As Human Resources officials, we spend a big portion of time managing recruitment. But how do we know if we’re doing a good job at it? Thankfully, we can use recruitment metrics to get quantifiable data on hiring efficiency, which can then be used to optimise the recruitment process.
The implementation of recruitment metrics also guides us to asking the right questions, including but not limited to whether hiring goals were met, how effective recruitment channels were, and how costs were managed.
Similarly, hiring the right employees means more productivity, less turnover, and a more efficient use of the company budget. So it’s essential to keep track of recruitment metrics to ensure optimal performance.
But which recruitment metrics should you be following? Here are the 8 most essential ones
1) Time to fill/time to hir
Time to fill reflects the amount of time it takes to fill an open position. From sourcing to hiring a new candidate, this metric measures the whole process: typically from the day a position was advertised to the day the new employee was hired.
Time to hire, on the other hand, is the speed at which a single candidate moves through the recruitment process. This is basically the time from when they first submit an application to when they accept the job or sign the contract.
These intervals, of course, can vary between industries and even companies. It is therefore important to set realistic standards and analyse metrics based on company needs.
2) Source of hire
In this wonderful time of AI, you might be posting a single job on hundreds of different channels within a single day. But how do you know which one of these channels was more effective? If 98% of your applicants are coming from 5 of these sources, and all of your recent hires have been from 3, then it would be in your best interest to reprogram the process to focus more heavily on these channels.
Analysing on the sources of your hires can help you save money by working smarter, not harder.
3) Quality of hire
And no, this doesn’t mean you’ll be going around measuring each candidate’s quality. That’s too abstract, even for us. Quality of hire is a twofold metric measuring the performance and retention of new hires after their first year. While performance can be measured by output, and does include slightly less numeric aspects such as what the candidate has brought to the workplace, retention is more straightforward and simply measures who has stayed and who has left.
By knowing what percentage of your new hires are deciding to stay with the company, and what percentage of these are performing well, you can then adjust the hiring processes as necessary.
4) Cost per hire
How much, on average, do you spend on filling an open position? This isn’t just the money you have spent on a single new hire, but on the position as a whole: from recruitment to advertisement, interviewing, and training. This total cost is then divided by the total number of employees hired through the relevant recruitment effort.
Though it may seem like a straightforward goal to reduce hiring costs, truly take the time to analyse what the right number would look like for your company.
5) Applicants/qualified applicants per hire
Another twofold one. While it is important to measure how many people on average apply to a position, it’s just as important to measure how many of these make it past the first stage of screening. If thousands of people are applying to each position, but only a handful of them are actually qualified, you might want to reevaluate your job descriptions or candidate requirements.
A couple dozen qualified applicants is better than hundreds of unqualified ones.
6) Offer acceptance per hire
This compares the number of offers made to the number of offers accepted. While there may be many reasons for an applicant to decline a job offer, such as getting a more competitive offer from their ‘dream company,’ if this percentage is constantly lurking at an unsatisfactory level it might be time to take a look at your recruitment process.
Are similar companies on your level offering much more competitive salaries and benefits packages? Is something specific during recruitment discouraging candidates from wanting to be part of the company?
Striving for 100% here is tempting, we know, but perhaps not realistic. Figure out what your baseline should be instead, and work upwards.
7) Candidate experience
Candidate experience analyses what candidates thought of the recruitment and onboarding processes. While it may be difficult to measure this in a single number or percentage right off the bat, surveys and feedback requests are your friends here.
Ask both successful and unsuccessful candidates to fill out a short survey detailing their experience or rating different stages from 1 to 5. Seek out specific feedback on what specifically worked or did not work for them. This is a great way to single out certain parts of your recruitment process which may be repelling a majority of applicants.
Employee referrals can also be a great way to measure candidate experience. Happy employees will recommend more friends/family to join the company. Filling more and more positions through employee referrals, therefore, is a great sign.
8) Diversity
More and more companies are shaping yearly recruitment goals around diversity objectives. If increasing diversity is a significant requirement for your company as well, measuring diversity amongst new hires can be an important success metric.
A candidate diversity metric can help you evaluate whether your recruitment efforts have been bringing in a diverse range of applicants. Also consider diversity among applicants advancing onto later stages or being offered positions. If goals aren’t being met, it’s time to evaluate how recruitment can be made more appealing to a wider mix of talent
Does your company use any other metrics to measure recruitment success? Let us know in the comments below!