Hiring the right talent is a critical element in shaping the future of any business. In Singapore's competitive job market, employers need to streamline their hiring process to attract top candidates while complying with local employment regulations. In this guide, we will explore everything employers in Singapore need to know about hiring—from legal obligations to best practices—while emphasising the benefits of integrating an Applicant Tracking System into the recruitment process.
What are the key legal considerations for employers when hiring in Singapore?
Before diving into the recruitment process, it’s essential for employers to be aware of their legal obligations under Singaporean law. The Employment Act outlines basic employment terms and conditions, covering salary, working hours, leave entitlements, and termination guidelines.
Additionally, the Fair Consideration Framework (FCF) sets out requirements for all employers in Singapore to consider the workforce in Singapore fairly for job opportunities. Employers should not discriminate against candidates based on non job-related characteristics, such as age, sex, nationality, or race.
Compliance with these regulations can be managed more efficiently with an Applicant Tracking System, which helps keep track of job postings and ensures that hiring policies are in line with legal requirements.
5 key steps in the hiring process
A structured hiring process is essential for attracting and selecting the best candidates. By following a step-by-step approach, you can ensure that no critical stage is overlooked. Let’s explore the 5 key steps that will guide you through finding the perfect fit for your team.
Step #1: Defining job roles and requirements
The first step in any hiring process is to clearly define the job role and its associated requirements. Employers should conduct a thorough job analysis to determine the skills, qualifications, and experiences necessary for the position. This step helps filter out unsuitable candidates early in the process.
An Applicant Tracking System allows employers to standardise this information across all job postings, ensuring consistency in job descriptions, skill requirements, and role expectations.
Step #2: Posting job advertisements
Once the job role is defined, it’s time to advertise the position. Employers should use multiple channels to reach the widest possible audience, including job boards, social media, and industry-specific platforms. In Singapore, platforms like LinkedIn, Jobstreet, and MyCareersFuture are highly popular.
Step #3: Screening and shortlisting candidates
Screening applicants is often the most time-consuming part of the hiring process. Employers need to sift through resumes, assess qualifications, and select the best candidates for further interviews. Without an Applicant Tracking System, this can be a laborious manual task prone to errors and bias.
An Applicant Tracking System, like Payboy’s Applicant Tracking module, automates this process by screening resumes based on predefined criteria such as qualifications, experience, and skills. Additionally, it helps reduce unconscious bias by standardising how applications are reviewed, ensuring every candidate is evaluated fairly.
Step #4: Conducting interviews
Once candidates are shortlisted, the next step is interviewing. This can involve multiple rounds, including phone screenings, in-person interviews, and assessments. Many companies in Singapore also include practical tests or case studies, especially for roles in the finance, IT, and legal sectors.
An Applicant Tracking System helps streamline this stage by scheduling interviews, sending reminders, and even offering video conferencing tools to conduct remote interviews. It centralises all feedback from different interviewers, making it easier for hiring managers to make informed decisions quickly.
Step #5: Offering the job
After the interview process, employers need to finalise the selection and extend a job offer. This stage often involves negotiating salaries and benefits. Employers must ensure that their offers comply with Singapore’s employment regulations, including those outlined in the Employment Act.
Employer may continue the offer process by generating customisable offer letter templates and tracking the status of offers made to candidates. It can also store important documents like employment contracts and personal information, making onboarding smoother.
Why should an employer use an Applicant Tracking System (ATS)?
In today’s fast-paced job market, managing the hiring process manually can be overwhelming and prone to errors. An Applicant Tracking System (ATS) offers a solution by automating and streamlining hiring activities. Learn how implementing an ATS can save time, reduce errors, and improve the overall quality of hires.
- Increased efficiency
One of the main advantages of using an Applicant Tracking System is its ability to automate repetitive tasks, such as screening applications and scheduling interviews. This increases efficiency and reduces the time it takes to hire new employees. For employers in Singapore who may be dealing with multiple roles and applications, the efficiency gains from an Applicant Tracking System are invaluable.
- Scalability for growing businesses
As companies grow, so do their hiring needs. An Applicant Tracking System offers scalability, making it easy to handle increased recruitment demands without overloading HR teams. Whether hiring for a few positions or managing high-volume recruitment campaigns, an Applicant Tracking System adapts to the scale of your business. With automated workflows and bulk processing features, it allows businesses to expand their talent acquisition efforts efficiently, ensuring they can meet the needs of a growing workforce.
- Centralised candidate management
Managing a large pool of candidates across different stages of the hiring process can be overwhelming without the right tools. In the age of digitalisation, technology eases out all the mundane HR tasks. Payboy’s Applicant Tracking module provides all in one place to create a unique link for each open hire so that all candidates can be consolidated at one source. These data are stored and are ready to be accessed whenever there is a hiring need.
- Compliance and reporting
Hiring in Singapore comes with several legal requirements, from advertising jobs fairly to maintaining proper documentation. An Applicant Tracking System helps employers comply with these regulations by providing built-in reporting tools that track applications and hiring decisions. It also keeps a record of all communication with candidates, ensuring transparency and accountability.
Best practices for using an Applicant Tracking System (ATS)
To get the most out of an Applicant Tracking System, it’s important to follow best practices that align with your company’s goals and hiring needs. From customising workflows to leveraging technology, we’ll share practical tips to ensure you’re using your ATS to its full potential and enhancing the candidate experience.
- Customise your Applicant Tracking System to fit your needs
An Applicant Tracking System is highly flexible and can be tailored to suit the specific needs of your company. From defining custom fields for job applications to creating unique workflows for different roles, Payboy’s Applicant Tracking assists you to adapt to your hiring requirements by having these features.
- Integrate with other HR tools
For maximum efficiency, ensure that your Applicant Tracking System integrates seamlessly with other HR tools, like Payboy’s comprehensive HRMS. With Payboy, recruitment data flows effortlessly into modules like Payroll and Employee Management, creating a unified system that simplifies HR processes. Once a candidate is hired, their details can be automatically transferred to payroll, shift scheduling, and leave management systems, reducing the need for manual data entry and minimising the risk of errors. This integration ensures that your entire HR workflow is streamlined, saving time and boosting overall operational efficiency.
- Regularly update and optimise job postings
Ensure your job postings within the Applicant Tracking System are regularly updated to reflect the most accurate and appealing information about your company and roles. Payboy’s Applicant Tracking allows you to edit job descriptions and requirements easily. Consistently optimising these details will help you attract the best candidates and ensure your listings stay competitive in the market.
- Set up automated workflows
Utilise automated workflows to streamline repetitive recruitment tasks. You can start with automating Payboy’s Applicant Tracking, interview scheduling, candidate follow-ups, and status updates all at once using a triggered automation system. Setting up these workflows helps eliminate bottlenecks in the recruitment process, ensuring that candidates are moved efficiently through the hiring pipeline while maintaining a positive experience for both the employer and the applicants.
- Regularly Train Your HR Team
An Applicant Tracking System is only as good as the people using it. Regular training sessions for your HR team can ensure that everyone knows how to leverage the full range of features. Our team is only one call away for helping your team get through our Applicant Tracking module, equipping you the training your team needs. This will help avoid inefficiencies, improve the hiring process, and maximise the return on investment from your system.
Streamline your hiring process with Payboy’s Applicant Tracking module!
Simplifying your recruitment process is key to finding the right talent without the usual hassle. Payboy’s Applicant Tracking module integrates all the essential tools you need, making it easier to track applications, collaborate with your hiring team, and onboard new hires efficiently. Discover how Payboy can transform your hiring process with a comprehensive and seamless solution.
- Seamless application management: Candidates can easily apply through mobile-friendly job portals, while your team can track their progress in real-time.
- Customisable workflows: Whether you're hiring for different roles or departments, you can set up unique recruitment workflows to match your company’s specific needs.
- Collaborative hiring: Approvals and feedback are simplified with clear audit trails, so you'll always know who reviewed each candidate and what was decided.
- Integrated with your HR system: Once hired, candidates’ data flows seamlessly into Payboy’s other modules, such as Payroll and Employee Management, saving time and reducing errors.
Simple employee onboarding with Payboy HR software!
In conclusion, welcoming a new employee into your company is an important process that can set the tone for their entire tenure. By following the simple onboarding new employees checklist guide, you can help make your new candidates feel comfortable and integrate them into your team as soon as possible. Be sure to sign up for a demo below so that we can share with you how to use Payboy to automate some of the onboarding process!
Streamline your HR processes with Payboy today!
As a PSG-approved HRMS, Payboy provides a robust system to help you manage your HR tasks so that you can focus on your business and people!
With our wide range of modules, you can customise a solution to meet the specific needs of your business:
Payroll Processing | Leave Management | Claims Management | Applicant Tracking
Time Attendance | Shift Scheduling | Appraisal System | Inventory Management
Project Costing | Training Management | Benefits
