)
· When do you want to start with the new solution? (set date milestones according to the different stages)
The perfect solution doesn’t always exist, so be prepared to weigh pros and cons between abandoned features and newly available ones.
Download our template for the ATS migration specification document.
Get support
To choose the software that will best meet your needs, you can hire a consultant.
Indeed, you might consider hiring an external consultant to guide you in your software selection project.
Of course, you will need to include the cost of this expertise, but since you don't want to change recruitment solutions every year, the investment in an external consultant can quickly pay off.
Prepare and integrate your recruiters
A change in software used daily by the whole team (recruiters, managers) can be disruptive, so it is important to discuss it internally, initiate the change smoothly, and communicate regularly about it to the teams, even involving them in the process.
A collaborator who understands the constraints is a collaborator who will be more likely to accept the solution with its potential flaws.
Focus on the reasons for the project, its progress, the benefits of this new tool…
Be prepared for a resistance to change
Within a team, each person may react differently to changes. They can generate stress, fear, potential refusal of acceptability, or conversely, acceptance and serenity ("finally, we are getting a new solution!"). In this case, you can rely on promoter recruiters to involve the more reluctant members.
This change management step with the team is important but unfortunately is rarely taken into account.
Train the teams on the new software
This step is essential because changing recruitment software necessarily generates new information to be integrated.
Plan a training schedule; this will allow teams to better understand the tool and fully exploit its potential.
Also, consider training new arrivals, which is generally a weak point in structures; newcomers are very poorly trained on the software, and therefore the quality of use gradually deteriorates over time.
Accept that you may lose some time at the start, but this time will soon be recouped!
The opportunity to rethink certain processes
Finally, take advantage! It may be the right time to rethink certain processes and integrate new best practices.
Changing tools can also mean losing certain functions, so it’s a good opportunity to think broader and start afresh.
So, ready?
Migrating from one recruitment software to another is never easy… After several years of use, it requires a thoughtful approach.
Accurately assess your company’s needs and draft a detailed specification document considering financial constraints and deadlines.
Consider external help to select the new recruitment solution and ensure clear internal communication with your managers and recruiters to facilitate the acceptance of the change.
Manage resistance to change by involving the more open members to rally the more reluctant ones.
Plan comprehensive training for the teams, including new arrivals, and take advantage of this migration to rethink and improve existing processes.
