Recruiting metrics

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

Most recruitment metrics are used by recruiting functions and organizations to gain key insights of over or under performance around key components of the recruiting process:

• Identification of Candidates (known as Sourcing Personnel)
• Attraction of Candidates.
• Interviewing and Assessment of candidates
• Overall Process Improvement of the recruiting workflow and steps

Recruitment metrics fall into four main categories:

1. Speed
2. Quality
3. Cost
4. Productivity

• See Variations on Metrics

Examples of each of the recruiting metrics, definitions and formula's:

Speed Metrics*
Metric Type	Definition	Formula
Time to Fill (TTF)	The time it takes to identify and recruit a candidate or existing employee to fill a 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. 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 (Job Order) is approved by the business and the clock stops on the metric calculation the moment the candidate clears the background (and/or reference check).
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 clock starts on the metric calculation the moment the Requisition (Job Order) is approved by the business and the clock stops on the metric calculation the moment the candidate accepts the job offer (verbal or written).
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 calculation the moment the Requisition (Job Order) is approved by the business and the clock stops on the metric calculation based on the target (or actual) start date of the candidates first day on the job.
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 business (hiring manager) takes to interview and hire the candidate. Calculation is Business Days	The first part of the calculation is the clock starts on the metric calculation the moment the Requisition (Job Order) is approved by the business and then stops once the recruiting function submits a candidate to the business for consideration (review). The second part of the calculation the clock starts when the recruiting function submits a candidate to the business for consideration (review) and the clock stops on the calculation the moment the candidate accepts the position (TTA)
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 Screen: Submittal to Hiring Manager (Review): Business Interviews: Final Interview: Offer: Background Checks: Hire.	The clock starts on the metric calculation when a candidate first enters a workflow step and then the clock stops on the metric calculation when that candidate leaves that workflow step. Example: Candidate applies to a job opening (position) 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 4 days.
Quality Metrics
Metric Type	Definition	Formula
Submittals to Business Acceptance Percentage (SBA)	Number of candidates that are submitted to the business by the recruiting function against 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 want proceed 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 (review) as a percentage of those that the business accepts to proceed forward in the recruiting workflow process in combination with the organizations 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 (Retention) 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 (verbal or written) who accept the offer as a percentage. Example: 10 Candidates are presented a job offer with 8 accepting the job offer = an 80% OA
Submittals 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 (review) 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 (Process + Technology) should determine a higher percentage of candidates starting and completing the application process	Total amount of candidates as a percentage that start the job application vs the number of candidates that complete the online application as a percentage result. 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, where 1 could be 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 on 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, where 1 could be extremely satisfied to 7 being extremely dissatisfied
Productivity Metrics
Metric Type	Definition	Formula
Source of Application (SoA)	A recruiting metric to help determine the value of potential investments made by an organization in each of their different initiatives around the attraction of candidates applying their job opportunities. Each of these initiates are traditionally grouped into candidate source categories in an Applicant Tracking System (ATS). Examples of traditional candidate source of application categories are: Employee Referrals; Job Boards; Own Organizations Career pages; Social Media; 3rd Party Staffing Agencies; Career Fairs; Internal Employment sites	Total amount of candidate applications as a percentage broken out by percentage of each source category. Example: For a 12-month period an organization had 5,000 candidate applications to their positions where 1,000 of those candidate applications came from Job Boards. 20% of total candidates applications = Job Boards as the category.
Source of Hire (SoH)	A recruiting metric to help determine the value of potential investments made by an organization in each of their different initiatives that ultimately leads to a candidate being hired. Each of these initiates are traditionally grouped into candidate source categories in an Applicant Tracking System (ATS). Examples of traditional candidate source of application categories are: Employee Referrals; Job Boards; Own Organizations Career pages; Social Media; 3rd Party Staffing Agencies; Career Fairs; Internal Employment sites	Total amount of candidates hired as a percentage broken out by percentage of each source category. Example: For a 12-month period an organization had 1,000 candidates hired to their positions where 300 of those candidate applications came from Employee Referrals. 30% of total candidates hired = Employee Referral as the category.
Full Funnel Throughput (FFT)	Similar to the Submittal to Hire (SHR) a ratio metric as a calculation to determine the overall effectiveness of each step of the recruiting workflow, also referred to as the recruiting funnel throughput. Example of major ATS workflow steps and each sequential workflow step [Applications: Recruiter Screen: Submittal to Hiring Manager: Business Interviews: Final Interview: Offer: Background Checks: Hire]. The power of this metric comes into play when you start evaluating the Funnel Throughput efficiencies of multiple requisitions by certain groupings to determine an average by workflow step for that sample group. Example of Sample groups: Similar Job Family positions (Sales vs Finance positions); Positions in certain Geographies; Positions in different organizations business units; Positions by recruiters; Positions by Hiring Managers. The power of this metric comes into play when you start evaluating the Funnel Throughput efficiencies of year over year comparisons and/or multiple requisitions by certain groupings to determine an average by workflow step for that sample group. Example of Sample groups: Job Family positions (Sales vs Finance positions); Positions in certain Geographies; Positions in different organizations business units; Positions by recruiters; Positions by Hiring Managers	The metric calculation determines how many candidates enter the first step of the recruiting workflow divided by how many candidate proceed to the next sub sequential step of the recruiting workflow as a ratio. . Example: For one position receives 1,000 Applications that leads to 100 Recruiter Screens which results in 20 candidate submittals to the Hiring Manager which they accept 10 resulting in 10 Business Interviews and then 5 Final Interviews making 1 Offer resulting in 1 hire. The FFT Metrics in this case would look like this: 10:1 (1,000 Applications to 100 Recruiter screens) 5:1 (100 Recruiter screens to 20 Submittals) 2:1 (20 Submittals to 10 Hiring Manager Accepts) 1:1 (10 Hiring Manager Accepts to 10 Business Interviews) 2:1 (10 Business Interviews to 5 Final Interviews) 5:1 (5 Final Interviews to 1 Offer) 1:1 (1 Offer to 1 Hire)
Candidate Withdrew Reasons (CWR)	A metric calculating why candidates do not want to proceed forward with during the interview process against a requisition. The outcome is a grouping of common reasons why candidates are not interested in proceeding. Example of potential candidate withdrew reasons: Too much Travel required; Base salary too low; Organizations benefits package; Relocation; Role requirements not motivating enough; Organizations external brand. The power of this metric comes into play when you start evaluating the themes or trends of multiple candidate withdrew reasons year over year and/or by certain groupings to challenges or opportunities to improve. Example comparison groupings: Job Family positions (Sales vs Finance positions); Positions in certain Geographies; Positions in different organizations business units	Total number of candidates who withdrew from the recruiting process as a percentage breakout by each of the candidate withdrew groupings. Example: 500 candidate withdrew from sales positions for an organization in a fiscal year. 150 (30%) said too much Travel required 100 (20%) said base salary too low 20 (4%) said Organizations benefits package 80 (16%) Relocation 100 (20%) Role requirements not motivating enough 50 (10%) Organizations external brand
Req Cancellation Rate (RCR)	A metric that determines how much time as an overall percentage is spent by the recruiting function working on requisitions that get cancelled vs the time spent on requisitions that get filled. The larger the percentage of time spent by a recruiting function working on positions that get cancelled creates inefficiencies in the organization and recruiting process.	Total number of filled requisitions plus cancelled requisitions a recruiting function works on during a fiscal year divided by the number of those requisitions that are canceled. Example: A recruiting functions fills 5,000 requisitions a year with an additional 1,250 requisitions being cancelled. RCR = 20%
New vs Replacement Req Type (NvR)	Similar to the RCR Metric how much time as an overall percentage is spent by the recruiting function working on requisitions that are net new growth positions for an organization vs time spent on requisitions that are backing an existing position where the employee left the role.	Total number of requisitions that are created (opened) during a fiscal year that are net new growth positions as a percentage out of 100 vs the percentage of requisitions that are created that are backfilling an employee. Example: 10,000 requisitions are created in a fiscal year where 6,000 (60%) are net new growth positions vs 4,000 (40%) are backfilling and employee.
Cost Metrics
Metric Type	Definition	Formula
Recruiting Resources Cost to Acquire (CTA)	A metric that identifies total cost of recruiting resources (Full-time Employees, Contractors or Temporary) that are required by an organization to fill all the requisitions in a fiscal year. Note: This metric is simpler derivative of total Cost Per Hire metrics that try to capture all recruiting related expenses (and investments) in the hiring of candidates.	A recruiting department’s total resource costs (Full-time Employees, Contractors, Temps) divided by number of candidates hired for a fiscal year. Example: A recruiting function spends 1 million dollars a year on total resource costs and they fill 400 requisitions in a fiscal year. 1 million divided by 400, CTA = $2,500

Variations on Metrics

1. Time based metrics can be measured in business or calendar days related to the nature of hiring and Organization. Example: Hospitals work and hire on weekends so measurement of time based metrics in calendar days is a better variation of the formula. Corporations that only work five days a week (Do not do any recruiting and hiring on Saturdays and Sundays)are better served to measure in business days on time based metrics

Related Articles

A standard set of Recruiting Metrics

Talent Acquisition Performance Scorecard

See also

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