Learn More About Staffing Software
What is Staffing Software?
Staffing software helps staffing and recruiting agencies to find and manage talent throughout the hiring process. These solutions enable users to automate and streamline their recruitment workflow. Staffing tools include many functionalities, from talent acquisition suites such as application tracking system (ATS), recruitment marketing, onboarding, candidate engagement, and job distribution.
Staffing software contains a group of solutions that recruiters, staffing firms, staffing agencies, and human resource departments can use to help companies match the right candidate to the right job. Staffing agency software can help cut costs and free personnel from time-consuming administrative work within the recruiting process. By freeing recruiters, recruiting directors, or HR managers from having to manually organize and keep track of candidates, staffing software can allow for these personnel to focus on other important recruiting and onboarding tasks involved with the hiring process. The best staffing software gives prospective candidates and recruiters the ability to communicate with one another throughout the process while having a hiring or HR director manage and supervise.
What are the Common Features of Staffing Software?
Staffing software features provide staffing and recruiting agencies with solutions ranging from candidate tracking to custom reporting tools that streamline the entire hiring process. Each staffing and recruiting company will need to consider the needs of their clients and personnel to decide which features are necessary. Staffing software may include the following features:
Forms management: One of the features that staffing solutions can provide is managing forms and paperwork associated with the recruiting process. This can take place in different ways depending on the specific software product. This feature can reduce tedious administrative tasks involving forms and paperwork, to reduce human capital and time so that recruiters and HR personnel can focus on the staffing needs of the company.
Job boards: A feature that is popular within the staffing software products would be the ability to generate job postings in real time to both free and paid job boards. While there is also software that revolves around job board-specific needs, this feature within staffing software can help make the process easier for recruiters as they search for certain candidates. It also allows for companies that are seeking specialized skills in candidates to post their needs for open positions.
Reference and resume check: Another useful feature of staffing software is having automated matching and reference checking as well as resume viewing and downloading. Reference checking is sometimes a necessary part of the process and having this feature within staffing software makes the process even more efficient. Having the ability for resume downloading and processing also helps with the organization of candidates and their qualifications that is necessary for recruiters, staffers, and HR personnel.
Communication and administrative management: Staffing tools may include forms and template creation; email integration, system, and mail merge; a manager or client portal; multi-function lists; and tracking and tagging solutions. Depending on the specific product this may look different although the end product is the same. This can help create an integrated system for the HR or recruitment department to keep everything systematically organized.
Boolean search: Staffing solutions include search options that allow recruiters to combine keywords for improved results. Search options are very useful for recruiters and HR personnel to find the right candidates for the specific criteria required. This can ease and aid the search process of qualified candidates.
Candidate hiring solutions: Features that ultimately provide solutions for the candidate hiring process typically include background screening prospective hires, skill testing candidates, and information tracking tools, as well as skill-based searching and matching. Depending on the specific staffing product there will be a varying degree of what would be included for this specific feature.
Customizable forms and analytics: Staffing software can contain features that provide customizable forms for onboarding and analytical reports. This way the many forms that need to be filled out by candidates can all be found within an organized portal. These forms can also be customized to serve company-specific needs for onboarding or assessment capabilities. The available reports will look differently depending on the software. Although this is a great feature to have when needed to generate reports for overall recruitment and HR departments’ success.
Integrations: Staffing software often integrates with career websites, web design software websites, job boards, and more. Being able to integrate the software with job searching sites and other products streamlines the success of the recruiting process for staffers and recruiters. Therefore, allowing for an all-in-one ability to post jobs, create company websites, and other software capabilities that make the job easier for recruiters and HR personnel.
Lead generation: Staffing personnel can use the software to identify candidates and clients who are available to work. Automating the generation of candidate leads could save time for recruiters instead of them having to manually find relevant candidates and build the recruiting pipeline. Therefore, giving the recruiters and HR personnel easy access to sort out candidates that are favored for a specific job.
Employer portals: Staffing tools often include employee referral abilities, as well as logins with everything organized for any employee or employer. Having an option of a portal for staffing software is very useful to have to keep track of candidates during the hiring process via candidate portals. Not only does it make it easier for the prospective hire but also for the recruiter and manager to be able to manage the process from the portal’s back end.
Candidate tracking: These are useful features to automate the workforce management process for the recruiter as the staffing software can help source where the prospective candidate comes from. Integrating staffing software with this feature can also integrate with other software for time tracking and candidate pipeline tracking to ease the process for everyone involved.
User-friendly interface: Staffing solutions with intuitive interfaces help staffing personnel streamline staffing reports, timesheets, and requisition approval.
What are the Benefits of Staffing Software?
Improved organization and management of candidates: Maintaining a database of candidate information that is accessible by all personnel on the hiring or HR team is essential to efficient recruiting processes. Staffing agency software enables each member of the recruiting team to have real-time access to the candidate information, including their skills, their work experience, and other information to decide whether the candidate is a good fit for the organization. These solutions help ensure that candidate information is organized and managed well without the fear of losing data across the team.
Streamlined communication: Recruiters at staffing firms can organize messages from prospective candidates as well as communications from client companies. Staffing software can typically track position requests from organizations as well as field questions for prospective hires. This can assure that the hiring or recruitment team does not lose track of messages from new hires, and provides a solution for recruiters to stay in touch with clients about how the hiring process is going.
Automation of administrative tasks: Staffing software automates some repetitive tasks that are a part of the hiring process. This could include anything from forms candidates submit, inputting candidate information, scheduling interviews, keeping track of candidate progress in the hiring process, and more. Automation can free up time for the recruiter to conduct interviews, build relationships, and work on other hiring-related tasks.
Reduced human errors: A huge benefit of staffing software is record-keeping. It is much harder for candidate information to get lost when there are automated records of communication, submissions, and interviews. Without the software, recruiters would have to transcribe records or keep track of multiple candidates manually, introducing the potential for human errors. With staffing software, most things are tracked automatically, ensuring that all the information that has been included is saved and is accessible from any member of the recruiting or hiring team.
Beneficial analytics and reports: This is another useful benefit to have within the recruiting or hiring world as it can generate reports and analysis of both the recruiting team as well as the prospective candidate’s performance. Staffing software can provide analytics on the efficiency of the recruiting process and what the recruiters are doing right or wrong; provide insight into the productivity of the employees; and uncover potential process improvements within the hiring steps. This information can help the HR team to adjust accordingly and become even more efficient in the process in the long run.
Who Uses Staffing Software?
HR directors/managers: In smaller businesses, these positions are usually the people who are in charge of staffing for their organization. In larger businesses, these can be the leads of the department who handle more managerial aspects of the hiring process. They would be utilizing staffing software to organize and manage candidates for open positions within the company. This same position would most likely also be responsible for the coordination of hiring the new employees and setting up their onboarding programs. Sometimes the HR director or HR manager is also responsible for fulfilling requests from clients who need new staff. They can still use the same software for dual purposes.
HR/recruiting coordinators: As the leads of the recruitment or HR teams within organizations, they most likely will have more of a managerial role and use in relation to staffing software. While sometimes they may be in charge of the recruitment process from start to finish, more often than not they could handle the overseeing of the hiring process and track how their recruiters are doing in each step of the process. These positions might also be responsible for the coordination of new hires from interviews to onboarding, which can be mostly managed from staffing software platforms.
VP of HR or recruiting: As these positions are usually found in larger companies, it is more than likely these people would be in charge of managing the chain of command for the recruiting or HR team. This would mean they would take more of an overseer approach to tracking how recruiters are doing, how many candidates are a part of the process, what steps need to be completed, and more. These positions would be using the staffing software to a degree, however, more than likely they would use more of the managerial functions of the software, leaving the more common uses for recruiters.
Recruiters: These positions would most likely be using most of the key and more common functions of staffing software, given that their job would be primarily to be seeking new candidates, interviewing, and ultimately setting them up for the onboarding process if selected. Being the main point of contact for the hiring prospects, recruiters would be able to communicate with prospective hires, organize candidates’ profiles, search for qualified candidates, and much more. This position would benefit most from productive staffing software so making sure that the product has an easy-to-use interface and several capabilities to make the recruiting process easier would be essential.
Software Related to Staffing Software
Applicant tracking systems: This software assists hiring managers, internal recruiters, recruitment agencies, and other employees in managing the collection and organization of applicant information. This is related to staffing software as normally ATS products have integration capabilities with staffing products.
Job search sites: Job search sites provide companies, recruiters, and people seeking employment with an easy-to-use database from which to post and search job listings. This can be integrated with staffing software products as this functionality can help recruiters find people who may be qualified for the staffing needs of particular companies.
Onboarding software: This software helps HR personnel get full use of the onboarding capabilities to simplify the process for new employees. This is a feature that integrates well with staffing software after the hiring process, to efficiently bring the newly acquired hires on board and ready to start work.
Recruitment agencies: Agencies often employ recruitment management software to help organize, update, and maintain databases of candidates and companies to source qualified candidates for open positions. This can be a useful integration for staffing software as they have many similar qualities that allow for a successful and efficient recruitment process.
Recruiting automation software: This software helps HR personnel, hiring managers, and recruiters source qualified candidates for current and future openings. This very neatly coincides with staffing software as there is a need to search for qualified candidates.
Recruitment marketing platforms: These platforms provide companies with branding tools, job marketing solutions, and candidate relationship tracking to help recruiters source passive and active candidates. This can be integrated with staffing software to help recruiters maintain a certain marketing persona that translates well for prospective candidates.
Video interviewing software: This software helps companies streamline the interview process by providing interview tools to identify qualified candidates regardless of location, time, or schedule. This software can easily work with staffing software to help recruiters set up interviews through a single platform and communicate with prospective candidates about interviews.
Challenges with Staffing Software
Staffing software solutions can come with their own set of challenges:
Superfluous features: Sometimes some products may overcomplicate what a company may need for their recruiting and hiring process. Perhaps a particular product may have more features than a recruiting team may need to acquire new hires. However, all that means is that it is important to buy a staffing product that is best suited for the company’s needs so that nothing needs to be overcomplicated.
Lack of customization options: Most software can be adjusted and used for any staffing firm as long as there is a recruitment or hiring personnel or team that is in charge of acquiring new hires. However, sometimes if the industry is very niche, some staffing software will not as easily correspond to the workflow a company may require. For example, if there is an automobile company that wants to implement staffing software to help grow their company, it might be hard to make an exact fit of software that might not have the capabilities of searching for mechanics and car salespeople. Perhaps finding an industry-specific option would be more helpful or utilizing a staffing agency that is more knowledgeable about the industry-specific processes a company may have. Buyers should investigate whether a software product has sufficient customization options that will work for their firm’s specific workflow and client needs.
Which Companies Should Buy Staffing Software?
Any staffing or recruiting firm can benefit from investing in staffing software if they have an HR department or a recruitment team. Since the features from this software would be beneficial to the recruiting life cycle and staff management system. Here are a few industry examples of the software at work:
Staffing agencies: As organizations that specialize in hiring new employees quickly and efficiently to fill open positions within companies, they can especially benefit from staffing software. Not only does this software help organize and manage candidates, but it also helps reduce human errors that can sometimes happen when working with large numbers of prospective candidates.
Recruiting services and executive search firms: Features like boolean search and lead generation can benefit recruiting services and executive search firms as these organizations need highly qualified and specialized candidates for filling open roles. Recruiting firms can use the software to identify qualified candidates while quickly filtering and organizing applicants to ease the process for the recruiters.
How to Buy Staffing Software
Requirements Gathering (RFI/RFP)
There are many potential requirements to consider when deciding to buy and implement staffing software throughout a company or within a specific department. Depending on the industry and the particular business, buyers should consider the size of the recruits, purchasing budget, and the specific functionality of the software when developing a list of requirements.
The first thing for a company to figure out is how many prospective candidates would be sought out per hiring cycle, both to ensure their chosen product can support all efforts to hire new employees and to get a sense of how much it will cost, since the cost of many products vary, depending on how many users the buyer needs to support. Another consideration is what features of staffing software would be most important to the business. Besides basic staffing functionality, buyers should consider whether other features such as candidate tracking, facilitating communication with candidates, delivering reports and analytics on the recruiting process, or employee productivity analytics are important.
Finally, buyers should have a budget in mind when looking to invest in staffing software solutions. If the business is considering investing in other HR software to manage their hiring process, considering a cheaper staffing solution might be necessary. However, a staffing solution that covers most requirements for a business may also be able to work as a stand-alone product.
Compare Products
Create a long list
An initial list of potential staffing agency software should include any products that meet the company’s basic feature requirements. At this point, buyers should just be aiming to get a sense of the options that at least meet essential needs, such as being able to source, manage, and track candidates throughout the hiring process, pipeline management capabilities, and candidate relationship management.
Create a short list
After a long list has been created, it’s time to look at each product in more detail to determine if it sounds like it will meet the needs of the company’s hiring managers and recruiters. This should include evaluating additional features of each product beyond the ones identified as essential to determine if that additional functionality would further automate the process of staffing software.
Conduct demos
When the time comes to contact sellers for a demo, buyers should have a sense of the features each product offers and be ready to evaluate how well those features work. A key aspect to consider during the demo for staffing software is accessibility since hiring managers and recruiters will need to be constantly using the software. However, accessibility is also important for the prospective candidate on their side of the software so they can easily communicate with the hiring personnel assigned to them. Another aspect to consider is versatility as the staffing software may need to be used in conjunction with other pre-hire or interview software such as pre-employment screening software, and onboarding software.
Selection of Staffing Software
Choose a selection team
When choosing staffing software, it is important to involve any relevant stakeholders who might be using the product to ensure that the software will meet everyone’s needs. Depending on the size of the company or the recruitment department, the list of stakeholders can include but is not limited to: hiring managers, HR specialists, HR directors, recruiting directors, hiring directors, recruiting coordinators, recruiters, training managers, and anyone directly involved with the hiring process of new candidates. Most likely whoever is the leader of the department of recruitment or HR would be making selection decisions on buying staffing software.
Negotiation
After narrowing in on a preferred product, it’s time to negotiate a pricing package. Buyers must consider the pricing model of the software, such as whether the seller charges a flat monthly fee or, more commonly, charges a fee based on how many users would be utilizing the product. Buyers can also negotiate to add more users to the package to meet their specific company needs. Also, the buyer can consider negotiating a discount in exchange for multi-year contracts.
Final decision
The final decision will most likely be made by the leadership team within the recruiting department or HR department, as there would most likely be many employees within those teams utilizing the software. However, staffing firm leaders will likely have the final say on whether to purchase the specific product for the company.
What Does Staffing Software Cost?
The cost for staffing software can vary based on how it is purchased as well as the specific product that is of interest to the company. The common pricing model would most likely be per user, meaning per recruiter or HR personnel who are a part of the hiring process. Within the price per user, products may also have models that are based on per user per month. Some products may also offer free demos and then explain their pricing model once the demo has been completed in relation to the specific company. Generally, the buyer should be prepared to pay anywhere from $20 to $100 per user for staffing software. Normally, these costs are paid on a monthly basis, although some vendors may offer annual plans.
Return on Investment (ROI)
When considering ROI for staffing software, companies or specifically recruiting or HR teams should consider how much time they are saving and how much money they are making by automating the hiring process. Time can be saved in the facilitation of interactions between hiring personnel on the company side to the prospective candidates as well as during communications with candidates. Money can also be saved in terms of having a product that is all in one in terms of facilitating communication, analyzing data on the hiring process and employee productivity, as well as evaluating candidates with supervision from managers to track and monitor the performance of the recruiting team as well. The all-in-one capabilities can save the company money on having to buy separate software to handle the singular functions that staffing software can provide. While staffing software may have a slightly heavy price tag compared to software with only individual functionalities. Depending on the specific product, over time the return on investment is significant considering all the features that would be included with the staffing software.
Staffing Software Trends
Big data: Big data analytics and data-driven decisions will help recruiters and staffing personnel understand and improve their processes. All aspects of business, including hiring, are impacted by the collection, analysis, and understanding of big data. Recruiters and hiring personnel will be able to use big data to make recruitment decisions and improve their hiring processes.
Candidate experience: Companies must plan a proper candidate experience, from sourcing passive candidates through onboarding, as a method of increasing retention, productivity, and morale. Staffing companies must be concerned with the candidate experience as they work for their corporate or business clients in sourcing and employing new candidates. Staffing agencies need to help their corporate clients properly brand and showcase their work culture, vision, and mission to entice qualified candidates. Hiring companies, meanwhile, should focus on both the candidate experience of potential new hires and the experiences of their clients. Candidate experience will also help increase referrals, which can be a large chunk of a hiring firm’s business. Customer satisfaction is key—whether it’s the satisfaction of the candidate or client—so staffing agencies need to maintain open lines of communication and provide a pleasant and engaging experience.
Diversity and inclusion: Companies are increasingly focusing on diversifying their hiring practices. Most large organizations have diversity goals in place; some are employing chief diversity officers to oversee diverse hiring practices. Companies will be looking for staffing and recruiting partners that have the capabilities of focusing on diversity hiring practices to expand their talent acquisition pool and improve their bottom line.
