EEO Reporting

For those of you who find your organization subject to Affirmative Action Plan (AAP) reporting, we have just unveiled a new reporting tool that will probably make your lives much easier! This new "EEO/AAP - Job Status" report link allows you to export a great deal of pertinent data from your applicant tracking software (ATS) to a CSV file. Relevant column headers in this tool include job status codes, employee hire date, jobs applied (including dates), and applicant-volunteered ethnicity and disability info...just to name a few.

In order to take advantage of this tool, there are a few behaviors that your team should consistently exercise while using the HR software to manage your applicants (see images below to follow along with numbered items):

1. Job status codes are your friend - Always utilize "job status codes" (not just applicant status codes) to assign a unique disposition to each candidate for each job to which he/she applies.
2. Hired? Yes or no - Use the "Hired" yes/no toggle radio button and drop-down date field within the "HR Data" section of an applicant's record. This data feeds into the reporting tool to indicate whether or not an applicant was hired, as well as on what date. Incidentally, these buttons also tell the ATS to display hired applicants in the "Hired Applicants" link under "Applicants" on the gray vertical navigation bar within the site.
3. Clean slate job listings - When featuring open job listings within your site, always use the "Add New Job Listing" link to upload a job listing rather than the "Modify Job Listing" link in the situations where it is a position for which you post often. This ensures that each time period's batch of candidates stays associated only with the job listing that was open for a definite, finite period of time. That is, when you reuse job listings, you start to see applicants that applied months/years ago tied to current job listings...and that can make accurate AAP reporting more difficult.

For those of you that are subject to AAP reporting, please let us know if you'd like more details about how to use this new report within your human resources software effectively.

I am the crash test dummy of applicant tracking systems.  Before I talk with an organization about the quality of their new hires or their screening and assessment systems I check out their web site.  I read their mission statement.  I try to get a feel for what an applicant sees and feels from the most important chair - the applicant's seat.

Most of the systems may be efficient for the organization, but few systems do two very important things.  They seldom project the values and attitudes of the organization, and the almost never ask me anything beyond what a basic resume has on it.  In fact, most allow me to simple paste my resume into a box and move on.

Sadly, all of the technology and effort is used to speed up a flawed process, rather than using the opportunity to change the rules and get a better answer.

If you could change the outcome to your current application system, what would you want as a better result?  Better job fit?  Faster time to good job performance?  A lean HR process?  EEO reporting with a single click?

Any port in a storm.  This economy is a "perfect storm" that will drive the future of hiring, and I'm focused on finding the best tools, from pre employment testing to EEO Reporting.  The arms race is back on, and we'll be reporting from the battleground for you.

The economy is affecting hiring in surprising ways. At a time where the volume of hiring is slowing, each hire becomes more crucial.  Before the downturn, there was a problem with people not telling the truth in the hiring process. Now, it gets worse.

As unemployment numbers start heading up, the pressure on screening and hiring systems increases.  Advanced applicant tracking and assessment tools that apply "LEAN HR" are part of the modern Human Resources software suite.  These tools are the first line of defense for an organization trying to maintain their "employer of choice" status.  Good human resource planning requires good support tools.

Admit it - the arms race of the hiring process had kind of slowed down.  Now, the race is speeding up again because of the combined forces of a slowing economy pushing unemployment up and organizations properly focused on building a high performing work force. 

Organizations must use proper talent aquisition to produce job fit, employee engagement, and great job performance.  At the same time, they must use whatever advanced tools they can find to keep applicants out of the process that are not sharing their true values and attitudes, and are simply trying to get inside an organization - any organization - and are willing to say whatever it takes to get there.

So, the arms race is on.  Let's keep a step ahead....I'm looking for links to good blogs and sites that might help - share them if you have them!