The 3 Recruiting Metrics That Matter

Because of the task-oriented nature of hiring, recruiting metrics and related data points are everywhere. But it’s not enough to simply collect numbers to prove what you already know. Instead, hiring teams should use recruiting metrics to provide insights into business strategies.

Here are some of the most important recruiting metrics to investigate, with tips on how to use them to start using them today.

1. Application Completion Rate

If you want to expand your talent pool, start with your Application Completion Rate. Among other recruiting metrics, this one shows the number of applications that candidates have actually submitted as a percentage of the total number of applications that were initiated.

A low figure means your job application process is probably too time-consuming.

Many candidates don’t expect applications to take longer than 15 minutes. So, you’ll need to optimize your application to hold their attention.

2. Candidate Satisfaction Rate

Additionally, make sure you’re also measuring candidate satisfaction as one of your top recruiting metrics. Use an ATS to distribute a quick satisfaction survey. Then, ask candidates about their views on the interview process, the employer brand, and their coworkers.

Use a simple five-point scale to gather qualitative data and derive percentage-based representations of how satisfactory each aspect of the hiring process is.

Recruiting metrics like this one will show where you’re succeeding and where you’re falling short. As a result, these insights can guide you toward improving your process for candidates.

3. Source Quality

Similarly, this metric shows the effectiveness of all of your sourcing channels, including job boards, employee referrers, individual recruiters, and more.

To determine each source’s quality, total up how many candidates came in through a given channel. Then, calculate the number of high-quality candidates or new hires that batch yielded as a percentage of the total.

Compare each source’s quality rate to pinpoint your most valuable sourcing channels. This will help you decide which sources to invest in, and which to reconsider.

Takeaways

Going forward, use these recruiting metrics to improve your hiring process:

• Application Completion Rate: Applications submitted ÷ total applications initiated.
• Source Quality: High-quality candidates from a given channel ÷ total leads generated by that source.
• Candidate Satisfaction Rate: A percentage-based figure you can determine based on the results of a quantitative candidate satisfaction survey.