The Benefits of Using a White Label ATS For Staffing

We're in a Staffing Crisis

The staffing shortage the US has been facing is carrying into 2024. This is an incredibly challenging time for staffing professionals, whose bread and butter is their ability to help companies find employees. Now is the time to think about implementing an Applicant Tracking System (ATS).

Aside from the current hiring market, recruiters face many other challenges. Ten Common Staffing Challenges and How to Solve Them empowers staffing agency professionals to meet these challenges head-on.

An Applicant Tracking System (ATS) Can Help

Our number one suggestion for staffing professionals? Get your hands on a white label applicant tracking system (ATS). A white label ATS (coincidentally, just like the one we offer here at HiringThing) has numerous benefits for staffing agencies looking to strengthen their businesses.

What’s An Applicant Tracking System? 

An applicant tracking system (ATS) is human resource software that helps companies organize, automate, and optimize recruiting. An ATS provides a centralized repository for job candidate data, including resumes, applications, references, background checks, and whatever else an organization requires.

What’s White Labeling?

White label ATS software is purchased by a company from a SaaS provider and customized with robust, user-friendly solutions, including tailored workflows and customized branding.

We also have a white label modality here at HiringThing called private labeling. Though many use private labeling and white labeling interchangeably, there’s a crucial difference between a private label applicant tracking system and a white label applicant tracking system. 

White-labeled recruiting platforms are produced by developers (like HiringThing) and rebranded for other companies.

Conversely, organizations partner with a private label ATS provider to customize the ATS to meet their specific recruiting needs. Need a more detailed explainer? What is a Private Label Applicant Tracking System? will answer all your questions (and keep in mind that since private labeling is a type of white labeling, all the points in this post apply to both modalities). 

Ten Ways Staffing Agencies Benefit from a White Label ATS

1. Overall Business Growth
2. Revenue Growth
3. Get Better Candidates Faster
4. Increased Productivity
5. Better Communication
6. Full Integration
7. Competitive Advantage
8. The Ability to Scale
9. Strengthen Clients’ Employer Brand
10. Improved Client Experience

1. Overall Business Growth

A White Label ATS Frees Time for Business-Growing Tasks

Many staffing organizations never grow because recruiters spend too much time engaged in scheduling, data entry, or high-volume candidate communication (like setting up screenings). 

Recruiters' time would be better spent on higher-value tasks, including meaningful communication with top job candidates, improving the candidate experience, and the marketing and sales necessary to land new clients. Streamlined workflows and increased organization allow recruiters to focus on more critical, revenue-generating tasks that grow business. 

Use the Benefits of Your White Label ATS as a Marketing Tool

The benefit of a private label applicant tracking system is that this is your branded software. Use your private label ATS as an asset to sell your staffing organization: document how your private label ATS has helped you provide current clients with higher-quality candidates when pitching new clients. 

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2. Revenue Growth

Now that your white label ATS has helped make your staffing firm more efficient and productive, improved client experience, and helped grow your business, it’s time to focus on how it can help you increase your revenue.

Monetize Your White Label ATS

A recent study found monetization was 4x more efficient than acquisition and 2x more efficient than retention at improving revenue growth. Monetization can mean finding ways to increase your value and raising prices to reflect that new value. 

One of the fastest ways to grow a business is to increase the average revenue per user (ARPU) generated annually by your clients. If you can show clients the positive impacts of working with your private label ATS, you can charge those customers more for your services. This is especially powerful with existing staffing agency customers, who make up 50-80% of the average staffing organization's revenue. 

Use The Time Your ATS Saved to Create a Formal Sales Process

If you haven’t already, use the extra time your ATS has freed up to create a formal sales process for onboarding new clients (using your ATS as a value-add, of course)—B2B companies who have a formal sales process experience 18% more revenue growth than B2B companies without a formal process in place. 

If you partner with HiringThing, our sales and marketing team will lend their expertise to help you market the success of your integrated ATS.

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3. Get Better Candidates Faster

An ATS can help staffing agencies source more high-quality candidates quicker with multiple job board integrations (including niche, industry-specific options), the ability to comb through applications quicker, and schedule interviews more efficiently.

A recent study of talent professionals who utilize an applicant tracking system found:

• 86.1% of ATS users say it’s increased how fast they hire candidates.
• 78.3% say it’s improved the quality of their hires.

ATS usage also improves the candidate experience, integral for increasing the speed and quality of hires.

An Improved Candidate Experience

In his annual HR-tech report, HR tech thought leader Josh Bersin said, “the HR tech market is turned inside out—it’s entirely focused on employees, not HR.” To remain competitive, savvy employers need to tailor what they’re doing to appeal to today’s potential candidates. A  white label ATS gives staffing agencies the ability to tailor the hiring process for what today’s job candidates want.

Today’s job seekers, for example, want a quick application process and mobile capabilities.

A Quick Application Process

According to CareerBuilder, 60% of job seekers quit in the middle of filling out online job applications because of their length or complexity. The ATS Solution: With a white label ATS, staffing agencies can customize the length and complexity of an application themselves or utilize express applications for the quickest candidate application process. 

Mobile Capabilities

58% of Glassdoor job seekers look for jobs on their phones. And 40% of job seekers won’t apply for a job if it isn’t mobile-friendly. The ATS Solution: An integrated ATS will be mobile-friendly, and additional features like custom QR codes make the application process even more user-friendly. 

HiringThing Pro Tip: Personalize the recruiting process!

HiringThing’s private label ATS allows staffing organizations to create a custom ATS for their different clients, giving job candidates a branded experience versus feeling like they’re going through a third party (even though that’s the reality).

95% of candidates say a company’s reputation is a top consideration when exploring a new career opportunity—personalizing your ATS for the organization you’re representing strengthens their reputation, in turn increasing their applicant traffic, making them a happy client of your staffing agency.

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4. Increased Productivity

Online marketplace vendor Capterra found that organizations using an ATS are 40% more productive than organizations functioning without one. When you think about all the time-consuming recruiting tasks an ATS makes easier, increasing productivity is a no-brainer. 

Easier Job Postings

Staffing agency professionals: how long does it take to post to various job boards manually? Imagine how much more time you’d have if you could post to multiple job boards with just one click? An ATS makes that possible. 

Automated Workflows

A private label ATS can automate custom workflows for your specific hiring process, so that job candidates seamlessly move from step to step based on parameters you help set.

Applicant Analysis

The analytics that come with a robust ATS give you the data necessary to improve processes, optimize your output, and use your time most effectively. 

Workers spend an average of 69 full workdays a year—40% of their time—completing repetitive tasks that an ATS automates.

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5. Better Communication

Organizations must communicate clearly and quickly with job candidates in today’s tight talent market.

75% of job seekers report never hearing back from a job they applied to. Do you think those candidates would go back to that employer or recommend it to someone in their network? Do you think they’re waiting around to hear from you when other prospective employers are keeping them engaged with timely communication? Spoiler alert: No!!!

Not only is concise, thoughtful communication what will help attract job candidates to positions, but poor communication in the job application process can cost you top candidates (and, in turn, important clients). 

Why is Communication Such a Challenge for Staffing Organizations?

On average, for every one job opening, an employer receives 188 applications. That’s just for one job posting, too, not the tens or hundreds under the responsibility of staffing agencies.

Best hiring practices recommend sending every job candidate timely communication—you risk losing valuable candidates if they don’t communicate or communicate too slowly.

Organizations communicating with hundreds of applicants at any given time benefit from a system that will automate, streamline, and ensure all communications go out quickly to the correct parties.

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6. Full Integration

Oracle Corporation completed an in-depth study of HR tech stacks and found “lack of integration between systems” was the most commonly cited HR technology problem, with just one-third of HR organizations saying the components of their HR tech stacks “integrated well.” “When used properly” (i.e., fully integrated), 63% of participating organizations say tech stacks increase their efficiency and productivity.

An off-the-shelf ATS won’t always integrate with other features of a tech stack. However, a private label applicant tracking system is built to fully integrate with a staffing agency’s other pieces of HR tech, creating a more seamless, efficient, and productive experience for all involved.

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7. A Competitive Advantage

Most Staffing Agencies Utilize ATS Technology

Most staffing agencies leverage the benefits of an ATS:  98% of staffing organizations with 10 recruiters or more use an ATS, and 76% of staffing organizations with fewer than 10 recruiters utilize an ATS. 

A Private Label ATS Gives You an Even Bigger Competitive Edge

The above studies don’t specify whether organizations use a regular ATS or white label ATS, but a private label ATS can give you an even bigger leg up over your competitors. One example is utilizing customized workflows.

Every staffing organization has unique hiring, processes, and technology needs, which means a one-size-fits-all approach to recruiting won’t work. Customizable workflows allow you to create the strategies and processes that work best for your staffing agency, giving you an extreme competitive advantage over staffing agencies using off-the-shelf technology to structure their work. Additionally, customizable access and permissions in your private label ATS allow you to include clients directly in these workflows!

Most staffing organizations utilize ATS technology, but you can give yourself a competitive edge by integrating a private label applicant tracking system into your hiring tech stack.

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8. The Ability to Scale

A private label ATS integrated into your suite of HR tech is an investment that helps you grow your business while growing with your business. The bigger your staffing agency gets and the more clients you pick up, the more complex the information you have to handle gets. 

An ATS allows you to track candidates, communicate effectively, and store large amounts of candidate information. Conversely, not automating and streamlining your staffing means top candidates can get lost due to human error (which can lead to lost clients). 

The beauty of a  white or private label applicant tracking system is that it allows you to manage more clients and candidates while completely scaling and customizing the workflows, processes, strategies, and integrations you need to keep up with evolving business needs. 

HiringThing has exclusive features that help your growing agency efficiently manage multiple clients with advanced features like user permissions and a real-time activity feed.

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9. Strengthen Clients’ Employer Brands

Staffing companies are consistently looking for additional ways give their clients value. A white label ATS can strengthen your clients’ employer brands (which  HubSpot defines as “your reputation among the workforce as well as your employees’ perception of you as an employer).

A unique aspect of a private label ATS, as opposed to an off-the-shelf ATS, is that it gives staffing agencies the ability to customize the applicant experience with separate branded career pages for the various clients you serve. When your ATS gives job candidates a positive experience, through a career page and application page reflecting their brand, candidates will view that brand in a positive light, benefitting you and your clients—a strong employer brand can reduce the cost per hire by 50%.

A Strong Employer Brand Increases Retention

Another employer brand value-add you can tout to current and prospective clients is the impact of employer brand on retention. If you’re placing candidates in positions, but clients aren’t retaining them, this could reflect poorly on your staffing agency or lose revenue as many agencies offer clients a 90-day guarantee.

• Nearly 30% of new hires leave a job within the first 90 days, indicating a disconnect between the hiring process and employer brand. 
• Companies actively investing in employer brand (and clients investing in your private label ATS are investing in employer brand) can reduce turnover by 28%!

For staffing organizations, showing clients how your white label ATS  plays a part in hiring great candidates and retaining them is a great marketing strategy. 

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10. Improved Client Experience

Opportunity in Staffing conducted a study to see how clients most want to benefit from working with staffing agencies. They found clients want:

• Speed: 38% of clients want to fill positions quicker.
• Increased Applicant Traffic: 41% of clients wish to access to more job candidates.
• The Flexibility to Change the Size of Their Workforce: 32% of clients want the flexibility to scale their workforce up or down.

Speed

We’ve already established that an ATS not only allows for a quicker hiring process but results in higher-quality applicants. 

Increasing Applicant Traffic

We’re confident that a private label applicant tracking system will increase an organization’s applicant traffic. How confident? Confident enough to write an entire guide on it! 

Flexibility

A white label ATS can help staffing agencies communicate more effectively, gain a competitive market advantage, improve a clients’ employer brand, scale-up, and increase applicant traffic—all of these value adds give clients the flexibility to change the size of their workforce with a staffing agency’s help. 

Additionally, staffing agencies with a private label ATS have the flexibility to change and customize workflows to meet clients’ changing needs. 

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About HiringThing

HiringThing is a modern recruiting and employee onboarding platform as a service that creates seamless talent experiences. Our white label solutions and open API enable technology and service providers to offer hiring and onboarding to their clients. Approachable and adaptable, the platform empowers anyone, anywhere to build their dream team.