With all the mouth-watering consolidation and growth going on in the talent management marketplace, you’d think that more companies would be happy with their ATS solutions.
Not quite. According to a recent white paper from Knowledge Infusion, 40% of organizations are unhappy with their current talent management solutions. And over the next 3-5 years, companies are planning significant investments in talent management.
Truth is, many analysts and smarter folk than I are calling this more of a replacement market, especially at the “enterprise” level; companies just aren’t happy with the current talent acquisition systems and are shopping around.
But, sometimes I do take my smart pills and know that there are tremendous growth opportunities in the small to mid-markets in manufacturing, retail, foodservice, and hospitality and healthcare industries. And according to a recent Wall St. Journal article titled HR in a Box, there are also scores of much smaller companies and non-profits that need some kind of talent management solution. (Although it takes a heck of a lot more gigs to make money here.)
What are companies to do? Here is what I’ll call the main “Talent Management Sweets” companies should look for in an ATS supplier:
- Addresses the forgotten applicant experience
- Provides true hourly and salaried talent acquisition solutions
- Configures to existing efficient workflow processes
- Includes recruiting, screening, hiring and retention components (background checks, drug screens, paperless onboarding technology, career planning, learning management, performance management, succession management, etc.)
- Drives the organization’s business strategies and bottom line growth
I know this has been rolled, pressed and twisted a myriad of times (milking the candy metaphor) – i.e., 10 steps to buying a talent management system, 7 steps, 12 steps, etc., and I’m sure some of you out there will argue my points.
But working with other ATS players in the space over the past few years like nowHIRE, Deploy (prior to Kronos acquisition), iCIMS, SonicRecruit and many others, I really do believe these sweet spots are where it’s at for companies large and small evaluating a move to a new ATS or looking to buy for the first time.
So whether it’s the replacement market or growing verticals, there’s plenty of opportunity for suppliers in 2008 and beyond! (Someone please take this box of chocolates away from me. Thank you.)
Posted by Kevin GrossmanLabels: applicant tracking systems, business strategies, hiring, recruiting, replacement market, retention, talent management
