What are effective hiring metrics?
Effective hiring metrics are crucial for building a successful workforce. This article presents valuable insights from industry experts on key performance indicators in recruitment. Discover practical approaches to measure and improve your hiring process, from candidate experience to long-term employee value.
- Track Placement Longevity for Sustainable Success
- Analyze Key Metrics and Gather Feedback
- Focus on Hiring Cycle and Employee Experience
- Evaluate Retention Rates and Productivity Alignment
- Assess Long-Term Value and Cultural Fit
- Gauge Success Through Team Integration
- Measure Effectiveness with Candidate-Centric Metrics
- Balance Practical Metrics with Long-Term Impact
Track Placement Longevity for Sustainable Success
TRACK PLACEMENT LONGEVITY BEYOND THE TRADITIONAL 90-DAY MARK – This extended measurement approach has revealed critical insights about sustainable hiring success while transforming how we evaluate our business effectiveness.
Most companies celebrate when new hires survive their probationary period, but I learned that real hiring success only becomes visible after 12-18 months. At SCOPE, we implemented what I call “placement lifecycle tracking” where we monitor candidate satisfaction, performance reviews, and retention rates at 6, 12, and 24-month intervals.
This longer measurement window completely changed our understanding of successful placements. We discovered that some hires who seemed perfect during their first quarter struggled significantly once they encountered complex operational challenges. Conversely, candidates who needed longer adjustment periods often became top performers by month 18.
The data revealed that our most successful placements – those still thriving after two years – shared specific characteristics during the interview process that we hadn’t been prioritizing. This insight allowed us to refine our evaluation criteria and improve our long-term success rate from 67% to 89%.
Now we measure hiring success using three key metrics: immediate performance (90 days), sustained contribution (12 months), and career progression within the organization (24 months). SUSTAINABLE HIRING SUCCESS REQUIRES LONG-TERM MEASUREMENT – short-term metrics miss the real indicators of whether your hiring process actually identifies people who will grow with your business.
Friddy Hoegener
Co-Founder | Head of Recruiting, SCOPE Recruiting
Analyze Key Metrics and Gather Feedback
By analyzing analytics, I measure the success of the hiring process. These metrics include time to fill, quality of hire, applicant channels, candidate experience, and retention rates within the first 6-12 months. I also gather feedback from hiring managers to determine if they are satisfied with the new hire, allowing me to continue recruiting similar candidates.
Susan Snipes
Head of People, Remote People
Focus on Hiring Cycle and Employee Experience
Different metrics are used by companies with specific needs. I focus on the duration of the hiring cycle from the time the requisition is posted to closing the deal and the candidate’s start date. Then we’re tracking how the new employee’s experience is unfolding over the next 60, 90, and 180 days.
When breaking down the hiring process, I also pay attention to whether the right people working specific roles interviewed the candidate in the pipeline. The more essential the role, the more vetting is needed for short-term and potential long-term success. Companies can hire under the best and worst circumstances; still, it’s encouraged that they find 2-3 variables that define a successful hiring process. Money and resources can burden the hiring process if it lacks sensible planning.
Sasha Laghonh
Founder & Sr. Advisor to C-Suite & Entrepreneurs, Sasha Talks
Evaluate Retention Rates and Productivity Alignment
We measure the quality of our recruitment process at Talmatic in terms of time-to-productivity, six- and twelve-month retention rates, and new hire manager and manager feedback about alignment between job expectations and actual work.
All these statistics help us not just recruit qualified individuals but also prepare them for long-term success with the company in the future.
George Fironov
Co-Founder & CEO, Talmatic
Assess Long-Term Value and Cultural Fit
Measuring the success of a hiring process is crucial for ensuring that we’re not only bringing in talent but also adding real value to the organization. First and foremost, I look at retention rates. If we’re hiring well, our new employees should find a good fit within our company culture and stay with us long-term. High turnover can indicate issues in the hiring process, whether it’s in screening, interviewing, or onboarding. Another key metric is the time-to-productivity. How quickly can a new hire contribute effectively to their role? This often reflects the quality of the hire and the efficacy of our onboarding program.
From a more strategic perspective, we also evaluate the alignment of new hires with our long-term business goals. Are they helping to drive the company forward and contributing to our objectives? Lastly, I always say, don’t underestimate the value of feedback – both from the new hires themselves and their managers. This can provide insights that numbers alone might miss.
Jack Perkins
Founder & CEO, CFO Hub
Gauge Success Through Team Integration
As our company’s CEO, I hold the final hiring decision. Once a new team member joins us, I develop a unique set of criteria to assess that individual’s success. That being said, one of my most meaningful and accurate measures is demonstrated when another team member, usually one who has been with us for a long time, asks their supervisor if the “new hire” can be brought into another project. This request is generally paired with a form of confidence that the tenured staff have in our new hire. They are demonstrating their willingness to delegate tasks to the new hire, somewhat confident from recent observations that the new hire was a good selection decision.
Ashley Kenny
Co-Founder, Heirloom Video Books
Measure Effectiveness with Candidate-Centric Metrics
Traditional metrics used in recruiting and hiring, such as time to fill and cost per hire, often miss the mark. These numbers focus on transactions, and while they can provide a basic snapshot, they don’t measure effectiveness or long-term impact. They may even incentivize the wrong behavior, such as closing an opening with a hire who isn’t the best fit because the requisition has been open “too long.”
What I prefer to rely on instead are measurements like:
Time to Identify Top Candidates – Rather than time to fill, this metric tells a story about how long it took to find the top contenders and how attractive your talent brand is. Ultimately, it balances speed with quality.
Candidate Experience Ratings – Asking candidates to rate their experience during the application and interview process drives an overall more engaging process with relational touch-points and a stronger brand. This incentivizes recruiters to consider the human experience and not only the transactions.
Retention of New Hires – When a new hire leaves within their first few weeks or months, it can reflect an unfulfilled brand promise. By tracking new hire retention, the focus shifts from quick hiring to finding employees who can stay and thrive.
Candidate Conversion Rates – Tracking how well certain sourcing channels perform in terms of total hires, new hire retention, and future internal mobility (channels like social media posts, networking, employee referrals, direct outreach, job posting sites) is a measure of both your talent brand’s reputation and which sourcing channels are the most effective for your attraction budget.
Hiring Funnel Metrics – Your hiring funnel starts at the sourcing stage and matriculates to hiring. Measuring the ratios from one stage to the next, such as total applicants to number phone screened, then number phone screened to number brought in for an interview, to number interviewed compared to the final pool, assesses overall efficiency while also highlighting where bottlenecks occur.
Organizations that track their recruiting and hiring through these kinds of metrics see stronger hires, better alignment between recruiters and hiring managers, and improved retention.
Angela Heyroth
Principal, Talent Centric Designs
Balance Practical Metrics with Long-Term Impact
We evaluate the effectiveness of our hiring process using practical metrics and long-term impact indicators. Key measures we track include the time it takes to fill a position, the cost of hiring, the percentage of candidates who accept their offers, and the retention rate of new hires in the early stages. However, the most important aspect we focus on is the quality of the hires, which we gauge by their performance after joining, how well they fit into our culture, and their contributions to the team over time.
To maintain a high standard, we gather feedback from candidates, solicit input from hiring managers, and regularly assess our onboarding process. This helps us continually improve how we find, evaluate, and engage with candidates. Ultimately, successful hiring isn’t just about filling positions quickly. It’s about creating strong teams that help shape the company’s future and culture.
Yaniv Masjedi
Chief Marketing Officer, Nextiva
