What’s new in 2016? It’s been a little while since our last newsletter (apologies for this!) and since then we have some really exciting updates to share with you regards the team and enhancements to the product.

It has also been a great few months in which we have been able to secure partnerships with a number of new clients, across a variety of sectors – each helping us to further develop and evolve Engage ATS. We have also been designing and developing new/enhanced features & functionality inline with our on-going roadmap and innovation strategy. The schedule to release these new developments commences late 2016. Please read further for much more information on the above areas and many more updates – your Client Services Manager will also be in touch to discuss these and/or any other areas.

Thank you for your continued support and please remember, I/we really value any and all feedback, so please do not hesitate to get in touch. All the best, Jonathon.

November 2016

New functionality Reminders of (some) key functionality

Team updates Case studies

Would you like to connect with your candidates in different ways? Then why not incorporate social media icons in to your candidate homepage. We can link your company LinkedIn, Facebook, Twitter, YouTube, Instagram and ITunes pages up to your main homepage which will allow candidates to get a better feel for your culture and values, as well as hopefully choosing to follow you on the given platform for on-going updates. To read the full article click here.

A challenge faced by many of our clients is the need to have all candidates’ details before you can process them to offer stage. We have developed functionality that allows you to build a pre-employment checklist form into your process route. This will allow the recruiting manager to process the candidate to a certain application stage in the process route before they will be asked to fill out the checklist, during which time the process icon will disappear for the recruiting manager. To read the full article click here.

Following our recent move to Manchester, we have continued to go from strength to strength. As the business continues to grow, so does our requirement for the very best people the industry has to offer. As a result we’re excited to welcome new colleagues to the Client Services and Development teams across both the London and Manchester offices. To read the full article click here.

Dacorum Borough Council were faced with a high volume of recruitment that was swamping other HR responsibilities. Their paper-based system meant that time taken to liaise with hiring managers and contact candidates was longer than desired. The goal for Dacorum was to become more efficient and effective in their hiring practices; to become more streamlined, more professional and make the recruitment process that much smoother for both the recruitment team and candidates. To read the full article click here.

Social Media Icons

Would you like to connect with your candidates in different ways? Then why not incorporate social media icons in to your candidate homepage. We can link your company LinkedIn, Facebook, Twitter, YouTube, Instagram and ITunes pages up to your main homepage which will allow candidates to get a better feel for your culture and values, as well as hopefully choosing to follow you on the given platform for on-going updates.

Online Testing

Do you include online testing as part of your recruitment process? We integrate and work with a number of different test providers to build this in as part of your process, allowing you to hold all of your candidate information under one system. This feature allows you to work with the test provider to build bespoke reports, which are then sent directly to candidates at a certain application stage. Once the online test has been completed the system can gather single or multiple scores back in to the system, along with a full report which is stored in the candidate’s individual profile. For more details on which test providers we work alongside please contact your account manager. Some of the providers we most commonly work with are listed below.

We can also support Video Interviewing as we understand, many clients are considering introducing this feature into the process.

Document Checklist Enhancements

A challenge faced by many of our clients is the need to have received candidate’s additional personal details, e.g. bank details or passport information before you can process them to offer stage. We have the functionalitythat allows you to build a checklist form in to your process route. This will allow the recruiting manager to processthe candidate to a certain application stage in the process route before then being asked to fill out the checklist,during which time the process icon will disappear for the recruiting manager. Once the checklist form is filled outand submitted, an email will be sent to the recruitment team asking them to approve or reject the information thathas been received. Once approved the process icon will re appear for the recruiting manager, allowing them toresume processing the candidate through to offer.

One login

Internal mobility is a key to many of our client’s recruitment and resourcing strategies. It requires a system that makes the internal process of viewing, applying and hiring internal candidates as simple as possible. One Login is the answer.

We have functionality which allows internal users to have multiple user accounts through a single login email/password. Say goodbye to the use of personal email addresses to create candidate accounts. There is an option for users to select which one of multiple account/user settings they want to enter the system with – convenor, hiring manager, key admin or candidate. This can all be configured alongside ‘single sign on’ functionality.

New Functionality

Emails in/out and counters

Later this year, Engage ATS will have the ability to provide functionality which allows all email communications between clients and candidates that are sent from the system to come directly back into the system. Currently only emails sent to the candidate are visible to recruiters; whereas this will be a way for all communications back and forth to be recorded against each application. This will provide an end to end, time stamped history of all correspondence with a candidate against any given vacancy. At the moment, candidates are required to go outside of the system to respond and this functionality eliminates that requirement. The below image is an example of how this could look.

As part of this, we are also developing a great piece of functionality that will allow certain icons on Candidate Search to display a counter icon on top of the existing icon to indicate something new, this will typically be used as unread or read indicators. This will focus on the email, notes and agent notes icons. Our target release date for this is Q1 2017.

Below is a screen shot of the email icon which directly indicates an amount of unread emails by the team. This means that the user logged in has not read a new email which has been recorded in the e-mail management window. Once read, the red counter will be replaced with a green-counter.

Pre-Employment Checklist Enhancements

A challenge faced by many of our clients is the need to have all candidates’ details before you can process them to offer stage. We have developed functionality that allows you to build a pre- employment checklist form into your process route. This will allow the recruiting manager to process the candidate to a certain application stage in the process route before they will be asked to fill out the checklist, during which time the process icon will disappear for the recruiting manager. Once the checklist form is filled out and submitted, an email will be sent to the recruitment team asking them to approve or reject the information that has been submitted. Once approved, the process icon will re appear for the recruiting manager allowing them to carry on processing the candidate through to offer. If rejected the hiring manager will receive an email and reminder emails can be set asking them to re-submit the form with the correct information.

Awards Platform

Does your company host annual awards for outstanding achievements? Why not streamline the process through Engage ATS? We have created a new awards platform which was initially designed for the British Council Alumni Awards that allows people to nominate themselves or someone else for an award. This was designed to celebrate the outstanding achievements of alumni and showcase the impact and value of UK higher education. The full process is managed through the system from nominating someone, shortlisting the finalists, nominees being kept informed of their progress throughout the process, straight through to announcing who the winners are. For more information on how we are able to accommodate this for your company please contact your Client Services Manager.

Vacancy Approval

Before a vacancy is posted we can set up an approval process in the system which will ask the recruiter to fill out an approval form. This form would be built to your requirements and upon completion, be submitted to the relevant pre-agreed approvers. We can build in as many approvers as you would like and set them in the system. Once the approval process begins the approver will receive an email asking them to approve the vacancy and they will just be required to click on the URL link within the email to read the form and reject or confirm. There is no need for them to login to the system to help speed up the process and the recruiter will also be notified when each approver has approved or rejected the vacancy.

Once approved, the recruiter will be able to view their approved vacancies on the recruiter homepage under a new approved vacancies dock (see image below). From here, once the vacancy has been approved, a publish link will appear taking them directly through to set up their vacancy. Another new feature is the ability to pull information from the vacancy approval form through to the vacancy template to ensure that the addition of this functionality does not slow down the recruitment process. It should in fact speed it up.

Reminders of (some) key functionality

Reporting suite with filters

Here at Engage ATS, we have always prided ourselves on our product’s reporting capabilities and in-line with our innovation roadmap we have just launched our dynamic market leading Reporting with Filters module, which now gives clients 3 choices when running reports. Recently, we have been working more closely than ever with our clients in the Higher Education sector to ensure we meet their particular needs. Specifically many have asked for our help in reporting data, to support their submission to the ‘Athena Swan’ standard. It’s a challenge we are fully equipped to meet, thanks to our industry leading reporting tool, Reporting Suite With Filters. The tool gives you total control of your reporting needs. Benefits including, a user friendly interface and the ability to pivot and filter ‘inside the system. No more ‘ converting’ in Excel! This exciting functionality builds upon and takes our reporting module to a new level - giving our clients configurable, filtered data at their fingertips, when they need it. It’s no stretch to call it an industry defining product.

Version 2

Engage ATS Interface V2 supports a more streamlined look and feel for candidates and from data captured at candidate workshops and surveys, the enhanced design & functionality of the pages have been scored very highly by clients.

Your Client Services Manager will be in contact (if they haven’t already) to discuss further and agree a schedule to release the V2 interface.

Following our recent move into our new Manchester office, we have continued to go from strength to strength. As the business continues to grow, so does our requirement for the very best people the industry has to offer. As a result we’re excited to welcome new colleagues to the Client Services and Development teams across both the London and Manchester offices. Here they are:

David Walstow – Client Services Director

David joins the business after spending the last nine years in the recruitment communications ad agency space. Working with a broad range of clients, ranging from large household brand names, councils to universities, David has focused his efforts on continually improving the candidate experience for these clients whilst ensuring that he and his team are delivering best in class client service.

Lee Satchwell – Senior Client Services Manager

Lee is a graduate in Marketing Management with over four years account management experience in recruitment communications and education marketing. With vast experience in the recruitment sector with both large commercial and HE clients, he has recently made the move here to Engage ATS as Senior Client Services Manager and bring his end-to-end recruitment knowledge to the team.

Jan O’Brien – Outbound Sales Manager

Jan has worked previously in the hospitality industry, selling hotel services: weddings, conferences, private functions and bed nights for a large hotel chain. This led onto owning her own business for five years which specialised working with Corporate Sales Managers within the motor industry, working will the likes of BMW, Audi, Jaguar and Honda. She love challenges, tackles things head on and has an attitude that ‘nothing is too big to achieve’.

Ian Key – Implementation & Project Lead

Ian joins the team as a Implementation & Project Lead in our Manchester Office. Ian has an enviable background in HR Systems and Recruitment and joined us from one of our clients, where using Engage ATS was part of his day to day role. He will be involved in all of our current and future implementations along with assisting in a variety of project work.

Jessica Toole – Client Services Executive

Jess has joined us in the Manchester office having gained some fantastic experience with clients and candidates alike over a number of years as a recruitment consultant. With a wealth of client facing and account management experience, Jess is also a keen drama student which has been hugely beneficial around communication and presentation skills. In her spare time she enjoys keeping fit and exploring new places to eat around Manchester.

Jessica Bishop – Client Services Executive

We have a second Jess (just to confuse things!) joining us in the Manchester office. Jess graduated from the University of Manchester with a Drama degree in 2012, and has spent the past four years working in the projects team for a London-based creative agency. Working with a variety of well-known international brands to create award-winning learning and development solutions she has focussed on providing high quality delivery, meeting budgets and exceeding client expectations. Jess has recently relocated to Manchester and outside of the office, loves going to the theatre and cinema (with a particular passion for anything Shakespeare related).

David Smith – Senior Developer

David has worked in software development since 2004, after graduating in Computer Studies. He has a wealth of experience in designing and developing customer facing websites as well as developing large scale, complex business applications using a variety of platforms. David thrives on technical problems and that the role allows for continual learning.

Sanjaya Babarandage – Senior Developer

Originally from Sri Lanka, Sanjaya has moved to join our Manchester office as a Senior Developer. A graduate in Management Information Systems (BSc. in MIS (Hons)) from University College Dublin, National University of Ireland, he now has more than 13 years of experience working in the Software development industry specialising in both front and back end software development.

Team and New Client updates

Shafiq Siddiqi – Web Developer

Graduating in Information Technology from Allama Iqbal Open University in 2006 and then obtaining an MSc in Databases and Web Based System from Salford University in 2010, Shafiq has now joined the Engage ATS team in Manchester as a Software Developer. He is fluent in a range of programming languages, including C#, HTML, CSS and JavaScript on the ASP.NET platform.

Dennis Ogbevire – Senior Software Developer

Dennis has more than four years of Software Development experience specialising in .NET, C#, web and B2B third party integration systems. His previous work experience as a Senior IT Systems Developer meant he was responsible for the development and maintenance of several in-house software systems and lead third party integration projects. In his free time he likes to write code and engage in various sporting activities such as football.

Promotions

Mel Earle has been promoted from Senior Client Services Manager to Account Director and Head of Help Desk Support.

Ian Key has been promoted from Senior Client Services Executive to Implementations and Project Lead.

New Clients

Challenge Dacorum Borough Council were faced with a high volume of recruitment that was swamping other HR responsibilities. Their paper-based system meant that time taken to liaise with hiring managers and contact candidates was longer than desired.

The goal for Dacorum was to become more efficient and effective in their hiring practices; to become more streamlined, more professional and make the recruitment process that much smoother for both the recruitment team and candidates. With the high volume of applications coming through Dacorum , they were also keen for a central place to hold candidate details and applications with the aim of being able to contact applicants who had previously applied for similar vacancies in the future.

Solution Engage ATS worked alongside the team at Dacorum to develop a bespoke system whereby an end-to-end communication function was created to enable the team of HR Advisers to see exactly what stage of the recruitment process each vacancy was up to and where each candidate fit within that process, providing vital information which was easily accessible when providing updates internally and to hiring managers or to candidates themselves.

To reduce the time it took to contact each applicant to inform them of successful progression to the next stage or of an unsuccessful application, the Engage ATS team created email template functionality which enabled the HR team to select from a range of pre-created email templates which could be sent out to each candidate at the appropriate stage in a personalised manner with the click of a button.

The new Talent Pool functionality of Engage ATS allowed the team to keep the details of unsuccessful candidates in a database to be easily accessed and sorted at a later date if other suitable vacancies became available - none of which was possible with the previous paper based process.

Success The introduction of the user-friendly Engage ATS, and in particular the functionality above, has brought a new level of sophistication and professionalism to the recruitment team at Dacorum, one that is reflected in the candidate’s journey through the application process.

Candidates are contacted far quicker as they progress through the recruitment process - and the time it takes to do this has been significantly reduced due to the auto-generated emails and notifications that are set up at each stage.

Hiring Managers now also receive applications much quicker and the electronic audit trail ensures accuracy and provides responsibility throughout the process.

Finally, one really important thing for us was the vacancy approval form and the online authorisation process for each vacancy. This has enhanced the authorisation process significantly and in many cases we have authorisation to recruit within a matter of days and sometimes within 24 hours. This may be more unique to us, but as part of the discussion process with Engage, it was something that came to light very quickly that they were able to support us with.

Overall a faster and more user-friendly process for all involved!

Lorna Buckland, HR Lead Officer, Dacorum Borough Council

Case studies

Challenge St Mary’s University wanted to move from a paper-based recruitment system to an online ATS to increase the efficiency and ease-of-use for Hiring Managers and HR Administrators. Their staff spent a significant amount of time manually administering recruitment tasks which was highly inefficient. They also wanted their applicants to experience a streamlined recruitment process, whilst giving them the ability to track the progress of their applications.

Solution

When reviewing their recruitment processes, St Mary’s identified two key criteria. They wanted to ensure that the transition to an online e-recruitment system wasn’t time-consuming, and that the final product offered excellent usability for staff and applicants. So we created an ATS that met those aims, and was tailored to their further specific requirements. For the HR Administrators we ensured they could process all tasks online (such as interview scheduling) and do it simultaneously rather than in isolation. For Hiring Managers, we gave them the ability to manage their campaign online and shortlist potential candidates. And for candidates, we made sure they could complete their application online and monitor its progress.

Success

Moving from a solely paper-based recruitment process to one that is now exclusively online was a significant transition and one that’s delivered important, and long-lasting benefits. “The Engage ATS team have been a pleasure to work with. They will find solutions to any processes that you would like to incorporate onto the system, explain the process in great detail and will look to ensure that your implementation dates are met. The result for us is a user-friendly system, that’s engaging and accessible to everyone who needs it. It’s delivered far more streamlined internal recruitment processes, including a far more efficient approval process. Perhaps even more importantly, our staff have been very receptive in using the e-recruitment system and have been quick to highlight its merits.”

Natasha Taylor-Steadman, HR Services Manager

Contact us

To find out more about Engage ATS contact Jonathon Malone: t: 07810 637360 | e: jonathon.malone@havaspeople.com | w: www.engage-ats.com