A Cohesive Application and Tracking Process on the Horizon

The hiring process has its own unique conditions and issues in every area of campus. And thanks to the work of Illinois Human Resources, working in conjunction with University System HR, UIC and UIS HR offices, as well as the HR Committee/ ATS sub-committee, departments and units across campus can look forward to an easy-to-use, friendly and collaborative set of tools for job applicant tracking and the hiring and onboarding processes overall.

The Applicant Tracking System Project Team, with help from the Business- IT Collaboration is helping campus to implement a solution that takes a broad look at how we do this work, how we can do it better and how tech can do it better, according to Sean Mahaffey. He is the HRIS Manager with Illinois Human Resources, and is working with the Business-IT Collaboration and campus stakeholders on this issue.

The team has been working for more than a year on vendor selection, project scope and timeline definition. And, more broadly, looking at system and processes together.

“It starts with the processes. What are you doing, what do you want to be doing, and how can the tech facilitate that? You miss an opportunity if you just port over what you are doing now to the new system,” Mahaffey explained.

We recognize that we need a way to reach a broader constituency around campus and gather and document information in an easily-readable and digestible format and meet as many needs as we can,” he said.

JDXxpert and the Cornerstone Recruiting Module have features that when married together will enhance the way we work. Throughout the procurement process the team worked with both vendors and their tech teams. There will be a number of university system integrations needed, both now and in the future.

“We’re looking at the current processes to develop a future state with more efficacy,” explained David Gerstenecker, ATS sub-committee facilitator. “We can implement solutions in Cornerstone: ATS and Job Description applications to replace HireTouch.”

“The new system is going to be different in a good way. We have had a diverse level of feedback,” Mahaffey noted.

Meetings with vendor tech teams are complete and work is transitioning to the configuration and build outs.

“They are designing what it takes to make it our specific university solution,” he elaborated.

Both campus leadership and the units will engage in the next phase.

Mahaffey pointed to collaboration with Kathy Buss, Melissa Banks, Leslie Reinhart, and to planned input from IHR’s HR Leadership Caucus, which had representation from every college and major administrative unit on campus. Gerstenecker served as a technical resource to the team as they were developing and documenting processes. Soon there will be an advisory committee spun up, with representation from the unit level, as those staff members know details and conduct searches.

“That will be a group we can do a show and tell for as we work through the process,” Gerstenecker added.

The full launch is expected by the end of 2021 calendar year, with the potential for certain features to be debuted earlier.