Do More with Less: 7 Ways to Automate Hiring and Background Checks

Hiring volumes shift up and down, and sometimes in the upswing, you are left working with fewer resources. It might seem like maintaining your high standards is impossible when your average resources per candidate go down. Still, there are smart ways you can stabilize your hiring experience when you are feeling a pinch. Let’s take a look at seven principles you might apply when you need to do more with less.

1. Automate what you can

Automation, quite simply, can make things easier, and that’s no different when it comes to the hiring process and background checks. Of course, you don’t want to cut corners and end up with unreliable information, but some tools can reduce the resources required to complete the task.

Are you still entering orders manually? Selecting county jurisdictions for each candidate? An auto-order solution might fast-track a task that would otherwise require you to review the report and then place additional orders based on the results.

Like auto-order, many built-in background check tools and settings promote efficiency in this way. Notifications, workflow rules, and product-specific settings all converge to streamline the process, so it feels smooth and clear to follow for recruiters and candidates.

2. Get that ATS you always dreamed of

Implementing an Applicant Tracking System (ATS) can transform a disconnected hiring process into a seamless experience. While you might hesitate and think technology like this is only made for large enterprise organizations, you’ll be happy to know there are a host of scalable options for companies of every size.

The benefits of an ATS can impact nearly all your hiring touchpoints, including bringing background checks into your unified system. To make this as simple as possible, Verified Credentials has pre-established connections to many leading ATS systems including, iCIMS, Oracle’s PeopleSoft and Taleo, Kenexa, SAP SuccessFactors, and more.

Learn about our Premier partnership with iCIMS ››

3. …and other HR tech to automate MORE

With or without an ATS, there are HR technology solutions that can reduce the resources needed during the hiring process. Finding solutions that can be put in place easily is important when you are already feeling slightly overwhelmed.

In the world of background screening, using a candidate portal, like Verified Credentials’ Candidate Verification Center (CVC), to collect a candidate’s information reduces data entry on your plate. And it doesn’t require extensive work to get started. Once implemented, our clients find that they save two workdays of data entry for every 100 candidates screened on average.

4. Flexibility and scalability is key

You want to create an automated workflow that matches your current hiring process, not forced into somebody else’s box of how they think the process should look. That’s where technology partners that give you control, allow customization, and are good at it come into play.

Unlimited has a nice ring to it when it comes to scalability, right? Unlimited system users without premium markups and unlimited background check packages to keep you organized. From simple unlimited capabilities, up to custom reports and workflows, meeting your expectations is a Verified Credentials’ strength stemming from our in-house software development team.

5. Measure key metrics for efficiency

While it’s not directly part of the hiring process, tracking your program’s performance can be just as daunting. But it’s also just as necessary. That’s where automatic reporting features pay off.

Finding solutions designed to give you the data you need, when you need it, is a smart way to set yourself up for less work. For example, Verified Credentials Employee, our employment screening platform, has over 50 built-in, on-demand reports. And we build custom reports whenever our clients request them. This means, when your boss asks you to show how background checks are going by 3 pm today, it’s all right there in your online system, ready to go.

6. …and hiring decisions

The “indecisives” in the room probably wish there were a way to automate decision making. But since hiring takes some strategic thinking, it would be difficult to find something that ultimately does it all. While the decision to advance candidates still remains squarely on your organization, some tools can help automate your rules or reasoning to hire.

Report scoring, sometimes called adjudication, can ease the pressure of what to do next with candidates. Final background check reports are highlighted using your pre-set, objective criteria. When you receive the final report, you can easily see what steps might be next, keeping the process fair and some decision making minimal.

7. Know what cannot and will not automate.

Of course, keeping the human in hiring will always remain essential. Your candidates and employees may be disappointed if they only ever heard from your team by impersonal emails, right? Well, keeping people in your hiring tech stack is equally important.

Get support from your screening partner when you need it. You might not get all your questions answered online, and sometimes talking through an issue or need can open the door to knowledge and innovative solutions.

And when you need to bring in hires quickly, you might seek help from other experts, like a staffing agency. They are pros at pulling in large groups of hires when on a short timeline.  By leveraging their experience and exposure on job boards, agencies can help you hire with high success rates. It also gives the hiring process an automated feel for you by moving some stages of the cycle to a partner organization.

When you need more people hired but struggle with limited resources, accomplishing the challenge might feel impossible. But by automating some tasks, you can do more work in less time, making it achievable. Take inventory of where you see the most time spent in your hiring process and ask yourself if there might be a solution to automate. You might be surprised by how much you can do, even with limited resources.

Want more information on how we can help automate parts of your background check process? Reach out to schedule a consultation.