Applicant Tracking Reports Make Data Meaningful

Workforce, Feb, 2001 by William Dickmeyer

The speed and flexibility offered by dynamic reporting can pay huge dividends if company can reach the right candidates even a couple of hours earlier.

Applicant tracking systems collect a lot of data. Fortunately, the systems are able to make meaningful sense of this data through their reporting functions, which cover a wide range of measures, from required reporting such as EEO-1 to financial reporting such as average cost per hire. What differentiates vendors is the flexibility allowed in the reporting function.

On one end of the spectrum, some vendors provide a series of often-used reports that are hard-coded into the system. Such simple reporting keeps overall system development and purchase costs relatively low. While this meets the need of most users, there are companies that require more robust and flexible reporting. For these serious metric-minds, there are products that allow customizable reporting by the user.

These range from vendor-patented report writers within the individual products, to adaptations of common report writers like Crystal Reports. For further slicing, data can even be exported directly to programs such as Microsoft Excel or Access. Obviously, this flexibility comes at increased cost, but for those companies that take measurements seriously, is well worth it.

The ultimate goal of the reporting systems is to provide a way of measuring the applicant tracking system's effectiveness. In the end, the product should be able to tell you where you stand in getting the right talent in the right amount of time for the least amount of money. Here are some common reports, and why they're important to you.

1. Cost-Per-Hire Report

What is it and why is it measured?

As human resource departments search for every inch of cost containment in their operations, increasing importance has been placed on the use of metrics, or measures of performance. These can range from overall department performance to average number of calls in the HR service center. In the recruitment arena, metrics are plentiful, with one of the more common ones being cost-per-hire. Many institutions and consultants, such as the Saratoga Institute, have put forth widely accepted methods for determining cost-per-hire. The Saratoga Institute defines cost-per-hire as:

Advertising Cost Agency Fees Employee Referral Bonuses Applicant/Staff Travel Costs Relocation Costs Recruiter Pay/Benefits 10 percent of the total of these elements, to account for miscellaneous costs (divided by) number of hires

Depending on a company's ability to gather data, there are even non-financial costs that can be factored in to this equation, such as the time it takes to actually fill a position, the number of interviews in relation to the number of hires, and even overall turnover. Regardless of the factors used, the purpose of the cost-per-hire measure is to provide a benchmark to use for budgeting and controlling costs. More specifically, it can even be used as a means for evaluating new programs, such as incentive options or hiring bonuses, where it is critical to assess the savings versus the other financial spending.

How an applicant tracking system (ATS) does it

Although cost-per-hire is an important measure for many companies, many applicant tracking systems do not offer this type of reporting on a standard basis. The reason? Every company has its own definition of what goes into cost-per-hire. However, since many companies do want to capture this information, most vendors leave a certain number of user-defined fields in their applications that are programmed when the system is set up. Once the fields are programmed, vendors can collect cost data from either manual input from HR staff, financial systems, or HRMS/payroll. With less expensive off-the-shelf software programs, companies will have to rely on the vendor's definition of cost-per-hire, which in most cases will be a pretty close number.

Practical uses

Other than the more financial aspects of evaluating recruiting costs, cost-per-hire metrics can also help you evaluate your HR staff. While many companies review recruiter performance on such measures as the time it takes to fill an open job, additional standards can be set for cost-efficient hiring. By providing quick, dependable cost data, recruiters can see where money is being spent and be held more accountable for controlling those costs where necessary. Over time, benchmarks can be established and built directly into performance goals for the upcoming review period.

2. EEO-1/VETS 100 Reports

What's required

Within the context of the employment process, employers must ensure that they are in compliance with all federal and state employment laws. As an outgrowth of the requirement to hire without regard to race, color, gender, national origin, or religion, employers with more than 100 employees are also required to file annually an Employer Information Report (EEO-l), also known as Standard Form 100. This report not only shows female and minority representation in the workforce, but also breaks down the workforce into nine different job groupings, such as Professional, Sales Workers, Office, and Clerical.