Talent Acquisition or Recruitment is an important process for any company. Recruitment firms and company HR departments need to track specific metrics to be able to analyze their strengths and uncover their areas for improvement. Each HR department has its own standards and metrics. But in terms of talent acquisition, here are the top five things that you need to track and measure.
1. Hiring Time Frame
Paying attention to the time you normally consume in the entire recruitment process (from posting the job opening until the successful candidate’s acceptance of the job offer) is essential in tracking the productivity level of the recruitment team, as well as in determining the normal causes of delay in the recruitment process. Measuring the hiring time-frame varies though, depending on the standards of the company; the available position; and number of employees needed. Some companies do not include non-working days in the time frame, while others include them. The average time for recruitment nowadays usually take-up to 23 days.
2. Candidate Interest Rate
A certain position would attract numerous candidates once posted in the appropriate channels. For example, if the job opening is for a freelance web developer, the best way to attract as many candidates as you can is to post the job opening on a website or forum for online freelancers. Tracking the number of candidates who apply in a certain job opening posted in a specific platform (e.g. website, social media, paid job posting sites, forum, print, etc.) can help the recruitment team determine which platform has provided the most number of applicants, and which platform were not as productive. This way, they will be able to stick with the most effective strategies and platforms, and then stop using non-performing venues for specific roles. Also, candidate interest rate would let them realize which positions, salary range, and benefits are the most attractive. Aside from that, this metric can also help the recruitment team discover the most effective ways of appealing to canditates – by experimenting on various job posting styles.
3. Quality of the Hiring Process
Measuring the quality of the hiring process could help you determine and improve your weak areas. However, since quality is mostly subjective, it is quite hard to evaluate. But in terms of recruitment, the best way to evaluate the quality of the entire hiring process is by closely looking at the output, which is the quality of the applicants that were hired. By maintaining a high standard in your hiring process and by not rushing through it just to fill a position, you are assured of getting only great candidates. Conduct thorough interviews and ask candidates to take assessment exams to help you recruit qualified and dependable people who will become important assets to your organization. Then after they have worked for your organization for some time, make sure to conduct timely performance appraisals to let you verify if the employee was indeed a quality hire for you.
4. Candidate Withdrawal Rate
One of the things that a recruiter does not want to experience is candidate withdrawal, especially if you’re so close to laying down the job offer. Sadly, many companies suffer from up to 50% withdrawal rate because of different reasons. Although a few positions are really more prone to candidate withdrawal than others, this should never be tolerated. Tracking the number and causes of candidate withdrawal could help you formulate solutions to limit the frequency of dropouts. Monitor the withdrawal rate even after you’ve addressed the issue to determine if your solutions are effective.
5. Offer Acceptance Ratio
Having a high percentage of successful job acceptance indicates an effective talent acquisition program. The ideal ratio for this metric differs according to the industry, level of position, and salary range. Less competitive positions like administrative roles, customer support, and sales require a higher offer acceptance rate as compared to more unique positions like scientists, astronauts, and neurologists. Setting a baseline and regularly tracking this metric could help recruiters identify the appeal and competitiveness of their salary and benefit packages. In case you have a low offer acceptance ratio, you should start comparing your compensation packages against your competitors in the industry to see the difference. Tweak your job offer packages if necessary.
Conclusion
A high-quality talent acquisition program plays a vital role in getting the best assets of a company. Track the above-mentioned metrics regularly to keep your hiring standards high. Always remember that in recruitment, settling for less must never be an option because the future performance of the company is at stake.
When choosing a Human Resource Information System or HRIS, be sure to implement one that has an effective Talent Acquisition Module that can help you track all these important metrics.
