In the there’s-an-app-for-that age of today, we’ve learned that more isn’t always better when it comes to technology. For every point solution that’s promised a panacea for workplace woes, we’ve seen countless teams realize new limitations post-implementation.
When it comes to your talent tech stack, leaders risk missing out on the best people for the right role when teams are bogged down by manual processes, lack data visibility, or deliver a poor candidate experience. If you haven’t yet consolidated your tech stack, you need to — now. Here’s why.
Rising costs and adoption of talent technology
HR tech costs keep on rising. In cloud-spend optimization company Vertice’s SaaS Inflation Index: 2022, they found that HR tech costs are up 5% on average from the year before, with some providers raising prices as much as 15%.
With big increases year-to-year, companies must be cognizant of the auto-renewal clauses in each contract, or else get locked for another year at a higher rate. Other than ecommerce or operations tech, HR tech is the most likely SaaS category to include auto renewal.
Given the rising prices and potential to get locked in for another year, it’s unsurprising that more than a third of HR executives said they’re looking to switch vendors when their subscription ends, according to PwC’s HR Tech survey.
Of those wanting to make a switch, almost a third said it’s because of a lack of integration. Poor integration creates problems today and keeps organizations from being prepared for tomorrow: without the ability to integrate their existing tech stack with AI tools, companies won’t invest in disruptive technologies. High integration complexity was the fourth most cited reason for why executives haven’t yet invested in disruptive tech.
Despite the fact that cost and lack of integration remain a concern, organizations — eager to realize efficiencies and remain competitive — are investing in HR tech like never before. A 2023 Accenture survey found that 97% of CHROs plan on upping their technology spend in the coming year, while 79% saying that AI and Data are their biggest tech priorities for next year.
But without integrated systems, companies risk unnecessary spend and create the need for manual processes, which tend to be error-prone.
What tools make up the talent tech stack?
Today’s talent tech stack is already expansive and keeps on growing. Reaching beyond sourcing to engagement and analysis, companies are no longer just relying on just-in-time hiring tools, like job boards, ATS, and LinkedIn Recruiter.
New software has flooded the market, and leading organizations rely on a much broader tool set — but a broader set of tools doesn’t mean more efficient processes. Without integration, talent teams lack visibility into the full spectrum of their data and are forced to rely on manual processes.
Consider the average talent tech stack of modern organizations today. Organizations routinely use over a dozen tools.
Download our Modern Recruiting Tech Stack Checklist to see just how many tools talent teams are using today.
Why should you consolidate your talent tech stack?
It’s natural for organizations to vie for the most advanced tech offerings in order to retain a strategic advantage. But companies must be mindful of the integration challenges that implementing disparate technologies can pose.
Gartner found that 44% of HR leaders say driving better business outcomes is their top priority for HR tech transformation over the next three years. But with convoluted processes and integrations, talent teams will struggle to do so. Rather, to realize better outcomes, leaders need to simplify their tech stack, eliminating unnecessary data integrations and complex processes.
Access talent data in one place
Talent teams waste time toggling between tools to get a complete picture of the candidate landscape and individual talent history. And even then, without a unified view, they’re likely to miss key insights and opportunities. Consolidating your tech stack provides a unified view and central repository for all talent data so sourcing and recruiting teams can view and understand their entire talent ecosystem in one place.
Increase recruiter efficiency
More tools doesn’t mean more efficiency. With hard-to-integrate solutions and a lack of visibility into the candidate funnel, employees are forced to improvise with on-the-spot systems. HR.com and Findem’s Future of Talent Acquisition trends report found that almost half of respondents said a ‘just-in-time, reactive hiring approach’ was one of their top talent acquisition challenges.
Not only is this recruiting strategy inefficient, but scrambling to fill the candidate pipeline at a moment's notice takes your talent team away from more strategic talent work. Consolidating your tech stack streamlines processes, allowing recruiters to remove duplicate data, see all applicants in one place, and ensure they’re reaching out to the best candidate first.
Deliver a more personalized candidate experience
Individuals are accustomed to a consumer-like experience at every tech or service touchpoint today. McKinsey research found that 71% of consumers expect a personalized experience — and job seekers are no different. Organizations that can deliver highly personalized outreach with the right communication cadence and messaging will drive conversion across every stage of the talent funnel. According to HR.com's report, leading talent companies are significantly more likely than laggards to look at the candidate experience as a key talent metric.
With tools that integrate seamlessly, talent teams get access to all candidate data in a single place, allowing them to provide tailored, one-on-one messaging at scale.
Measure talent strategy success
Without a streamlined, consolidated tech stack, it’s nearly impossible to generate accurate and meaningful data insights. Rather than relying on developers, data scientists, or IT to cobble together a snapshot of talent strategy success, sourcing and recruiting teams need tools that allow on-demand access to these insights when and where they’re needed. With in-the-moment visibility into the health of recruiting, pipeline, and engagement, talent teams can continuously optimize across the entire candidate lifecycle.
Reduce technology costs
Tech costs show no signs of slowing down. Vertice found that $1 in every $8 that organizations now spend is on SaaS. Talent tech stacks today are expansive, and the subscription and licenses costs add up — not to mention price hikes during auto-renewal. Consolidating your talent tech stack will reduce licensing and subscription costs and enable more efficient resource allocation.
Consolidate your talent tech stack with Findem’s Talent Data Cloud
Getting the most out of your talent tech stack shouldn’t be that hard. But with the patchwork quilt of solutions most companies are leveraging today, generating meaningful insights and ensuring talent strategy success remains constant challenges. Companies need a unified talent solution that integrates existing tools into a single pane of glass, like Findem.
Schedule a demo to learn more about how Findem gives organizations the ability to plan, find, and manage talent like never before.