When hiring managers plan to build and scale their tech teams, they often hope for a seamless process that effortlessly attracts top talent. But the reality is that effective recruitment, especially for competitive tech roles, requires careful tracking and analysis of key metrics.
What separates good recruiting efforts from great ones is visibility into the numbers that matter most—things like time to hire, cost per hire, and offer acceptance rates. These metrics impact your ability to land the best engineers.
And, in an industry where skilled engineers are in high demand, candidate experience can make or break your hiring success. A drawn-out, opaque process is a surefire way to lose promising prospects to more nimble competitors. Conversely, a data-driven, accelerated recruitment pipeline signals to candidates that your company has its act together.
Beyond reeling in a high number of applicants, recruitment metrics also reveal whether you're actually making quality hires that stick around. After all, engineers are the backbone of your product, and you want to curate a talented and engaged group.
Let's look at 11 crucial recruiting metrics for hiring managers to focus on.
1. Time to Hire
In tech recruiting, the time-to-hire metric helps HR leaders and tech recruiting teams assess the efficiency of the hiring process from the moment they post a job opening until a candidate accepts the offer. It spotlights bottlenecks that may delay acquiring top talent for developer or engineering roles.
Shorter average time frames in this metric often indicate a streamlined recruitment process that lets companies quickly secure high-demand tech professionals before opting for competing offers. Conversely, a prolonged time-to-hire can signal issues in various stages of recruitment, such as slow resume screening, delayed interview scheduling, or extended decision-making periods.
For example, if data shows that setting up technical interviews takes the longest time, tech leads and engineering managers may need to adjust their availability or streamline interview protocols. Similarly, improving job descriptions and pre-screening questions might help attract more suitable job seekers initially, reducing the overall time spent on less promising candidates.
2. Cost per Hire
Cost per hire refers to the total recruiting costs divided by the number of hires in a given period. This metric is essential for HR leaders and tech recruiters as it directly impacts the budget and efficiency of the recruitment process.
The cost includes advertising job openings, employing tech recruiting tools, and using recruitment trackers. These systems streamline the recruitment process by automating candidate screening and improving communication, potentially lowering costs per hire over time.
Another significant factor in calculating cost per hire is the investment in recruitment activities that target quality candidates. This might include specialized tech job fairs, referral bonuses, or premium listings on job portals. While these can increase immediate costs, attracting the right candidates can improve employee retention rates and reduce long-term hiring and training expenses.
For example, a tech company investing in a robust applicant tracking system may see an uptick in initial costs. However, it can reduce the time and resources spent on future hires due to more efficient process management. Similarly, spending more on sourcing quality candidates can prevent frequent rehiring, which is often more costly.
3. Quality of Hire
Quality of hire evaluates the long-term effectiveness of newly hired individuals in tech roles, assessing how well they perform and contribute to the organization's goals.
To accurately gauge quality of hire, recruitment metrics include factors like job performance, achievement of predefined objectives, and overall impact on team productivity. Recruitment analytics also consider retention rates since retaining high-performing employees indicates successful hiring practices.
The application process plays a significant role in determining quality of hire. Effectively screening for the most qualified candidates requires careful competency mapping and crafting of job descriptions. These strategies help attract candidates whose skills and experiences align with the company's technical and cultural demands.
For example, a tech company might use job boards to source candidates from a wide talent pool but rely on sophisticated competency tests during the application process to identify genuinely qualified candidates. Hiring managers can then make more informed decisions.
4. Application Completion Rate
Application completion rate is a talent acquisition metric that tech recruiters and HR leaders monitor to understand the effectiveness of their recruitment strategies. This rate indicates the percentage of candidates who start and complete the application process. A high completion rate generally suggests a smooth and engaging candidate experience, while a low rate may point to obstacles in the process.
A data-driven approach to analyzing points where candidates drop out can provide valuable insights. For example, if a significant drop occurs at the portfolio submission stage, this might indicate that the instructions are unclear or the upload system is cumbersome.
Adjustments based on this data can lead to immediate improvements in the completion rate. A higher rate increases the pool of potential hires, giving tech leads and engineering managers a better selection of candidates to choose from. This ultimately enhances the quality of hires and contributes positively to the company’s growth.
5. Offer Acceptance Rate
In tech hiring, the offer acceptance rate, or interview-to-hire ratio, is a key performance indicator (KPI) that shows how many job offers candidates accept. This rate is crucial for tech recruiters and HR leaders because it helps them understand how well their hiring process works.
A high offer acceptance rate means the job offers are excellent and that candidates want to work at the company. On the other hand, if few candidates accept job offers, it might mean the pay or benefits are not competitive, or the candidates don't perceive the company culture as appealing. Diverse talent may not see themselves reflected in the company.
6. Diversity of Hires
Diversity of hires focuses on the range of backgrounds among new employees. It measures the effectiveness of a recruiting strategy in attracting candidates from various demographics, including gender, ethnicity, and socio-economic backgrounds.
Diversity, equity, inclusion, and belonging (DEIB), or DEIB hiring is vital because it helps build an inclusive culture, which can improve innovation and reflect a diverse customer base. Research by McKinsey shows that businesses with diverse leadership enjoy a happier workforce and see greater profit margins and social impact.
A few ways to improve your recruiting strategy for DEI include:
- Evaluate your current DEI processes to identify what works and any existing biases.
- Maintain a DEI-friendly employer brand across all outward-facing platforms.
- Create a diverse talent pool by encouraging employee referrals, attending diverse networking events, and posting your jobs on diversity-focused job boards.
- Write inclusive job postings that encourage applications from all eligible candidates.
- Build DEI into your company culture to support a high-performing, inclusive workforce.
7. Candidate Satisfaction
Candidate satisfaction is a crucial recruiter metric that measures the happiness of candidates with a company's hiring process. This metric is vital for HR leaders and tech recruiters because it provides insights into the effectiveness of the recruitment funnel and the overall recruitment strategy.
High candidate satisfaction often correlates with a smooth application process, clear communication, and respectful treatment. In the tech industry, where the competition for top talent is intense, ensuring a positive candidate experience can differentiate a company from its competitors.
Satisfied candidates are more likely to accept job offers, and even if they don't get the job, they might apply again or recommend the company to peers. Recruitment data from sources like surveys post-interview can help recruiters understand where they excel or where they need improvement.
8. Attrition Rate of New Hires
The attrition rate of new hires measures how many employees leave a company within their first year. It often reflects the effectiveness of the recruitment and onboarding processes. A high first-year attrition rate can indicate problems in several areas, such as the source of hire, the selection ratio, or mismatches between job expectations and reality.
Tech companies especially benefit from monitoring this rate because tech roles require significant investment in training and development. If new hires are leaving quickly, it’s a costly loss. Keeping the attrition rate low is crucial, as it ensures that investments in new hires pay off.
If you notice a trend in employee turnover originating from a specific source of hire, you may need to reassess the partnerships with those recruitment agencies or job boards. Additionally, improving the selection ratio by tightening the criteria used to screen candidates during the hiring process could help align new hires better with the company’s expectations and culture, reducing early departures.
9. Interview-to-Offer Ratio
The interview-to-offer ratio represents the number of candidates interviewed for each job offer made. It provides insights into the effectiveness of the screening and interview processes.
For tech companies, where the hiring process is often rigorous and highly skilled candidates are needed, maintaining an optimal interview-to-offer ratio means you’re not wasting resources on interviewing unsuitable candidates. This metric can help refine job descriptions and screening criteria, ensuring that only the most promising applicants proceed to the interview stage.
For example, if the interview-to-offer ratio increases, you might need to adjust how you filter applicants before advancing them to the interview phase. Adjustments could involve tightening qualification requirements or improving initial assessments.
10. Hiring Manager Satisfaction
Hiring manager satisfaction is a hiring metric that measures how happy managers are with the recruitment process and the quality of candidates they interview and hire. This metric is essential for HR leaders and tech recruiters because it directly reflects the effectiveness of their recruiting strategies and tools.
If managers frequently express dissatisfaction, it might signal issues like poor job description clarity, ineffective screening methods, or a disconnect between what recruiters think a team needs and the actual requirements.
For example, if tech recruiters notice a drop in hiring manager satisfaction, they might need to look at the early stages of the recruiting metrics. Are the right candidates being attracted? Are the best candidates advancing from the application phase? Adjustments might include:
- Revising job listings to attract a more suitable number of candidates
- Implementing regular feedback sessions between recruiters and hiring managers to clarify role expectations and refine candidate profiles based on direct input
- Improving screening processes to ensure only the most qualified are interviewed
11. Employee Referral Rate
Employee referral rate measures the percentage of hires made through recommendations from current employees. This rate is a valuable hiring metric for tech recruiters and HR leaders because it taps into the company's internal network, often leading to more reliable and culturally fit candidates.
In tech roles, where specific programming languages and other skills are required, referrals can be highly effective. Employees understand the company culture and the technical demands of their roles, so they are likely to recommend skilled candidates with a good cultural fit. This can lead to higher job satisfaction and lower turnover rates among those hired through referrals.
A low employee referral rate may indicate that employees are not engaged or confident in recommending the company to their peers. To address this, HR leaders might need to improve internal communication about the benefits of referring candidates, such as bonuses or recognition programs.
Simplify Recruitment With Revelo
Tracking and optimizing the right recruiting metrics is essential for tech companies looking to build high-performing engineering teams. However, the recruitment process can be incredibly time-consuming and resource-intensive, especially for startups and small businesses.
That’s where Revelo can help.
We match businesses with top software developers who are time-zone-aligned and rigorously vetted for technical skills, soft skills, and English proficiency. We help facilitate the onboarding process, including payroll, benefits administration, taxes, and local compliance, allowing you to focus on your core business tasks and processes.
But our services don’t stop there. We also provide ongoing support throughout the developer’s time with your company. Our goal is engagement, retention, and a seamless experience for both the developer and your team.
We can help you build your ideal tech team quickly and cost-efficiently. Contact Revelo to streamline your tech hiring process and gain access to a pool of exceptional developers today.
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