According to the National Safety Council, 100 percent of all construction workers report having at least one risk factor for fatigue and nearly half work during high-risk hours during the early morning or at night. The lack of skilled employees in the industry only makes the problem worse. Contractors can reduce employees’ fatigue on the jobsite by improving their hiring process, which will help recruit and retain more skilled workers.
Human resources professionals can use applicant tracking systems (ATS) to increase the chance of hiring qualified trade workers. These systems offer an opportunity to search for candidates to reduce the time required to add job postings to career sites. If a contractor is still finding new candidates the manual way, now is the time to use this new technology.
What is an Applicant Tracking System?
An ATS filters applicants’ resumes based on a set of keywords that apply to the job description. It is similar to entering keywords into a search engine to find an article, images or videos for a particular purpose. Instead, recruiters and human resources professionals can reduce time spent reading resumes manually to shortlist candidates to invite for a job interview.
The Benefits of Applicant Tracking Systems
Most recruiters reduce time in the applicant search process by using an ATS to post job postings on a variety of career sites automatically. The technology helps recruiters search for a specific group of candidates.
Construction company recruiters can send potential candidates automatic emails about new job openings, job fair events and external networking events. ATS technology also automatically spells out abbreviations often used by construction workers concerning safety or industry related jargon.
Some applicant tracking systems offer candidates a chance to upload their resume to a personalized profile. Also, the ability to add a social media profile such as LinkedIn offers a chance for employers view candidates’ personal interests, blogs posts and videos. In addition, ATS technology provides data to help contractors determine if there are ways to improve the hiring process.
In the construction industry, the legal ramifications of hiring and firing employees are unique. It can be a challenge for recruiters or human resources professionals to remember all the new rules. Applicant tracking systems track new regulations and rules to help contractors ensure they are hiring in an ethical way. The rules and regulations tracked include:
- Equal Employment Opportunity Commission updates;
- Office of Federal Contract Compliance Programs; and
- Employment discrimination rules.
Applicant tracking systems can help the human resources department reduce manual work while focusing on initiatives to improve the company. With the ability to automatically share new job postings on top career sites, search a specific group of construction workers and send candidates personalized emails about new job opportunities, it is a technology worth investing in for long-term results.
