4 recruitment metrics every lean business needs

Business owners who leave recruitment metrics to the “big guys” may be missing out on important information that could improve efficiency and minimize hiring mistakes. Don’t become overwhelmed by all the possible metrics to track. Instead, focus your limited time and resources on ones that will yield data you can use to make better decisions. Here are some of the most valuable to small businesses:

1. Turnover
Every small business leader wants a good retention rate. Finding and training new employees is costly, and vacant positions affect productivity. Turnover is an area for which both quantitative and qualitative information is crucial. Keep track of all employees by position and length of service.

If new hire turnover rates are problematic, it may mean you need to place greater emphasis on cultural fit when hiring, or develop a stronger onboarding program. Anyone who leaves your small business should be given an exit survey, which will help you spot departure trends such as salary concerns or difficulty working with a particular colleague.

2. Applications completed
Figuring out how many people started an application to your small business versus the number who actually submitted can show if your process has a problem. Perhaps potential talent gets discouraged by too many input fields or a career site that doesn’t run well on mobile devices. Improving the candidate experience may lead to a larger pool of higher-quality talent.

3. Offer ratios
While small business owners often interview a lot of people for a position because they want to find the “perfect” match, a lengthy process takes up valuable time and effort. Keep tabs on how often you bring in someone but fail to extend a job offer. You may need to work on attracting better matches through a more targeted job description and recruiting campaign, or you may need to redefine your own expectations.

Also, take a look at your rates for another wasteful scenario — how many offers you extend versus the number of candidates who accept employment. Alarming numbers may signal a need to revise compensation or to work on finding better cultural fits. Pinpoint trends by collecting reasons behind their decision to decline.

4. Best sources
Finally, small business leaders always want to get the most bang for their buck. Monitoring which recruitment sources are yielding the best results enables better allocation of resources. Gathering such information is as easy as making a spreadsheet. List where each hire came from (such as an employee referral, specific job board, social media channel or internship), and rate the quality of that hire on a 1-10 scale. Over time, patterns will emerge as to which recruitment methods are the most fruitful for your small business.

Interested in more intensive ways data can improve your hiring process? Check out 6 ways successful employers use data to hire.