Rating Recruitment: Human Resource Metrics

Recruiting is usually a core activity in Human Resources (HR) Departments, and developing meaningful recruitment metrics can help HR clearly and succinctly communicate its success in this area. Here are some examples of HR delivery metrics specifically related to recruiting, and why they are important.

• Number of applicants per position: Knowing the average number of applicants for different types of position can help inform your outreach efforts.
• Percentage of qualified candidates per position: If you are getting a lot of applicants that are not actually qualified for your positions, try tracking the percentage of applicants that are actually qualified. A low ratio indicates that you may benefit from more specificity in job announcements.
• Number of days in the hiring cycle: Tracking the number of days required at each stage of the recruiting process (preparation, announcement, interviews, negotiation) can help identify stages where improvements could shorten the overall timeframe.
• Number of passive job seekers being tracked: Passive job seekers are those with skills and experience your organization may benefit from; when they are ready to actively look for a new opportunity, you want to be there to recruit them! Tracking your passive job seekers will help you prioritize your search for them.
• Percentage of first-year departures: Recruiting and onboarding new employees takes time and effort. As such, tracking how many of them leave the organization within the first year may help you better assess cultural fit and expectations management during the recruiting process.
• Hiring Manager training metrics: Are your Hiring Managers adequately trained in conducting interviews, and reviewing resumes? It is rare for HR to lead all recruiting activities – technical staff generally also participates. Tracking the training of hiring managers in recruiting approaches and tools can help up your game across the organization.

A benefit of all these metrics is that they all can be tracked by human resources, maximizing stability of measurement over time.