Effective Job Applicant tracking leads to higher Customer Satisfaction

What is the most common complaint you hear from your customers? Chances are it’s not about your products. If merchandise is sub-par or unsatisfactory to consumers, they generally just go elsewhere. Complaints are usually about service, the actions or attitudes of your employees. Fortunately, with the documentation provided by properly using a job applicant tracking system, you can cut down on those complaints and increase customer satisfaction. ATS applicant tracking systems provide a better way to index and evaluate resumes. Reviewing resumes will filter out the majority of the “bad” candidates before the first interview for the job.

Making that first interview a phone interview could save you even more time. Once you’ve narrowed the field down to a few select candidates, you’ll want to have further measures in place before taking the next step. Screen candidates thoroughly before you invite them in for a second interview. Don’t wait until after you’ve invested hours and money into someone before bothering to check their references. A pattern of poor customer service skills is easy to see if you make the calls and speak with former employers and personal references. A good recruiter can read between the lines, even on a non-committal or evasive response. Be thorough and log thoughts and input into the appropriate sections of your recruitment tracking software.

Once you’ve screened candidates by checking their background, create “what if” or role play exercises to do during the second interview. Most web based recruiting software has customizable fields where you can enter input or grade these exercises on a scale system. Engage with the prospect as much as possible in non-dogmatic situations. Looking for a text book answer to questions won’t tell you what you need to know about their customer service skills. Only spontaneous decision making reveals a person’s true character. Be the nightmare customer and measure the candidate’s response under pressure. It won’t be 100% authentic because they know they’re being tested, but it should give you some valuable insight.

Be open to what others think. When hiring new employees, be sure to include other management and training personnel in the recruitment process. This is easy to do if you have web based recruiting software because others can access the files from anywhere, even at home after work if they need to. Make your notes as you go through the first and second interview process, and have others add their input after they meet, speak to, or in other ways evaluate a prospect. Multiple eyes are better than just two. A person working solo on an individual hire could get fixated on one positive or one negative characteristic of a person.

Once the right candidate is selected, be sure that all of their data is entered into the recruitment tracking system. As they move through months and years of employment, schedule regular evaluations and be sure to make those a permanent part of the employee’s records in the system. There may come a time when a promotion is due or a complaint is lodged against the employee. Proper documentation will guarantee that you can make informed decisions on either of these situations.