EAR TO THE GROUND JANUARY 2018

RECRUITING PROS REVEAL TOP DATA

POINTS AND CHALLENGES FOR 2018
Recruit Better, Together 1
Throughout this past year, we’ve had the privilege of attending We wanted to get to the bottom of this, as clearly this topic is a big
talent acquisition conferences as attendees, sponsors, and one, and monopolizing the time of many as we hit the ground running
presenters. We’ve talked to a lot of people within varying roles in 2018. First, we’ll tackle what the similarities are – what are folks
of talent acquisition…the titles may vary but the overall goal in the field saying are their top priorities for data to track? Next,
is the same: hire the best candidates in the shortest amount we’ll explore some of the outliers…data points that are on the
of time possible all the
while ensuring a long The titles may
and successful tenure vary, but the
with your organization
(or, if third-party, the
overall goal is the
organization you’ve been same: hire the
hired to source for).
best candidates
Still, as we reviewed notes in the shortest
stemming from these amount of
conversations, we noticed
time possible
a glaring issue – the points
made are all over the all the while
map. The over-arching ensuring a long
topic? The identification
and successful
of KPIs (key performance
indicators) tracked and the tenure with your
challenges that ensue upon organization
attempting to explore the
big, wide world of data. When looking at the raw feedback, you minds of many but not actively included in the planning strategies
would think we were talking to people with completely different across the board of talent acquisition organizations. Finally, we’ll
end goals, however, these insights all come from round-table take a look at the challenges, the thorns in the sides of most in
discussions we’ve hosted and discussions we’ve had with folks in the hiring field. Some of these grumblings have reached a fever
talent acquisition. pitch, others are newer to the scene or are gradually spilling over
to more folks as they make the march toward becoming data-
savvy.
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 COMMON
THREADS
Though there was more of a long-tail
that we’ll discuss later, the head of
the data monster was clear. Here are
the top 5 metrics we should all be
tracking:

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TIME TO FILL
FILLING AN OPEN POSITION TAKES NEARLY A
MONTH LONGER THAN IT DID 5 YEARS AGO.1
WHAT IT IS
The number of days from when a job is posted to when an
offer has been accepted. (NOT to be confused with Time to
Hire which is the number of days between when a candidate
is contacted to when they accept the role)
WHY IT’S IMPORTANT
Time to fill is your barometer to measure the efficiency of
your talent acquisition process from start to finish. This
metric gives you a feel for the level of effectiveness of the
marketing/advertising tools used to promote your open
roles. In addition, time to fill heavily affects overall hiring
planning. However, there’s a big elephant in the room when
it comes down to time to fill: it varies widely. There can be a
huge difference in the time it takes to fill a position between
role, industry, location, and time of year in which it’s being
sourced. Considered the most important metric to track by
some, it’s also the most elusive. Keeps it interesting!
COST PER HIRE
WHAT IT IS
The amount it costs to hire an employee.
THE AVERAGE COST PER NEW
HIRE IS AT A HIGH OF $4,129.2
WHY IT’S IMPORTANT
Figuring out the average amount of money it takes to hire
your staff will help inform your hiring budget. Typically,
an organization would need to look at the cost of internal
recruiting as well as external recruiting.
Internal recruiting could encompass the salaries of recruiters
and referral bonuses sometimes offered to employees to
help find that next great hire. In addition, these costs could
include the time it takes a hiring manager to interview the
candidates.
As far as external recruiting costs, this would be the amount
spent on marketing the role – typically online job sites, social
media ads, career fairs, etc… Some are leveraging recruiting
platforms and other technology to help in their sourcing
goals. Further, utilizing third-party search via agencies is
growing as an option. To learn more about what this entails,
check out our report, ‘Out to Search: A Third-Party Recruiting
Collaboration & Performance Survey’.
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SOURCING
WHAT IT IS
Sourcing metrics can include avenues used to find candidates,
time to hire, and quality of candidates sourced.
WHY IT’S IMPORTANT
Being in the know regarding the effectiveness of your sourcing
strategy can greatly affect your overall hiring productivity. In
this era of doing more with less, knowing where to look for
the best candidates for specific roles is paramount. Have
certain job boards been a treasure trove of rock star customer
service representatives? Do local career events or meetups
seem to serve those hard-to-find software developers up on
a silver platter? Maybe a specific agency has delivered out-
of-this-world candidates for your most critical roles. Keeping
tabs on the number of (quality) candidates sourced with the
percentage of offer acceptances is key to evaluate what’s
working and what’s not.
34% OF RECRUITERS CONSIDER
REFERRALS THEIR BEST SOURCE OF HIRES.3
The time to hire metric also plays a part here. Having a
grasp on how long it’s taking to hire once key candidates are
identified will give you a view into how efficient your process
is. To that end, ensuring the bulk of the candidates selected
to move on in the interview process are quality matches for
the role in question is significant. The focus is on quality over
quantity.
RETENTION & ATTRITION
WHAT IT IS
Retention measures the percentage of employees that an
organization has kept on staff during a certain time period.
Attrition is the opposite – takes a look at the percentage of
employees that have left the company and have not been
replaced.
WHY IT’S IMPORTANT
Calculating retention and attrition can give you a view of
employee sentiment toward employment at the company
in question. When considering accepting or perhaps even
applying for a role, one of the questions asked early on by the
potential candidate is usually regarding how long employees
have worked there, compared to how long the company has
been in business. If the company has been around a decade
but the retention rate is at 25%, red flags will be raised and
that candidate will most likely move on to a job opportunity
with someone else.
THE #1 WAY RECRUITERS MEASURE SUCCESS IS
THE LENGTH OF TIME NEW HIRES STAY AT THE
COMPANY.4
Many organizations elect to calculate this benchmark
annually, while others do so on a quarterly or bi-annually
basis. To calculate, the number of employees who stayed with
the company during a specific timeframe would be divided by
the total number of employees employed at the start of that
same timeframe.
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CLIENT/CANDIDATE EXPERIENCE
WHAT IT IS

Measuring the satisfaction of those involved in the hiring process.

WHY IT’S IMPORTANT

Whether you’re an internal recruiter or hiring manager navigating potential candidates through the
interview process, or a third-party recruiter managing both the hiring employer as well as the candidate for
each role, ensuring folks on both sides of the hiring process have a stellar experience is critical. If the hiring
process leaves a bad taste for those involved, it could detrimentally affect attracting desirable candidates
for your future roles.

There are a few tried-and-true options to measure this success metric. If a third-party is managing an
employer as a client, scheduling frequent discussions and check-ins with the client is required. Consistent
feedback and confirmation of the end goal is of the utmost importance.

To measure candidate experience, there are a few popular options to consider depending upon the
organization. One of the more common ways is to utilize candidate experience surveys. These can be
automated and sent to each candidate that went through the process – you can determine the stage of
the process in which this would kick in. Feedback via online review is another tool – some find it beneficial
to post those reviews publically as a way to help future interviewees have a sense of the company culture
and process. (this can add an element of risk!) Some organizations have an internal customer service team
who use tools such as Net Promoter Score (NPS), where clients can rate their experience of said service.
This can also be used here.

NEARLY 60% OF JOB SEEKERS HAVE HAD A POOR CANDIDATE EXPERIENCE, AND
72% OF THOSE SHARED THAT EXPERIENCE ONLINE ON AN EMPLOYER REVIEW SITE,
SOCIAL NETWORKING SITE, OR DIRECTLY WITH A COLLEAGUE OR FRIEND.5

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A HOUSE DIVIDED
Wow, this part got muddy quick. The tail is
so long on this one that we can’t see the end
of it from our vantage point. Many folks are
tracking many different data points – though
on average, most are just tracking a handful at
any given time. Of the 50+ metrics mentioned
within our various discussions, we were able
to analyze them and cull together the top
three themes:

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COST
The leader of the ‘cost’ pack, ‘cost per hire’ has already been mentioned above as a top metric. Others of concern in
the cost ‘club’ are:

Cost by Source – is the cost for each sourcing option worth the return?

Cost of Internal Team – are there areas where spend can be more efficient?

Cost of Turnover – do you have an expensive revolving door of employees?

ROI/Spend – overall, are you getting the biggest bang for your buck?

Placement Fees – are you paying competitive rates or being had?

TIME
Time to Find
Taking too long to find quality candidates to interview could be a red flag of ineffective sourcing, or denote a
hard-to-fill role.

Time to Start
A drawn out timeframe between offer acceptance and start date could negatively affect candidate
expectations.

Time to Productivity
Taking longer than expected for new employees to productively contribute to the organization can lead to
widespread disruptions and missed deadlines.

Response Rate
A dismal response rate from candidates requires an outreach rethink.

Decision Point Timeline/Time to Decision

Stagnation is the enemy for everybody – the candidate and the employer. Fish or cut bait.

Time to Slate
Competition is fierce; taking too long to decide who to present as candidates to interview is the kiss of death.

Time to Accept
Setting a clear timeline of acceptance is key.
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VOLUME
Hires Per Month/Year
Be careful here. While this number could help calculate cost per hire and other budget line items, using this
to measure the performance of those on the talent acquisition team can get a bit dicey. Each open role has its
own requirements, quirks, and special circumstances individual to that position. For example, an entry level
customer service role will most likely take a fraction of time to fill than a senior level executive role.

Reqs Per Recruiter/Recruiter Productivity

One piece of the effectiveness puzzle is the productivity of the talent acquisition team. The two most common
data points used for this are: time to fill and quality of hire.

Recruitment Pipeline
Tracking your pipeline assists in measuring the overall effectiveness of your recruitment process as well as
giving you a closer look at each area. The top three metrics commonly looked at here are: source of hire,
candidate conversion rates, time to fill.

Employee Referral Ratio

As a continued top source for hiring, employee referrals tend to yield high-quality hires.

Conversion Rates Over Entire Funnel

Analyzing performance over the entire recruiting funnel (potential prospect > application > screening/
interviews > offer > offer acceptance) is crucial. If conversion is high/low, you’ll have an idea of what’s working
as well as which areas need improvement.

Acceptance Rate
A high acceptance rate is an indication that your process, from a quality pipeline to strong offer creation, is
working. A low acceptance rate is a heads up that one or more of the funnel areas needs attention.

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 CHALLENGE
ACCEPTED
The talent acquisition industry is in
hyper growth mode. Exciting? YES.
Complicated and overwhelming at
times? YEP. As a departure from what
we saw above, the challenges listed by
folks turned out to be pretty succinct
and felt across the board.

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HERE ARE THE TOP 5:
TRACK QUALITY
OF HIRE
20% OF NEW HIRES
20% ARE ‘REGRETTED
DECISIONS’. 6
One of the most important
metrics is also one that
frazzles most recruiters.
Many wonder, what is
the best way to go about
measuring quality of hire?
Measuring it effectively
could be a direct line
to the executive team
increasing their buy-in of
talent acquisition overall,
so a lot is on the line.
This can vary between
organizations, but for
the most part, the top
metrics to track to give a
solid idea of quality of hire
are employee turnover,
job performance, and
employee engagement/
cultural fit.
INTERVIEW TO
OFFER
THE AVERAGE CANDIDATE
GOES THROUGH FOUR
INTERVIEWS AND SPENDS
THREE HOURS AND 44 MINUTES
INTERVIEWING.7
An increase in interviews
to offers indicates that
there is a large volume
of candidates being
interviewed without an
offer being extended. This
can lead to exasperation
on all sides. The opposite,
a decrease in interviews
to offers extended, shows
that offers may be a knee
jerk reaction to filling roles
quickly, not necessarily
focusing on quality.
Keeping an eye on this
ratio will help in ensuring
this part of the process is
in synch with hiring goals.
TRACK DIVERSITY WE’RE TRACKING CANDIDATE
THE DATA. HOW DO EXPERIENCE
67% OF ACTIVE AND WE LEVERAGE IT?
PASSIVE JOB SEEKERS IN 2017, 52% OF
SAID THAT A DIVERSE JOB APPLICANTS
67%
WORKFORCE IS AN
IMPORTANT FACTOR
ONLY 21% OF
OUR SURVEY 52%
REPORTED THAT THEY
HADN’T HEARD BACK
WHEN EVALUATING RESPONDENTS SAID
COMPANIES AND JOB
21% THEY WERE TRACKING
FROM EMPLOYERS IN
2 OR MORE MONTHS.10
OFFERS.8 STATS SUCH AS ROI
FOR AGENCY SPEND.9
We’ve discussed this one
Examine your current
Take a look at trends the above, but we will reiterate
workforce makeup
data forms to see areas here: in this competitive
and take a look at the
that need improving environment, a positive
applications being
upon within the recruiting candidate experience is
submitted as well as the
process. Note where crucial to increasing the
sources they are from. Be
technological advances offer acceptance ratio.
aware as to who is being
could help take the load Ensure candidates feel
interviewed and hired.
off members of the team. valued, are communicated
Some services will give
Identify metrics that with throughout the
a regional breakdown of
correlate closely to your process, and are given an
what occupations and
most successful hires and avenue to submit feedback
demographics make up
use that as a benchmark – this assists in improving
what area. Others will
for future hires. Compare the experience moving
supply data on higher
key data points to overall forward.
education schools
goals, and lean on them
including top areas of
to make data-driven
study and graduate
decisions when planning
demographics.
ahead.
(Honorable Mention were: Effectiveness of Recruitment Source, Getting
the Buy-In for Progress, Communication, Aligning to Business Goals and
Finance, and ATS Issues)
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 PUTTING IT ALL
TOGETHER
The fact that talent acquisition is going
through these growing pains is good news! It’s
a sign of healthy progress moving the industry
forward. Innovation is a series of experiments
and course-corrections along the way to
exciting solutions for critical challenges. We
have no doubt that 2018 will see some mighty
intriguing twists and turns, and we are looking
forward to chatting with you about them all!

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SOURCES
1 https://www.shrm.org/hr-today/news/hr-magazine/0616/
pages/why-hiring-is-taking-so-long-and-what-hr-can-do-
about-it.aspx

2 https://www.shrm.org/about-shrm/press-room/press-
releases/pages/human-capital-benchmarking-report.aspx

3 http://web.jobvite.com/FY17_
Website_2017JobSeekerNation_LP.html

4 https://business.linkedin.com/talent-solutions/recruiting-
tips/global-recruiting-trends-2017/3qc

5 https://workplacetrends.com/candidate-experience-study/

6 https://www.ere.net/3-ways-you-can-measure-the-quality-
of-a-hire/

7 https://www.shrm.org/resourcesandtools/hr-topics/talent-
acquisition/pages/lever-study-candidates-hired.aspx

8 https://www.glassdoor.com/employers/blog/diversity/

9 http://www.bountyjobs.com/resources/2017-3rd-party-
recruiting-survey/

10 http://www.thetalentboard.org/cande-awards/cande-
results-2017/

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 SourceCon SHRM Annual Conference &
FEB JUN
26-28 vegas.sourcecon.com 17-20 Exposition
2018 Red Rock Casino, Resort and Spa 2018 annual.shrm.org
For your convenience, we’ve compiled a directory of upcoming HR & Recruiting Las Vegas, NV McCormick Place
Chicago, IL

MAR HR West
5-7 hrwest.org SEPT HR Tech Conference & Exposition
KEY HR & RECRUITING CONFERENCES

11-14 www.hrtechnologyconference.com
Conferences – we expect these important discussions to continue!

2018 Oakland Convention Center

2018 The Venetian
Oakland, CA
Las Vegas, NV

MAR Smart Recruiters Hiring Success

SourceCon Fall
12-14 ta.smartrecruiters.com/...2018.html SEPT
2018 Hyatt Regency 24-26 www.eremedia.com/events/
2018 Hyatt Regency
San Francisco, CA
Atlanta, GA

APR
ERE: Enterprise Talent Acquisition
– Recruiting That Scales TATech Fall Congress & World Job
2-4 SEPT
Board Forum
2018 www.ererecruitingconference.com 26-27
Marriott Marquis 2018 tatechcongress.io/fall/agenda.php
San Diego, CA Royal Sonesta Hotel
New Orleans, LA

APR
SHRM Talent Management
16-18 Conference & Exposition OCT ERE Fall
2018 www.shrm.org/mlp/.../2018Talent.aspx 15-17 www.eremedia.com/events/
Caesars Palace 2018 October 15-17
Las Vegas, NV Kissimmee, FL

MAY Indeed Interactive FEB Recruiting Trends & Talent Tech

14-16 indeedinteractive.com/...2018/ 20-22 www.recruitingtrendsconf.com
2018 Fairmont Austin Hotel 2019 Caesars Palace
Austin, TX Las Vegas, NV
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