Hiring great people is only half the battle. If you’re not measuring your recruitment efforts, it’s difficult to know what’s working or what’s costing you time, money, and top talent.
That’s where hiring metrics come in.
In today’s candidate-driven market, especially across industries like technology, engineering, and creative sectors, businesses need more than gut instinct. They need data to inform decisions, reduce time-to-hire, improve candidate experience, and drive smarter hiring outcomes.
Here’s a breakdown of the key hiring metrics that matter most and why you should be tracking them.
Time To Hire
The number of days between a candidate entering your hiring process and accepting your offer
Why it matters:
- Slow processes lose great candidates to faster-moving competitors
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Highlights delays in decision-making, scheduling, or offer approval
What’s good:
For technical or specialist roles: under 30 days is competitive. UK average is ~27.5 days; US average ~36
How to improve:
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Automate interview scheduling
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Empower hiring managers with pre-aligned decision frameworks
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Keep communication consistent between stages
Cost Per Hire
The total recruitment cost (ads, agencies, tools, internal resources) divided by the number of hires made
Why it matters:
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Tracks return on investment for hiring channels and strategies
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Supports accurate budgeting and headcount planning
What’s good:
This is subjective dependant upon the urgency, difficulty and seniority of the role
How to improve:
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Focus on internal referrals
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Optimise sourcing channels
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Use long-term employee nurturing
Source of Hire
Where your successful candidates are coming from — job boards, social media, employee referrals, recruiters, internal mobility
Why it matters:
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Helps you double down on high-performing channels
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Avoids wasting spend on underperforming platforms/partners
How to improve:
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Use your ATS to track first point of contact
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Regularly analyse the quality and retention of hires by source
Candidate Drop-Off Rate
The percentage of candidates who disengage or drop out at each stage of the process
Why it matters:
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Identifies friction points in the process
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Poor communication or lengthy timelines often cause unnecessary drop-offs
How to improve:
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Keep candidates warm between stages
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Improve interview experience
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Cut unnecessary assessment steps
Offer Acceptance Rate
The percentage of job offers extended that are accepted
Why it matters:
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A low acceptance rate may suggest compensation issues, poor candidate experience, or uncompetitive offers
What’s good:
80+% is considered strong. Anything below 70% needs attention.
How to improve:
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Benchmark offers
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Personalise outreach and pitch
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Ensure alignment between the role and candidate expectations
Quality of Hire
Performance and retention outcomes of new hires over time
Why it matters:
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Connects recruitment efforts to business results
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Helps identify hiring criteria that actually predict success
How to measure it:
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Time to productivity
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Manager and peer feedback
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Retention statistics
How to improve:
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Involve future peers in hiring
- Align job specs with actual performance expectations
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Improve onboarding and support
DE&I Metrics
Diversity of applicants, candidates, and hires, along with progress through each stage of the process
Why it matters:
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Ensures fairness in hiring
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Builds more inclusive teams
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Identifies where underrepresented candidates drop out of the process
What to track:
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Gender, ethnicity, and background at each stage
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Pay equity across demographics
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Retention by identity group
How to improve:
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Introduce blind screening at early stages
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Set internal diversity goals
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Monitor equity in promotion and progression too
Data That Drives Better Hiring
Recruitment isn’t just about filling roles, it’s about doing it better, faster, and more inclusively. These hiring metrics allow internal talent teams, HR and hiring managers to spot problems early, course-correct quickly, and build a process that delivers long-term results.
Don’t aim to track everything, start with a few key KPIs that align with your growth goals and hiring challenges.
And remember: behind every metric is a person. The goal of tracking is not bureaucracy, it’s creating a better, fairer, and more human recruitment experience.
