You can’t improve what you don’t measure, so metrics are a crucial element of great recruiting. I recommend three basic approaches to employment metrics.
- The first is a “dashboard” (like a car dashboard), which is so named because it allows you to continually monitor all of the vital elements in a successful employment function.
- The second approach is an employment “index” which is a single combined index that allows you to see how you are doing at a single glance, very much like the Dow Jones average gives you a quick glance of how the stock market is doing.
- The third is to monitor business and economic trends in order to anticipate how they might impact the supply and demand for employees and employment services.
Employment Metrics Dashboard The employment metrics dashboard is comprised of internal employment indicators that are continually monitored in order to identify current problems and to predict upcoming problems and issues. Here are the dashboard elements that I recommend you monitor:
- The performance of hires (6-12 month lag after hiring)
- Best recruitment source (of top performers)
- Best source that results in longer retention of hires
- Cost per source (per qualified applicant)
- Cost per hire
- Time to fill (average)
- Time to fill in key positions
- Time to productivity (after hire time to minimum level of output is reached)
- % of hires from referrals
- % of hires from the Web
- The top 5 non-monetary reasons that people accept a job
- % of vacancies (in key positions)
- Time to refer resumes to managers
- Time to interview
- Time between interview and offer
- % of bad hires (released/quit within 6-12 months)
- Giveaway/takeaway ratio between us and direct competitors (over-all and in head to head with a competitor)
- % of diversity hires
- Satisfaction with the hiring process (applicants and managers)
- Top 5 reasons why top performers leave
- Firms that top performers go to
- Turnover rate of top performers
Comprehensive Single Index for Employment
(as an indicator of over-all employment “health”) If you need to compare employment performance between this month and last or between divisions, a single index is the best approach. An employment index is the averaged score of several a weighted employment measures. It is a simple measure of employment “health” and it’s easy to track on a single chart. An example is given below. Where the norm = 100
Needs improvement = 85 or below
Excellent = 110 or above
| Weight | Performance Factor | |
| 25% | Performance of hires (6-12 month lag) (25% above performance avg. = 100) | |
| 20% | % of hires from referrals (40% = 100) | |
| 15% | Time to fill (key positions) (30 days = 100) | |
| 15% | Time from referral to manager to interview (5 days = 100) | |
| 15% | Manager satisfaction with employment (90% very satisfied = 100) | |
| 10% | Diversity hiring ratios in exempt jobs (10% = 100) |
External Economic And Business Factor Dashboard
(employment-related) In addition to the index and the dashboard, it is also important to track certain internal business factors and external economic factors. Employment doesn’t exist in isolation, and your strategy and tools need to shift as business and economic factors do.
- External. Outside employment related economic indicators that must be continually monitored in order to be aware of how these external factors may someday impact our employment function. Factors to monitor include:
- Unemployment rate in your region(s)
- Layoffs by major firms or talent competitors
- Major expansion/growth/”closedowns” by major firms or talent competitors
- Number of open requisitions by talent competitors
- Additions/decreases in pay, benefits, or other attraction features by talent competitors
- Inflation rate and cost-of-living indicators (for attraction and relocation purposes)
- College graduation rates (quantity and quality) in our key technical areas
- Visa availability for foreign nationals
- Economic conditions in countries that we have major facilities
- Internal. Internal business factors that must be forecasted and tracked because they can impact employment. Factors to monitor include:
- Increase/decrease in sales forecasts or customer orders
- Changing competency requirements for new products, technologies and processes
- Upcoming retirement projections
- Turnover trends in hard-to-fill positions
- Forecasted mergers, spin-offs and acquisitions
- Stock price fluctuations that impact retention and attraction
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