Recruitment metrics are a standard set of measurements used to manage and improve the process of hiring candidates into an organization. Candidates can be existing employees within an organization, people entering the workforce for the first time or employees interested in job opportunities outside their current organization.

Many recruitment metrics are used by organizations to gain valuable insights on potential candidates during the recruitment process:

Identification of candidates, sometimes known as sourcing personnel. Attraction of candidates. Interviewing and assessment of candidates. Overall process improvement of the recruiting workflow and steps.

Standard Recruitment Metrics Time-to-hire refers to the time between a job candidate applying and accepting an offer. In a competitive job market, time-to-hire may be prolonged as candidates mull their options. In 2019, the United States Office of Personnel Management started requiring time-to-hire metrics for all new federal hires.

Source of hire is a recruitment metric identifying the specific channel, platform, or method through which a company recruited an employee. These include in-person recruitment fairs, online job boards, social media, and employee referrals. The metric enables entities to optimize their hiring strategies. There are a number of mediums through which candidates may be recruited, such as advertisements, job fair, online and in-person job boards, recruiter, referral, and walk-in.

Quality of hire is a metric assessing the value a new employee. It is a reflection of performance, contributions, adaptability, and personality fit. The metric is difficult to define and assess.

Cost per hire is a human resource metric that reflects the cost of a new employee. The cost per hire does not always reflect the loss of productivity and the emotional toll of turnover.

Speed Metrics Metric Type Definition Formula Time to Fill (TTF) The time it takes to identify and recruit a candidate or an existing employee to fill a vacant position within an organization. Fill is defined as the step in the recruiting process where the candidate has cleared the background and/or reference checks and has joined the company. This metric is generally used for the calculation and measurement of hiring external candidates vs. existing internal employees within an organization. The clock starts on the metric calculation the moment the requisition is approved by the hiring organization. The clock stops on the metric calculation the moment the candidate clears the background and, if necessary, reference checks. Time to Accept (TTA) The time it takes to identify and recruit a candidate or existing employee to accept a position within an organization. Accept is defined as the verbal or written acceptance of the job position being presented The difference in time between the moment the requisition is approved by the hiring organization and when the candidate accepts the verbal or written job offer. Time to Start (TTS) The time it takes to identify and recruit a candidate or existing employee to start in the new position that they have accepted within an organization. The clock starts on the metric's calculation the moment the requisition is approved by the hiring organization and stops based on the candidate's target or real start date. Recruiting vs Business Consideration (RvB) Compares how many business days the recruiting function takes to identify and screen the candidate vs how many business days the hiring manager takes to interview and choose a candidate. The first part of the calculation begins the moment the requisition is approved and stops once the recruiting function submits a candidate to the hiring organization for consideration and review. The second part of the metric is measured by the time between the business's decision to hire the candidate, and the candidate's acceptance of the job offer. Time in Workflow Step (TWS) Time a candidate spends in each of the workflow step of the Applicant Tracking System (ATS) in business days. Examples of standard ATS step are: Candidate Application; Recruiter Screening; Submission to Hiring Manager and review; Initial interviews(s); Final Interview; Offer; Background Checks; Hire. This calculation calculates the difference between when a candidate first enters a workflow step and when that candidate leaves that workflow step. Example: Candidate applies to a job opening on January 1 and then is moved by a recruiter to the Recruiter Screen workflow step in the ATS on January the 4th. The time in the candidate application step is tabulated as 4 days. Applicant Cycle Time (ACT)The time a candidate spends in the selection process for an opening. This metric only measures the successfully hired candidate and does not account for any other candidates. It is a good measure of the efficiency of the recruiting team once a qualified candidate is identified.Shown in days, it is the difference in time between the successful candidate's application submission and the moment the candidate accepts the verbal or written job offer.

Quality Metrics Metric Type Definition Formula Submissions to Business Acceptance Percentage (SBA) Number of candidates that are submitted to the business by the recruiting function over the requirements of the position that are accepted by the business as a percentage Example: Recruiting function submits 10 candidates to the business against the requirements of the role and the business accepts 7 that they will move forward to the next step of the recruiting workflow. SBA = 70% First Year Quality (FYQ) Compares a quality data point on the recruiting functions ability to present a quality number of candidates to the business/organization for consideration as a percentage of those that the business accepts to proceed forward in the recruiting workflow process in combination with the organization's ability to retain candidates that have started their new position and are still with the organization after their first twelve months of employment. Attrition is defined as employees who have left the organization either a) On their own accord or b) Were terminated from employment from that organization within the first twelve months of employment. Also referred to unmanaged or managed attrition. Number of candidates submitted to the business from the recruiting function that they accept as a percentage (SBA Metric)+ percentage of candidates that do not leave in their first twelve months of employment divided by these two data points. Example: Data Point 1: Recruiter submits 10 candidates to the business who accepts 8 = 80% submission quality (SBA). Data Point 2: In the previous fiscal year, 10% of candidates hired left the organization within their first year of employment = 90% Retention. 80% + 90% = 170 divided by two data point indicators = 85% First Year Quality (FYQ) Offer Acceptance Rate (OA) Compares the number of candidates that are presented a written or verbal job offer vs the percentage of candidates that accept the job offer Number of candidates presented the offer who accept the offer as a percentage. Example: 10 Candidates are presented a job offer with 8 accepting the job offer = an 80% OA Submission to Hire Ratio (SHR) A calculation that determines the number of candidates that are submitted to the business to produce a hire as a ratio. The more effective the recruiting function is as submitting quality candidates against the position requirement the lower the SHR ratio will be. Number of candidates that are submitted to the business for consideration divided by the number of hires as a ratio output metric. Example: Recruiting function submits 9 candidates to the business to review against the position requirements resulting in 1 hire. SBA = 9:1 Application Drop off Rate (ADR) A percentage metric to determine the quality of the candidate application process and experience. A good candidate application experience should determine a higher percentage of candidates starting and completing the application process The ratio of the number of candidates that start the job application and the number of candidates that complete the online application as a percentage. Example: 100 candidates start an application for a position but only 40 complete the application process. ADR = 60% Hiring Manager Satisfaction A standard set of questions that gets asked of Hiring Managers within an organization by the Recruiting function on their level of satisfaction around some or all of the following: Overall experience working with the recruiting function during the hiring process Quality of candidates submitted Speed and responsiveness Value added to guide and help the business through the hiring process Variations exists in how organizations produce a measurement of outcome from the overall scoring system being used from leveraging a net promoter score approach to a Likert Scale approach of 1 to 7, with 1 being extremely satisfied to 7 being extremely dissatisfied. Candidate Satisfaction A standard set of questions that gets asked of candidates during or after the hiring process about their level of satisfaction around some or all of the following: Overall experience working with the organization during the hiring process Overall experience working with the recruiting function during the hiring process Satisfaction with the technology and experience used during the application process Speed and responsiveness Value added to guide and help the candidate through the hiring process Variations exists in how organizations produce a measurement of outcome from the overall scoring system being used from leveraging a net promoter score approach to a Likert Scale approach of 1 to 7, with 1 being extremely satisfied to 7 being extremely dissatisfied.

Productivity Metrics