15 Best Recruiting KPIs for Recruiters to Measure Success

Nowadays, the recruitment industry is evolving rapidly. Gone are the days when recruiters and HR used to hire candidates manually. Recruiting automation software becomes a lifesaver for hiring teams.

It transformed the recruitment workflow like never before. The fruitful features of the recruitment software ease the hiring process and enhance the positive candidate experience. 

With this enormous change, the assessment and improvement of digital recruitment increased as it provides the solution to make the recruiting process more efficient and effective for both - the recruiters and the applicants. The analytics features help recruiters to make data-driven and accurate decisions. 

Hence, Recruiting KPIs metrics become an essential aspect of the hiring process as they provide deeper insights and point out the room for improvement.

The features of reports and recruitment analytics in the Applicant Tracking System (ATS) and Talent Acquisition System become vital for hiring managers and corporate HRs to understand the issues in their recruitment cycle. 

Let’s first understand what recruiting KPIs are and which are the most vital recruiting KPIs metrics that a recruiter should consider enhancing the recruiting process.

What are Recruiting KPIs?

KPI is a Key Performance Indicator. Hiring managers can utilise Recruiting KPIs metrics to measure and calculate the performance of the hiring process. They use recruiting KPIs metrics to know how efficient their hiring is. It Provides data to recruiters and corporate HRs on the areas of improvement and shows the value and ROI for specific recruitment actions. 

Recruitment KPIs are also known as Talent Acquisition KPIs or Hiring KPIs. Let’s see the top 15 recruiting KPIs for 2024 that corporate HRs, recruiters, staffing and recruitment agencies can use to leverage maximum benefits.

Top 15 Recruitment KPIs for 2024

1. Time to Hire 

The hiring time is a vital and frequently used recruiting KPI by hiring managers to check the time it takes to hire suitable talent in the recruitment workflow. 

Time to Hire = The day they accept the job - the day recruiter reaches the candidate

Suppose the day recruiter opened a particular position on day 1, and they reached the candidate on day 11. Afterwards, if the most suitable candidate accepted a job offer on day 28, then the hiring time would be 28-11= 17 days. Hence, the time-to-hire would be 17 days. 

Time-to-hire ratio = 11/28 x 100 = 39.28%  (on the 11th-day candidate contacted divided by the day (28th) the talent accepted the offer multiplied by 100)

It is a determining factor which measures the hiring time of the recruitment process. According to the SHRM report, it takes 36 working days for a company to hire talent.

The ultimate goal of this recruiting KPIs is to reduce the time to hire and improve the process by finding which hiring tasks take a lot of time, how recruiters can eliminate that particular task with automation, and which could be the possible solution to lessen it.

2. Sourcing Channel Efficiency 

The company must recognise the most effective sourcing channel to hire the most talented people. The sourcing channel metric gives an insight into the effectiveness of every sourcing channel, gives the best sourcing channel in the recruitment process, and invests more time and money in their recruitment marketing accurately. 

Sourcing Channel Efficiency = total number of hire via the channel / total number of applications via channel x 100

For instance, if you get 100 applications via Glassdoor and 9 hires, then your sourcing efficiency would be 9/100 x 100 = 9%. 

The final goal of this recruitment KPIs is to reduce the cost of hiring by determining the most efficient channel and investing more in it. Also, it provides a specific channel that does not perform well, and investment can be reduced in such channels.

3. Submit to Interview Ratio

The submit-to-interview ratio assesses the prescreening quality and effectiveness of recruiters’ efforts. The average value of this ratio in staffing agencies is 3:1. 

Submit to Interview Ratio = The ratio of candidates submitted to hiring managers / the number of given interviews

If the submit-to-interview ratio is high, then it might be possible due to poor screening,  perhaps the recruiter’s lack of understanding of the hiring manager’s need. The final goal of this stage is to measure the hiring manager’s satisfaction and the recruiter’s sourcing effectiveness and achieve a higher standard of submitting to the interview ratio. 

4. Interview-to-Offer Ratio 

To measure this recruiting KPI, calculate the number of interviews your hiring team conducts with candidates to extend one offer. 

As per NACE (National Association of Colleges and Employers), the average interview-to-offer rate is 42.1% - approximately 42 of every 100 candidates interviewed received an offer.

Interview-to-Offer Ratio = No. of candidates who received the offer letter / No. of interviewed candidates x 100

For example, if a hiring manager chooses to interview 37 applicants and extends 19 offers, then it would be expressed as (19 / 37) x 100 = 51.35 %.

5. Offer Acceptance Rate

This is a crucial recruitment KPIs as it indicates the percentage of offers accepted by the applicants. If the candidates don’t accept the job offer, then it might be some problems with the company’s reputation, compensation, and benefits strategies. 

Offer Acceptance Rate = Number of accepted job offers / Number of all offers x 100

For instance, if 7 applicants accepted the job offer and the number of all offered candidates is 16, then the offer acceptance rate would be 7/16 x 100 = 43.75%. 

The final goal of this recruitment metric is to find and define why the offer acceptance rate is low. The reasons could be poor candidate experience, dissatisfaction with the salary or benefits, or a better offer elsewhere. This way, recruiters can improve the candidate interaction and engagement problem in the recruitment cycle. 

6. Cost Per Hire

The cost per hire metric is an important HR manager KPI which includes internal and external expenditures such as; posting a job on various social media channels and job board platforms, referral campaign fees, the expense of job fairs or virtual hiring events, online assessment and interview scheduling and spending for onboarding and training new employees. 

Cost Per Hire = Internal recruiting costs + external recruiting costs / total number of hires

The goal of considering this recruiting KPI is to calculate the hiring cost and try to reduce it as much as possible by cutting the cost of the hiring tasks, which are not necessary to spend more amount. Also, focus on spending the amount on effective sources. 

7. Quality of Hire

The hiring quality is a recruiting KPI to determine the contribution of the new hires in the company. Also, it measures and determines the value a new hire brings to an organisation. Industry experts agree that the quality of hire can be calculated effectively by considering pre-hire and post-hire performance distinctly. 

Pre-hire quality is measured based on the pre-screening part of the recruitment process, such as resume reviewing or skill and qualification checking, and then attracting candidates who could be suitable for the open role. 

Pre-hire Quality = No. of workers who leave within a year of hire date / total No. of workers who leave during the same period

Whereas Post quality hires assess the quality of the hired employees and their contribution to the firm. Also, it collects data on the company’s turnover and retention rate.

Post-hire Quality = No. of workers who leave within a year of hire date / total No. of workers who leave during the same period

According to LinkedIn, 40% of companies agree that the quality of hire metric is their top priority. The goal of this metric is to improve employee-friendly workplaces and increase their productivity and job satisfaction rate, at the same time enhancing the retention rate. 

8. Hires to Goal

This recruiting KPIs metric is essential for employers to Reach the definitive hiring goal of the organisation. Hence, the recruitment team must know the company goals for a particular time. Hires to goal is the total number of hires the company requirements for a set time period to reach a predetermined hiring goal.

Hires to Goal = New hires in the particular period / hiring goals in that period

The ultimate goal is to measure the goal completion rate via the hired talent and assess their contribution to the firm. Also, it is essential to make better hiring decisions. 

9. Candidate Net Promoter Score (NPS)

Candidate NPS = % of promoters - % of detractors

How can employers measure whether they are providing good candidate experience or not? This crucial recruiting KPI measures the experience of the applicants during the hiring process. Moreover, eNPS provides an understanding of how candidates are likely to recommend you based on their recruiting experience. 

Constant interaction and engagement are important for recruiters to keep candidates in the talent pipeline and eventually hire them if they are the right fit for the company. According to the LinkedIn survey, 89% of talent say being contacted by their recruiter can make them accept a job offer faster. 

Based on the survey, the question of such a survey could be like this: On a Scale of 1-10, how likely are you to recommend a company, product, or service to a friend or a colleague? 

In a survey, the people who recommend the company positively are the promoters and people who don’t recommend it are the detractors. So, if the promoters are 55% and the detractors are 45%, then the NPS will be 55% - 45% = 10%. The ultimate goal of this recruitment KPI is to increase the NPS, find the problems in candidate engagement, and mitigate them with a tech-based solution.

10. Recruitment Site Analytics and Social Listening

This recruitment KPI is customisable and differs from company to company. Companies are using website analytics tools and social listening online tools such as Sprout Social or Hootsuite to collect and analyse information on the efficiency of the sourcing channel visitor demographics.  

Recruitment Site Analytics = No. of the candidates from a social platform / total no. of online applicants x 100

11.  Retention Rate

The retention rate depicts that employees are not only staying in the firm for a long time but are also productive and have a higher engagement rate, which eventually increases the company's revenue. It is frequently calculated on a yearly basis. 

The talent acquisition metric tracks the total number of workers who remain at the client’s company over a specific time out of the workers at the start of the same period. Hiring managers can utilise this metric to calculate turnover rates and measure the number of employees who leave in the same period.

Retention Rate = Total employees still employed at the end of a specific period / Total employees at the start of the same period x 100

12. Application Completion Rate 

This recruiting metric calculates the number of candidates who initiated the application process for the open position and move forward and submit it for consideration. 

Application Completion Rate = No. of submitted applications / Total no. of applications started x 100

For example, if 155 candidates started filling out applications and 137 candidates submitted applications, then the Application Completion Rate would be 137 / 155 x 100 = 88.38 %. 

13. Cost Per Application Rate

Cost per application recruitment KPI is calculated by dividing the cost of job advertisement and personnel marketing expenses by the number of total application recruiters received. 

Cost Per Application Rate = cost of Job Ad + recruiting expenses / no. of application received

For instance, if recruiters received 37 applications and the cost of advertisement is 300$, then the cost per application ratio would be $300 / 37 applications = 8.1. This means that per application costs 8.1$ to the recruiters. 

14. Rejection Rate 

If hiring managers want to calculate the ratio of rejection in the recruitment process, then this recruiting KPI will help them figure it out. It is performance-based recruiting metrics that indicate how many candidates are categorised as ‘not suitable’ by the recruiters. 

Rejection Rate = No. of rejected candidates / Number of applications received x 100

For example, if a company receives 155 applications and 68 candidates get rejected, then the rejection rate would be 68 / 155 x 100 = 43.87 %. This metric will tell you how effectively the job Ad has reached the targetted audience and which sourcing channel brings the most suitable talent. 

15. Drop-off Per Stage Ratio

One study mentioned in Glassdoor states that most companies have an 80% candidate drop-off during their hiring process. This recruitment KPI metric is crucial to create a useful future prediction of the hiring process. The main purpose of calculating this metric is to measure how many candidates drop off at every recruitment stage. 

Drop-off per stage ratio = Number of applicantions started / Number of applications finished x 100

Recruiters need to determine all the recruitment stages and must update the status of every applicant regularly and move them to the appropriate stage. Moving candidates to the next stage, withdrawing their application, or even rejecting a candidate for a particular reason, hiring managers will have vital data to analyse.

Strategic Alignment of Recruiting KPIs with Business Goals

Strategic alignment in HR means ensuring all your efforts match the company's main recruitment goals. Key Performance Indicators (KPIs) are the specific markers, like milestones, that measure how close you are to achieving these goals.

For instance, if improving employee satisfaction is a goal, then a KPI could be the outcome of an employee satisfaction survey. It's crucial to deeply understand these business goals and align your HR strategies to help meet them. 

By connecting HR actions with company objectives through KPIs, you help steer the entire organisation towards success.

Here's how it works:

1. Identify Business Goals: First, you clearly define what the company aims to achieve. Let's say your goal is to increase sales by 20% this year.

2. Set HR-Related KPIs: Next, you decide what HR needs to focus on to help reach that goal. In this case, you might focus on improving sales team training and retention rates.

3. Measure and Adjust: You then measure your progress using the KPIs you’ve set (like the number of trained salespeople who stay with the company). If you're not hitting your KPIs, you tweak your strategies—maybe you need a different training program or better incentives for your sales team.

The idea is to ensure that your HR efforts are not just random activities but are strategically designed to push the company towards its larger objectives. This helps you make smarter decisions, use resources more effectively, and ultimately contribute to the company's success in a meaningful way.

Final Thought on Recruiting KPIs

Tracking the recruitment KPIs can be immensely helpful for corporate HRs and hiring managers to improve the recruitment process in a better way and retain talent in the organisation. These metrics enable them to get valuable feedback insights and make data-driven decisions. 

Also, it provides a valuable understanding of how your decision and behaviour would affect the hiring process. Hence, the Recruiting KPIs are vital as they enable employers to analyse multiple hiring metrics and find solutions to improve the recruitment process to a higher standard.

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FAQs About Recruitment KPIs for 2024

1. How do we identify recruiting KPIs?

To identify recruiting Key Performance Indicators (KPIs), first determine your business goals and objectives. Then, choose measurable metrics that directly align with those goals, ensuring they provide clear insights into performance and progress.

2. What are the key result areas in recruitment?

Key result areas in recruitment typically include sourcing qualified candidates, conducting effective interviews, and making successful hires. These areas focus on finding the right people, assessing their skills and fit, and ensuring they join the organisation, ultimately contributing to the company's success.

3. What KPIs are most relevant to your success as a recruiter/talent acquisition specialist? 

As a recruiter, key performance indicators (KPIs) include time-to-fill, which measures how quickly you can fill open positions, and quality of hire, which assesses the performance and retention of new hires. Additionally, candidate satisfaction rates are crucial to ensure a positive experience throughout the hiring process.