You don’t need a complex analytics department or expensive tools to start assessing your recruitment effectiveness. In a competitive market, understanding what works– and what doesn’t – is vital for organisations looking to attract and retain the best professionals.
By focusing on a few key performance indicators (KPIs), you can gain valuable insights into how well your hiring process is working. These metrics help identify areas for improvement, measure the success of your efforts, and ensure you’re attracting the right talent efficiently. Let's explore the key metrics that matter:
1. Time-to-hire
What it is: This measures the time from posting a job to a candidate accepting an offer.
Why it matters: A lengthy time-to-hire can signal inefficiencies in your recruitment process, from slow decision-making to bottlenecks in screening or interviewing. In competitive markets, speed matters.
Top professionals are often juggling multiple offers, and delays can mean losing them to faster-moving employers. Reducing time-to-hire not only improves candidate experience but also helps teams fill critical roles faster, maintain productivity, and reduce the cost of vacancies.
2. Cost-per-hire
What it is: This metric calculates the total cost of recruiting a new employee, including expenses like job advertising and the time your team spends on hiring.
Why it matters: By calculating this, you can gain insights into the efficiency of your recruitment strategy and make smarter decisions about where to allocate your budget.
3. Application drop-off rate
What it is: This metric tracks the percentage of people who start, but don’t complete, the application process.
Why it matters: A high drop-off rate can be a red flag that your application process is too long, confusing, or not user-friendly, especially on mobile.
By analysing where applicants disengage, you can make targeted improvements that increase completion rates, reduce friction, and ensure your employer brand isn’t undermined before the hiring journey even begins.
4. Candidate Net Promoter Score (cNPS)
What it is: cNPS measures how likely candidates are to recommend your organisation based on their experience during the hiring process. It’s simple to calculate, you just ask: “Based on the recruitment process so far, how likely are you to recommend applying to our company to others?”
Respondents are then grouped into:
Promoters (scores of 9-10)
Passives (scores of 7-8)
Detractors (scores of 0-6)
Your final score is calculated by subtracting the percentage of detractors from the percentage of promoters.
Why it matters: A high cNPS signals a strong employer brand and a positive candidate experience; factors that directly contribute to improved talent attraction and retention. Even individuals who aren’t hired can become advocates if they feel respected and valued. Conversely, a low score can highlight pain points in your hiring process, from poor communication to unclear expectations, offering a clear opportunity for targeted improvements that enhance both reputation and results.
5. Offer acceptance rate
What it is: This metric shows the percentage of applicants who accept your job offers.
Why it matters: A low acceptance rate can indicate deeper issues, from uncompetitive compensation and unclear role expectations to a lack of cultural alignment or poor candidate experience. Tracking this helps you understand how attractive your offers are and whether your hiring process is building genuine excitement about joining your organisation. Improving this metric means fewer declined offers, faster hiring, and better alignment between candidate expectations and company reality.
6. Quality-of-hire
What it is: This is arguably the most crucial, yet challenging, metric to measure. It assesses the long-term value a new employee brings to your organisation.
Why it matters: A great hire contributes to productivity, innovation, and a positive team culture, directly impacting your business's success. You can assess quality-of-hire by evaluating the performance ratings of new hires, analysing their retention rate after one year, and collecting feedback from hiring managers. A high-quality hire validates your entire recruitment process, from sourcing to selection.
7. Source effectiveness
What it is: This metric tracks where your best hires are coming from.
Why it matters: Understanding which channels deliver your top-performing employees allows you to focus your efforts and budget where they will have the most impact. For example, if an advertising platform underperforms, reallocating those resources can maximise your results. However, while it's tempting to rely on proven channels, remember that diversifying your sources can introduce fresh perspectives and enhance the diversity of your talent pool.
Analysing these key metrics empowers you to make data-driven decisions that can dramatically enhance hiring outcomes. Data also helps uncover weaknesses in your recruitment funnel. High application drop-off rates, for instance, might signal that your application process is too complicated. By simplifying applications and personalising communication, you can significantly improve the candidate experience.
Reed’s recruitment solutions are designed to help you harness key hiring metrics, from application rates to time-to-hire, so you can make smarter, faster decisions. Whether you're looking to streamline your application process, improve candidate engagement, or identify bottlenecks in your hiring funnel, our expert consultants and digital tools are here to support you.
Regularly monitoring your metrics allows you to build a recruitment approach that not only meets immediate hiring needs but also aligns with your long-term goals, turning your business into a talent magnet.
