Leave manual workarounds behind: multi-site recruitment software that does it all

Dedicated HR applicant tracking software has quickly become the go-to specialist tool for large organisations, particularly those hiring across multiple sites. But is your HR applicant tracking software keeping on top of your multi-site hiring? Or is it holding you back?

Continuous hiring demands and high turnover roles create a challenging environment even for the best of HR teams, but when the candidate management systems you use for recruitment don’t give you the whole picture… things start to feel out of control pretty fast.

If your team is doing double-duty when it comes to data entry or using back-door workarounds to bridge gaps in your system, it might be time to ask whether your system fits your hiring needs.

In this blog we’ll consider:

• • • The signs that show your recruitment software isn’t up to the job
    • Why centralised hiring with HR applicant tracking software is essential for multi-site hiring
    • Why centralised hiring reduces compliance risk
    • The benefits of AI and Automation in candidate management systems
    • Why integrations are top of everyone’s wish list.

The signs that show your recruitment software isn’t up to the job

Perhaps your system worked fine for a single site, but as your organisation grew, and new locations and brands emerged, hiring became more complex. Or perhaps you bought a system that at first sight appeared to give you everything you thought you needed, but that ‘end-to-end’ system didn’t quite meet the spec without costly add-ons.

Very few enterprise-level companies operate from a single site – in healthcare, construction or education, for example, recruitment happens across dozens of locations at once. The best recruitment software handles simultaneous multi-site hiring with ease – so why are you having to bridge the gaps your existing applicant tracking system (ATS) doesn’t cover?

It’s an easy trap to fall into. It’s not complacency, it’s familiarity. You know your recruitment system has its limitations, whether by design or add on features that are cost prohibitive. To combat this, your team has worked out how to bypass the system. But what if a more comprehensive system could improve strategic decisions and enhance compliance?

Let’s look at the signs your system might be holding your hiring back:

You don’t have visibility across every site

When work happens outside of your recruitment tracking software it can be hard for central HR teams to see which roles are progressing or how one site’s hiring compares to another. This makes it almost impossible to ensure hiring activity is consistent, fair and equitable – wherever it’s happening.

You are paying for features you assumed would be standard

If you are paying extra for what should be standard – perhaps – it’s worth asking what you’re really getting for your money. Many ATS providers claim to offer a comprehensive system, but in effect split their offering into an ‘entry-level’ platform plus paid add-ons for what used to be core functionality. Does your system cover the entire hiring lifecycle?

You can’t get a clear, real-time view of hiring across every site

If you can’t see hiring across your organisation as it happens, you can’t act on problems before they cost you time, candidates or money. Recruitment dashboards, with real-time reporting, give central HR teams a wealth of data to optimise hiring and plan strategically. Does your system allow you to track key metrics such as sourcing channel effectiveness, hiring manager effectiveness, vacancy ratio, or time to start across every branch, venue or office?

Why centralised hiring with HR applicant tracking software is essential for multi-site hiring

When teams manage vacancies off-system, and onboarding lives separately to hiring, the vital data you need to inform your strategic workforce planning is never as comprehensive as it should be.

Keeping everything in one centralised system that supports the entire hiring lifecycle allows core HR teams to stay across organisation wide hiring, without having to get involved at every turn. A good system should provide:

Complex hiring that feels easy

Multi-site hiring isn’t just about volume. Many mid-to-large enterprises are operating multiple distinct brands or have sites that have different role-types or workflows.

But complex hiring shouldn’t feel overwhelming. Automating hiring with end-to-end HR recruitment software helps central HR teams to retain overarching control of hiring (and brand reputation) while simultaneously giving sites more hiring autonomy.

Requisitions are built into system workflows, with clear approval routes, templated ads and job descriptions. So jobs go live fast. Automated, managed communications keep candidates engaged and involved, even when the hiring team is busy. And centralised processes keep everything on brand. No application lands without acknowledgement, and requests for reasonable adjustments are recorded and forwarded to the right person instantly.

Managing complex hiring is simple when processes are automated and consistent, even if brand voice or hiring styles are different.

By automating complex hiring with an end-to-end system that HR controls, essential standards like brand voice, compliance and DEI are maintained. And flexible applicant tracking software lets teams adapt workflows to suit different brands and sites, without losing sight of overarching employer brand values.

Standardisation without losing local flexibility

Standardisation is crucial when hiring at scale. A recruiting platform with templated workflows, managed by the central HR team, safeguards this. Everyone hires in the same way, no matter where they’re hiring from; and no crucial compliance steps are missed.

Of course, rigid systems are no good for anyone. A flexible recruitment tracking system allows HR teams to adapt workflows as needs change, adding quick apply routes for high-turnover roles, or specific assessment centres for niche or specialist roles.

Simplicity for all

User adoption is also important. Overly complex systems work against this and tend to be bypassed. A system that is intuitive and easy to use means that every member of the hiring team, whether a daily or an infrequent user, will use the system. Good user adoption increases consistency and keeps every role vacancy (and its data) inside the system.

Shared visibility between HR and local teams

Shared notes, candidate scoring cards and standardised interview questions also bring parity and consistency to every role you’re hiring for – whether it’s for head office or a construction site 500 miles away.

Set workflows, templates and an agreed way of hiring for every location empower hiring managers to own their hiring. And when all hiring activity takes place within the system, HR can see what’s going on in real time.

Why centralised hiring reduces compliance risk

When your recruitment tracking software isn’t used by everyone, compliance risk grows. Every hiring manager, or site that’s working outside your system – either because they find it hard to use, or because your system lacks the functionality – is raising the level of risk your organisation is exposed to. Good quality, user friendly applicant tracking software prevents that, here’s how:

Reference checks, automated and audit-ready

Comprehensive recruitment tracking systems keep hiring within the system’s designed guardrails. Reference checks that aren’t made are flagged and candidates cannot proceed through the hiring process without the correct reference and pre-employment checks being completed.

Need new hires to hit the ground running? Flexible workflows can be adapted to put reference checks earlier in the process, speeding up the process and preventing delays and bottlenecks at offer stage.

GDPR compliant without the manual overload

Multi-site organisations process huge volumes of personal and sensitive candidate data. When all candidate data is kept within your ATS it is secure and protected.

Modern HR recruitment software captures data consent at the point of application and purges it automatically as per your data retention rules. Subject Access Requests (SAR) and right to erasure requests are equally as simple to deal with, with candidate information collated or deleted at the click of a button.

No trawling through files, no chasing colleagues in remote locations. All data on the candidate lives in the system, making GDPR compliance simple.

The benefits of assistive AI and automation in candidate management systems

With the growth in use of AI, by candidates and hiring teams alike, an organisation’s AI use needs to be visible and auditable. A manager in a care home 500 miles from head office using AI differently to someone in the central HR team makes hiring decisions harder to trust, compare or defend. HR teams need complete control of where and how AI is being used in the hiring lifecycle, across every site, not just their own.

Where AI sits in the process

Good HR hiring software lets HR switch AI on and off as they see fit at different points in the process. This gives HR teams choices about how and where it’s applied, how useful it is and how it might speed up slower parts of the recruitment cycle. For example, an organisation decides they want every application checked for AI usage, HR can enable that centrally and either show results to hiring managers or allow them to shortlist first and then compare results.

AI assists, people decide

AI is not a decision maker. It can recommend, it can rank, but it cannot make hiring decisions. End-to-end HR applicant tracking software keeps the human in the loop at all times but offers a range of AI assistive features that make a huge difference to organisations with high volume recruitment demands across multiple sites: AI can rank and skills match candidates at first screen, flag AI usage in applications, check for gender-neutral language in ads or job descriptions and filter for qualifications and licence requirements before your hiring managers even need to shortlist. But people always decide which candidates move forward.

Screening that includes, not excludes

Using AI for screening applications not only speeds up time to interview but also highlights candidates with skills matches that might otherwise have been overlooked. Think of it as the best blind shortlisting tool you could have. Applied consistently across every site it means that a candidate is judged the same way whether they’re applying to site one or site twelve. Team that insight with experienced hiring managers and the shortlist will always include the best matched candidates for the vacancy, backed by data and human experience.

Why integrations are top of everyone’s wish list

Applicant tracking systems aren’t standalone software. At least they shouldn’t be. They are designed to connect with all your existing HR software for effortless, secure data transfer.

But integrations should connect what already exists, not what should have been built in. Core recruitment functions such as CV screening, digital signatures and onboarding shouldn’t need a third party add on to work properly – they should be part of the system as standard.

Not everything you need for hiring will come as part of your recruitment software package. External integrations with HRIS and payroll systems, or accessibility software and background checks are the most typical types of integrations most organisations need. But that shouldn’t mean they cost the earth. These essential add-ons should integrate effortlessly with your recruiting platform for a truly holistic approach.

If you’re looking at purchasing new recruitment software, always ask about integration costs and list the products you expect to be linked to the system before you sign on the dotted line. The best recruitment software providers won’t charge for standard integrations. But it’s worth asking the question – and remember, some of those third-party integrations might charge, even if your platform doesn’t.

How Reach ATS supports Recruitment for multi-site organisations

Reach ATS is an all-in-one bespoke hiring platform precisely scoped and built to fit the hiring needs of multi-site organisations. Taking you from requisition right through to onboarding, it covers the entire recruitment lifecycle in one, intuitive and user-friendly platform.

Whether you’re operating across two sites, twenty sites, a hundred, or more, Reach keeps central HR teams abreast and in control of all live hiring, whilst devolving recruitment across multiple locations.

“Our system users range from our central recruitment, onboarding and people services team through to hiring managers across our operational services, retail leaders and head office management, allowing hiring managers to take control of their hiring with support from my team is key.”
Emma Evans, Chief People Officer, Sense

Reach’s automated pre-screening, communication and reference checks help teams hiring across multiple sites and brands maintain consistency. The intuitive, flexible system also empowers HR teams to adapt workflows themselves, with control to add AI into the mix as and where it’s needed.

When you bring the entire recruitment lifecycle into one centralised recruitment management system, data becomes strategic and useful. Reach ATS gives you complete visibility of all your key hiring metrics such as time to start, offer acceptance rates, cost per starter and sourcing channel effectiveness. Available at the click of a button, Reach helps you bring real-time analytics to short-term decision making and longer-term workforce planning.

Reach integrates effortlessly with your existing HR software and all major (and sector specific) third-party software, letting information flow freely and securely. And Reach will never charge for integrations.

With a Customer Success team that functions like an extension of your own HR team and a dedicated Candidate Attraction team to support recruitment for specialist roles, Reach ATS has the human side covered too.

And as your company scales, Reach will scale with it – so you’ll never outgrow your bespoke system. With regular system updates and a passionate team always working to introduce new features, Reach is a partnership for the long term, not just a software platform for now.