Recruitment KPIs: 6 Key Metrics for Measuring Hiring Success

Recruitment is about finding the right talent to drive your business forward. But how can you tell if your hiring process is effective? That’s where recruitment key performance indicators come in. These KPIs provide valuable insights into the effectiveness of your strategies,  helping you make smarter, data-driven decisions.

In this post, we’ll explore six essential KPIs that every recruiter and HR leader should be tracking.

1. Time-to-Hire

A shorter time-to-hire generally reflects a more efficient recruitment process, while a longer time-to-hire may indicate potential bottlenecks or delays. Tracking this metric helps identify areas for improvement in the hiring process, prevent the loss of top talent to competitors, and make data-driven decisions to optimize recruitment strategies.

Tips to track time-to-hire

• Track the time from job posting to offer acceptance
• Measure each recruitment stage separately
• Compare time-to-hire across roles
• Set benchmarks for different departments
• Calculate average time-to-hire
• Analyze data to identify delays

2. Cost-per-Hire

Understanding this KPI can help you allocate your recruitment budget more effectively. A lower cost-per-hire indicates efficient spending, while a higher value could suggest a reassessment of your recruitment strategies. Regularly analyzing this metric enables you to optimize your recruitment processes and ensure that you are attracting high-quality candidates without overspending. 

Tips to calculate cost-per-hire

• Include internal costs (salaries, admin)
• Add external expenses (ads, agency fees)
• Divide total costs by number of hires
• Track costs by department or role

3. Quality-of-Hire

This KPI assesses new hires’ productivity, engagement, and cultural fit within the organization. You can determine the quality of hire by analyzing performance reviews, turnover rates, and employee feedback. High-quality hires contribute to organizational success, while poor hires can lead to increased turnover and decreased morale. Regularly measuring the quality-of-hire KPI allows you to refine your hiring criteria, improve selection processes, and enhance your overall recruitment effectiveness.

How to improve quality-of-hire

• Track retention and performance
• Use culture-fit evaluations
• Build a talent pool with referrals
• Promote diversity in hiring
• Review and adapt strategies

4. Source-to-Hire

Tracking candidate origins helps identify the most effective recruitment sources, revealing which channels – such as job boards, employee referrals, social media, or internal searches – yield the highest-quality talent. This KPI provides valuable insights into recruitment effectiveness, allowing you to focus resources on the most successful channels. Regular analysis of source-to-hire can lead to better-targeted recruitment campaigns and improved return on investment for recruitment efforts. Based on the data you can optimize your sourcing strategies and enhance the overall quality of your candidate pool.

Tips to track source-to-hire

• Identify the origin of each hire (job boards, referrals, social media)
• Measure the conversion rates for each sourcing channel
• Compare time-to-hire across different sources
• Track the quality of hires from each channel
• Analyze the cost-effectiveness of each source
• Monitor long-term retention rates by source
• Use data to focus on high-performing channels

5. Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion(DEI)

This KPI reflects your organization’s commitment to fostering a diverse, equitable, and inclusive workplace. Tracking DEI KPIs helps measure progress, identify areas for improvement, and hold the organization accountable. By analyzing data, such as representation in leadership or employee retention rates, you can uncover insights and take actionable steps to promote inclusivity. Transparency in DEI efforts also builds trust with employees, customers, and investors, ensuring alignment with organizational values.

Tips to track diversity and inclusion

• Monitor representation across roles and leadership
• Analyze hiring and retention rates by demographics
• Set and track progress against DEI goals
• Share DEI metrics with stakeholders
• Use data insights to address areas of underrepresentation

6. Candidate Experience

This KPI measures how candidates perceive and interact with your recruitment process from the job application to onboarding. A positive candidate experience can increase offer acceptance rates, encourage employee referrals, and strengthen your employer brand. On the other hand, a negative experience can damage your reputation and hinder your ability to attract top talent. By focusing on candidate experience, you improve your ability to build a strong talent pipeline, enhance retention, and differentiate your organization from competitors.

How to improve candidate experience

• Simplify the job application process
• Communicate promptly and transparently at every stage
• Structure interviews to respect candidates’ time and provide timely feedback
• Provide honest and constructive feedback to both successful and unsuccessful candidates
• Continuously gather and act on feedback from candidates