Implementation Recovery — Failed ATS Rollout
Recovery programme for a failed ATS rollout at a Canadian healthcare system — diagnosing the root causes of adoption failure and designing the remediation path without a full re-implementation.
The challenge
The organisation had gone live on a new ATS 18 months earlier. Recruiter adoption was below 30%. Hiring managers had reverted to email-based processes. The ATS had been configured to accommodate the implementation partner's standard template rather than the organisation's actual workflow. Leadership was considering a full replacement.
Our approach
Diagnostic assessment of the implementation: configuration review, process mapping against the original design, recruiter and hiring manager interviews. Root cause identification: three specific configuration decisions had created friction that drove workaround behaviour. Remediation design: targeted reconfiguration, process simplification, and a role-specific enablement programme.
Outcome
Remediation completed without full re-implementation. Recruiter adoption increased from 28% to 84% within six months. Hiring manager adoption from 22% to 71%. Cost of remediation: approximately 15% of a full re-implementation estimate.