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Table 4: Technologies Now Gaining Traction withSMBs1.Custom Software31%2.Web Services and Applications28%3.CRM/Sales Force Automation23%4.Software as a Service (SaaS)20%5.IP Telephony19%6.Storage Area Networks19%7.ERP/Supply Chain Software18%8.Open Source/Linux Applications18%99.9 percent availability? Do they offer fail-safedata centers with redundant high-speed, highvolume internet bandwidth?A good vendor can advise you on best practices,while an excellent one will help you with contentassessment.Where do trust and market leadership rank onyour scorecard? You’ll know the moment you recommend a vendor to your boss and HR colleagues.UsabilityCompTIA and AMI-Partners 2007 Spending SurveyUnlike a larger and more complex EnterpriseResource Planning (ERP) onsite implementation,a hosted ATS installation is typically measuredin days or weeks, depending on the size of yourcompany, your organizational skills in advanceof the installation, and the clarity of your internalrecruiting processes. Studies by talent managementconsultant the Newman Group reveal that mostcompanies are happy with their ATS systems, buta few companies have tried and abandoned one ormore systems. One way to avoid disappointment isto try before you buy. Some vendors will allow youto demo their product as part of a free trial beforepaying user fees. If you’re uncertain whether toinvest in an applicant tracking system, this is oneway to test the waters.Trusting the vendorAll things being equal, SMBs would prefer to gowith a leader. Brand leadership was cited by 57percent of CompTIA’s respondents as a criteriafor purchasing IT products and services, with91 percent saying that a vendor must deliver aspromised. Market leaders have staying power andare more likely to offer a battle-tested product. Thisis especially important to SMBs, who expect tosqueeze more years from their technology and thusrequire a vendor to remain in business longer.Ask the vendor to provide you with their customersatisfaction metrics together with online availability and installation success rates. Can they deliver Copyright 2008 Taleo CorporationIn a sourcing and recruiting survey completed inApril 2007, the Newman Group reports that 40percent of nearly 600 respondents claimed theirATS system doesn’t effectively support their hiringprocesses.3 Almost half said that their systemcouldn’t manage search firm submittals, collectinterview feedback, or create an email campaign tocandidates in the database.A lack of flexibility in defining workflows, capturing applicant data, and tracking applicants asthey move upwards through the organization ispreventing many users from deriving greater valuefrom their ATS systems. These deficiencies becomeeven more glaring if a business is sufficiently largeto have multiple business units or be operating inmore than one country.You want a system that can be configured to workwithin your established processes rather than forceyou into making compromises. You should be ableto customize fields, forms, and workflows easily,and use personalized email templates to communicate with groups or individuals. Ensuring compliance has to be a snap, especially if you contractwith the government.3 2007 Sourcing and Recruiting Survey, developed by the Newman Group. Thesurvey was completed in April 2007 by nearly 600 respondents, 70 percent ofwhom are directly involved in corporate staffing as recruiter, sourcer, or staffingmanagement. The remaining respondents were HR generalists (7 percent), HRexecutives (8 percent), consultants (6 percent), search firm recruiters (10 percent)and vendors (1 percent).What SMBs Should Look for in an Applicant Tracking SystemPAGE 3

“Optimizing the use of an ATS goes hand-in-handwith optimizing recruitment operations,” theNewman Group says. “To be truly effective, ATSsystems must not only support existing internalsystems, they must go beyond a support role towork in harmony with existing processes and systems (such as HRIS) towards achieving a commonfunctional goal.”IntegrationThe larger your business, the more likely you areto have HRIS and financials applications you’llneed to integrate with. An industry-specific ATSsystem – and there are a few, even at the SMB level– can pay off if you do a lot of niche recruiting withspecialized job requirements. Accreditation couldbe one such requirement.Application programming interfaces (API) intoother third-party applications, including externalrecruiters, Microsoft Outlook , job boards, andsocial utilities, will increase your access to jobcandidates and provide even more convenience.Nearly two-thirds of SMBs surveyed by CompTIAand AMI-Partners listed integration as a prioritywhen purchasing IT products and services. Thiswas their third most important criteria, laggingonly TCO and scalability.ScalabilityAn ATS system should function as efficiently foran organization of two-thousand as for a companyof twenty (or even one, if you’re a recruiter withmany clients). As you grow, your ATS systemmust keep pace with you. This is especially truefor SMBs that spin off separate business units orrecruit overseas. In either case multi-language andmulti-currency functionality become mandatory.SourcingWhere does it hurt most? When asked to identifythe cause of their greatest pain, 55 percent ofrespondents to the Newman Group survey citedsourcing. This is more than double the percentagePAGE 4of the second highest vote-getter, candidatequalification and screening.At a time of 5 percent unemployment, with the firstwave of Baby Boomers just beginning to retire andskilled talent in high demand, it’s no wonder thatrecruiters need help with sourcing. Many of theestablished methods of finding candidates – jobboards, career fairs, employee referrals – remainviable, but yields are falling. Too often everyone ischasing the same small pool of job seekers.A good ATS system will integrate candidate assessment tools and direct job board postings, and evenpredict which job boards will be most effective. Itcan root out passive job seekers by tapping intosocial utilities such as LinkedIn and Facebook .And because it’s online and on-demand, it accommodates applicants on their terms, with a maximum of privacy.Use an ATS system to begin building a candidatedatabase. By the time the skilled labor shortagepeaks several years from now, you’ll have a listof qualified job applicants you can engage inconversation.Tracking and correspondenceSuccessful recruiting often occurs over time andincludes multiple conversations. The ability toaccess and refer back to those conversations givesrecruiters and hiring managers a leg up on securingthe best candidates.Candidate management tools will enable you tocreate candidate profiles and send branded emailswithin personalized templates. As more peoplein the organization become responsible for finding and developing talent, the number of peopletouching the ATS system may increase sharply.Workflow must be easily configurable.ReportingYou may be convinced your recruiting is payingoff, while your boss remains skeptical. How doWhat SMBs Should Look for in an Applicant Tracking System Copyright 2008 Taleo Corporation

IV: Living with Your Selectionyou know who’s right? A good ATS system can tellyou. It offers both standard reports and the abilityto compile custom reports easily. Standard reportsshould reveal the number of requisitions filled, thetime-to-fill, and the cost-per-hire. You should beable to slice and dice the ad spend on your variousmedia and learn which job fairs are providing thelargest number of qualified applicants.At a time when SMBs are looking to enhance theirproductivity and recruiters are challenged to meetaggressive recruiting targets, an ATS system canquickly pay for itself. By boosting the quality ofhire cost effectively, a good ATS system provideshuman resource professionals and senior managerswith a smarter way to streamline the hiring processand create higher net returns for the company.Other metrics your boss and you should be able toaccess include the number of completed applications, the number of candidates in the database, thenumber of referrals, source tracking of candidates,and the cost per candidate.ATS systems are as varied as the job candidatesthey process. Like the candidates, they have bothstrengths and weaknesses. This paper wasn’tmeant to provide an exhaustive checklist offeatures and functionality, but to identify importantareas that merit your closest scrutiny.The most effective ATS systems provide real-timeviews on any candidate, requisition, or user. Lookfor complete drilldown capabilities and take a longview on recruiting. In an ere.net column titled, “12Best Recruiting Practices to Copy,” recruiter JohnSullivan says that Dell is a company to emulate,and explains why. “By looking at the number ofnew hires that become top performers within 12to 18 months, they are hitting the nail right on thehead. Great recruiting is not about hiring a largenumber of people or hiring them cheaply; it’s abouthiring individuals who become top performers andwho stay with the organization.”4Many users may access your applicant trackingsystem, but few will be entirely at ease with thetechnology from day one. Remember that eachperson who comes into contact with the systemwill need some level of training. A certain amountof intuitiveness and ease of use will pay bigdividends. As you complete your assessment ofthe various ATS systems, ask yourself if the systemunder consideration will make you and yourcolleagues a little more effective, or a lot moreeffective, and choose wisely.ComplianceAdded to the mix in today’s hiring challenges areconcerns about privacy and transparency, anti-discrimination statutes, and the need for a diversifiedworkforce. Because reducing risk and promotingbest practices are priorities, your system should beable to accommodate EEO, Affirmative Action, andSarbanes-Oxley reporting requirements. It shouldoffer built-in controls for references, certifications, and clearances. Ideally it will be role- anduser-based, capable of filtering data to ensure thatconfidential or potentially prejudicial informationis seen only by the appropriate company contacts,whether administrator, recruiter, or hiring manager.About Taleo Business Editio

www.taleo.com – info@taleo.com 1.877.818.2536 – U.S. 1.888.922.5665 – International ABOUT TALEO Taleo (NASDAQ: TLEO) is the leader in on demand, web-based talent management solutions that empower organizations of all sizes, around the world to assess, acquire, develop and