Some Thoughts on Talent Acquisition Metrics and Measures that Matter
A simple question for recruitment leaders: what is the purpose of the recruitment function? Why do organizations have such a function, and do the measures you report answer the question?
In my mind, the purpose of recruitment is simple: to find, attract, and present to hiring managers people with the skills the hiring manager and the organization need.
If that is the purpose, what metrics tell us how well talent acquisition attracts, finds, and presents the needed talent?
Brief Thoughts on Cost per Hire
I don’t think it is cost. Measuring cost is an example of the Band Wagon Fallacy – everyone calculates cost, so it must be useful, and we are expected to report it.
But, in my research over the years, I have found that the cost per hire for a particular role rarely varies greatly (other than accounting for inflation). The costs hover around a mean, making the exact figure virtually meaningless unless there is some significant anomaly. As a rule, junior people cost less to hire than more senior people, highly skilled more than lesser skilled, and so on.
Brief Thoughts on Time to Hire
Recruiters don’t control the time to hire. Managers do. Recruiters can present qualified candidates to managers very quickly, but the manager may take whatever time they want to respond. Candidates may also slow the process. Why do you measure something you cannot control?
Brief Thoughts on Quality of Hire
And my article last week gave you my in-depth thinking about quality of hire as a measure. To sum up my thoughts in one sentence, I believe that the ultimate responsibility for quality of hire lies with the hiring manager and not with recruitment. If you have given them what they asked for, the consequences are the managers.
Metrics That Do Matter & Do Answer the Question
Several metrics give a better picture of the effectiveness of recruiting.
The first set answers the questions originally asked: What is the ultimate purpose of recruiting: to find, attract, and present people with the skills the organization needs?
How effective is TA in attracting needed talent? How strong is your brand?
Number of qualified, active candidates who visit your career site
The Number of qualified candidates who apply
The Number hired from the competition
How capable is the TA function in finding people with critical skills?
Number of qualified candidates when the requisition is received
Time to present candidates with needed skills
The size and variety of the talent pool
The breadth and depth of the talent map
The ratio of offers to accepts
Hiring Manager Metrics
I also believe hiring managers should be held accountable and have a set of metrics to measure their responsiveness and critical thinking about people.
Some useful hiring manager metrics might be these.
• Time to provide feedback to recruiters on candidates presented
• How many of the job criteria in the job description did the new hire actually meet? [Criteria asked for/Criteria hired]
• Number of candidates interviewed/Number of offers extended
• Number of diverse candidates interviewed/offers (Internal & external)
Candidate Metrics
And candidates should have a say, and their experiences and opinions should be carefully collected and understood. A handful of metrics that relate to them might be these.
• Time to find a position that matches their skills
• Minutes needed to apply for a position
• Number who do not complete the application process & why
• Candidate rating/feedback on ease of applying
• Candidate rating/feedback on overall recruiting experience
• How many hours/days until the candidate gets a response to her CV with feedback?
• How many days does it take until the candidate gets a decision about the next steps?
Measuring these will give a much better picture of the effectiveness of the recruiting function. The core metric is the time to present a qualified candidate to the hiring manga. All activities and processes should be focused on this one measure.
I welcome your thoughts on these and, especially, why so few functions track or report any of these.
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If you are looking for guidance or help in becoming a more strategic leader, we may be able to help. For the past twenty-five years, I have been helping recruitment leaders in major corporations, non-profits, and NGOs to redesign, improve, or transform their talent acquisition functions. I work with you as a partner to assess and improve your processes, find and remove constraints, create more engaging career sites, and choose the most useful and relevant technology. I will work with you as a coach, mentor, or consultant – whichever meets your needs. I have only one goal – to make recruiting strategic and pertinent to your organization. Let me know if I can help. Please send me an email at kwheeler@futureoftalent.org.
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