Top 3 Metrics That Must Be On Your Talent Acquisition Scorecard

Note: This is Part II of a Scorecard Series. Click here to read Part I.

Stacy Spradling,
Radius Global Solutions

If operational effectiveness starts with and is driven by a balanced scorecard, then it is imperative that all of the functional support areas have scorecards that align to and associate closely with the goals of the operation.

The talent acquisition team is no exception. Members of this team might have individual performance goals that are not seen on the operations scorecard. However, all metrics on the recruiter’s individual scorecard should originate from and correlate to operational goals. If a metric cannot be tied back to overall operational performance, employee retention, or company culture then it does not belong on any scorecard.

In a recent break-out session on recruiting at the insideARM First Party Summit, participants were asked what metrics belong on the talent acquisition team’s scorecard. Overwhelmingly, participants agreed on the top three.

1) Class Fill Rate

I have always defined class fill by the number of candidates that complete new hire orientation. It goes without saying that if a recruiter needs to fill a class of 25 people, they should recruit and make offers to a number greater than 25 to account for background check fails and first day no shows.

(2) Early Attrition

Designating goals related to the retention of new employees through the transition from training to production is critical. Recruiters are under pressure to fill classes, but they must also have skin in the game when it comes to graduation rates and retention through days 90-120 as an early attrition measurement.

To achieve this goal, recruiters must avoid candidates who cannot demonstrate a history of job stability. Often recruiters look at candidates with prior BPO or contact center experience as premiere contenders. Unfortunately, a person who has held multiple jobs at BPOs over a short period of time is a likely to be a short-timer in your organization as well.  Make sure your recruiters understand that past performance is a solid predictor of future performance. If a candidate has worked six months at each of their last five jobs, you can predict with a beneficial amount of certainty that they will attrite in about the same amount of time with your organization. My best advice. No matter how great your organization, you will not change the behavioral patterns of a job hopper.

(3) Quality of Hires

During the break-out session there was much discussion about how to determine the quality of a new hire. Most agreed that this is a more difficult measurement because there is an unavoidable amount of subjectivity that exists when it comes to revealing a candidates suitability for the job in terms of quality. Then again, assimilating a recruiting goal with a quality measure is doable and has an eminent impact. There are a number of components that should be considered when establishing a quality metric for the recruiter’s scorecard.

The Trainer’s Observations

At the end of each training week the trainer should be able to provide the recruitment team with the answers to a few questions on the quality of a hire. Although this is subjective, there is value in this exercise. It not only serves to provide feedback about a candidate to the recruiter, it will also open a line of frequent and ongoing communication between the two functional areas. When operators, trainers, and recruiters talk about new hires frequently the collaboration shows in terms of better hiring habits. Below are some good questions that recruiters may consider asking trainers in the early days of training.

• Does the new hire seem fully engaged in the training process? Do they ask appropriate questions? Are they taking notes
• Does the new hire have the basic skills needed to perform the role in the time allowed for training and pre-production learning labs?
• Does the new hire exhibit solid written and verbal communication skills?
• Does the new hire get along well with their trainer and classmates?

Assessments

This is one of the most objective ways to measure the quality of a hire. The new hire should be able to pass an assessment associated with each training module. Successful completion of assessments should definitely be a component of the recruiter’s scorecard.

Performance Indicators

Whether you have a learning lab extension to training or newly graduated trainees go directly to the production floor, early performance numbers should be reflected as a quality of hire metric. Keep in mind that newer employees will often need a graduated or phased approach to achieving key performance indicators. Regardless of how you arrive at the performance scorecard for new employees, the recruiters’ scorecard should reflect an aggregate of these numbers for each training class.

I am not a big fan of packing a scorecard with more than three or four metrics. However, there are a number of valuable metrics that for measuring the overall effectiveness of your recruiting strategy. I recommend that the individual team members have a scorecard to hold them accountable. In addition, I recommend that the talent acquisition department also have a scorecard to highlight the overall recruiting strategy’s strengths and gaps. Only focusing on individual performance is a fallacy because an individual who is executing based upon a flawed strategy will appear to fail over time.

Some recommended metrics for the talent acquisition scorecard can be found below.

Applicant to Hire Ratio (AHR) – For entry level jobs an AHR between 1:3 and 1:5 is standard. It is critical that the organization clearly define applicant.  Most companies define an applicant very simply as someone who has applied (submitted a resume or filled out an application). Others define an applicant as someone who has applied and meets the basic qualifications of the job (they have been lightly pre-screened and qualified as an applicant). Note that neither way is right or wrong. However, if you choose the latter your AHR goals should hover around the 1:3, 1:4 range depending on the location. In more populated locations it is reasonable to have a higher AHR.

Retention – I am not talking about early attrition rates. I am talking about the company’s overall attrition goal. Every single department in the organization should be responsible for overall attrition. Some will argue that this goal does not belong on a talent acquisition scorecard because once a person is hired and trained operations owns the relationship. I say, nonsense! Every department has an impact on an employee in some way. Figure out what part of the relationship your department owns and stay focused on keeping it healthy.

Time to Fill – In the BPO space, most entry level positions or classes are filled with a class start date as the deadline. In this case, the scorecard class fill rates do the trick. However, time to fill should be a separate and highly visible metric when it comes to leadership and niche roles. The time to fill goals for all key roles should be determined during the scorecard set up, not when the roles become vacant. An IT programmer role may need 45 days, while a quality analyst may only need 20 days depending on your location. Having time to fill goals assigned to all key roles will encourage the recruiting team to source for those roles all the time instead of only when the roles are vacant.

Return on Investment (ROI) or Cost Effectiveness – The recruiting team must be accountable to the overall recruiting budget and their stewardship over spending. A team can stay within budget comfortably, but that does not necessarily mean that they are getting the best ROI. There are three components that should be tied directly to this measurement.

1. Applicant to Hire Ratio – Track the source of each applicant and determine a cost per applicant.
2. Class fill – Track the source of each hire and determine the cost per hire, by source. The most common mistake I have seen made by recruiters is that they continue to use a source that boosts their recruiting pipeline, but they fail to recognize that the source rarely results in a quality hire.
3. Retention – Continue tracking the source through the employee lifecycle.