Measuring Recruiting and Hiring Success: Key Metrics to Track

by Sep 17, 2024

In the past, recruiting was often a “spray and pray” approach—posting job openings everywhere and hoping the right candidate would find their way to us, even faxing over their resumes. Thankfully, recruiting today is far more strategic, thanks to the internet and advances in technology. To truly evaluate the success of your hiring efforts, you need to track key recruitment metrics. Let’s explore some of the most important ones.

 

Measuring Recruiting and Hiring

Time to Fill and Close

A straightforward yet vital metric, time to fill measures how long it takes to fill an open position from the moment it’s listed. To calculate this metric, simply add up the total number of days a job is vacant and then divide by the number of open positions. For example, if four open positions remained vacant for a total of 76 days, divide 76 by 4 to get an average of 19 days to fill.

In addition to time to fill, consider measuring time to close, which looks at how many days pass between the candidate’s first contact with your organization and when they sign the offer. This helps identify bottlenecks in your hiring process and improve efficiency.

 

Source of Hire

Tracking the source of hire helps you understand where your best candidates come from. If you have applicant tracking software (ATS), this is easy to track. Without it, you’ll need to manually ask candidates how they found your job opening. Once you know where your successful hires are coming from, you can focus your resources on those channels, maximizing your ROI.

It’s also important to examine the quality of hire from each source. For instance, you might get a higher volume of applicants from one job board but better quality candidates from another, such as LinkedIn. By focusing on sources that provide high-quality hires, you can further streamline your recruitment efforts.

 

Quality of Hire

Quality of hire measures how well a new employee performs and fits into your organization. This can be evaluated based on performance, productivity, cultural fit, and turnover rates. To reduce subjectivity, create a 30, 60, and 90-day evaluation system. Choose key performance indicators (KPIs) such as performance, ramp-up time, engagement, and cultural fit, and have managers provide objective feedback.

For example, managers might score new hires based on how quickly they perform key tasks, how engaged they are, and how well they integrate into the company culture. Average these scores to calculate an overall quality of hire score, which helps benchmark your hiring success over time.

 

Calculating Cost Per Hire

Cost per hire is a critical metric that breaks down the total costs associated with recruiting and hiring a new employee. This includes both external costs (such as job board fees, agency fees, and background checks) and internal costs (such as recruitment software and employee referral bonuses). By understanding where your recruitment budget goes, you can optimize your spending and explore new recruitment channels that may yield better results.

 

Measuring Candidate Satisfaction

A satisfied candidate, whether hired or not, contributes to a positive employer brand. One way to measure this is through candidate satisfaction surveys. These surveys offer valuable feedback on your recruitment process, helping you identify areas for improvement. A seamless candidate experience can boost your brand and make future recruitment efforts easier.

 

Why These Metrics Matter

Tracking recruitment metrics is not just about optimizing your processes; it’s about proving the value of your hiring efforts to leadership. For instance, if cost per hire is high, it could signal inefficiencies in your process, while low time to fill combined with a high quality of hire shows a successful recruitment strategy.

 

Incivility, bullying, and harassment occur because the culture allows them to. Before starting inclusivity initiatives, you’ve got to stop bad behavior. Take this assessment to determine if your workplace fosters a positive culture.

 

About Catherine Mattice

Catherine Mattice, MA, SPHR, SHRM-SCP is President of consulting and training firm, Civility Partners, and has been successfully providing programs in workplace bullying and building positive workplaces since 2007. Her clients include Fortune 500’s, the military, several universities and hospitals, government agencies, small businesses and nonprofits. She has published in a variety of trade magazines and has appeared several times on NPR, FOX, NBC, and ABC as an expert, as well as in USA Today, Inc Magazine, Huffington Post, Entrepreneur Magazine, and more. Catherine is Past-President of the Association for Talent Development (ATD), San Diego Chapter and teaches at National University. In his book foreword, Ken Blanchard called her book, BACK OFF! Your Kick-Ass Guide to Ending Bullying at Work, “the most comprehensive and valuable handbook on the topic.” She recently released a second book entitled, SEEKING CIVILITY: How Leaders, Managers and HR Can Create a Workplace Free of Bullying.

Why leadership’s ‘Hands-Off’ approach to culture is costing you more than you think

Picture this: you’re actively working to foster a positive workplace culture, but managers and leaders are adopting a 'hands-off' approach. At first, it seems harmless, even convenient—but beneath the surface, it's quietly wreaking havoc. Top talent? They're slipping...

Elections and Leadership: 3 Ways Your Reaction Can Impact Your Team

Election season tends to bring division and tension, and it’s hard to avoid. Even if you’ve reminded your team to steer clear of political conversations at work, it’s likely that the topic will still pop up here and there. The truth is, having employees with different...

You Have It All Wrong: 4 Ways Employers Can Successfully Influence Well-Being

Did you know that the World Health Organization (WHO) classified burnout as an occupational phenomenon? In other words, while leaders and HR tend to classify burnout as a personal failing, as evidenced in the way they tackle it with offerings of gym memberships and...

5 Tips You Haven’t Seen for Engaging Hybrid And Remote Workers

According to Forbes, one in five workers is working remotely and 98% of workers want to work remotely at least some of the time. Yet, despite the flexibility that hybrid and remote work offer, engagement is a major challenge. In fact, the 2023 State of Remote Work...

Measuring Onboarding Effectiveness: Key Metrics for Success

Having an employee orientation program is a great start. It usually involves getting paperwork signed, introducing new hires around the office, and providing some initial training. But are you truly onboarding your employees? Effective onboarding is more than just a...

Measuring Recruiting and Hiring Success: Key Metrics to Track

In the past, recruiting was often a "spray and pray" approach—posting job openings everywhere and hoping the right candidate would find their way to us, even faxing over their resumes. Thankfully, recruiting today is far more strategic, thanks to the internet and...

HR Ninja-ing: 9 ways to impact culture with $0 budget

Workplace culture is an uphill battle when the budget is tight or, worse, nonexistent. You’re expected to create a thriving, engaged workforce, but the reality is harsh: Gallup reports that only 32% of U.S. employees are engaged at work. Meanwhile, disengaged...

It’s Labor Day: Are you celebrating your workers or burning them out?

This last Labor Day should have been a day of rest—a chance for employees to recharge and reflect on the contributions they’ve made to their organizations. But for many workers, the reality was likely far from relaxing. A 2023 Gallup survey shows that only 32% of U.S....

Case Study: HR’s Pleas Are Heard, Resulting in Positive Culture Change

HR professionals often find themselves fighting an uphill battle to create a positive and safe workplace. Not to rub it in, but we thought we’d share a case study of what could be when the opposite occurs. Read on and see what happens when leadership listens to HR, as...

FREE WEBINAR: Getting Leadership to Listen to HR

Do you ever feel like you're pouring your heart into your work, only to have it go unnoticed?  As an HR professional, you’re tasked with and excited about creating a positive workplace, solving complex issues, creating and implementing strategies, and driving...