Talent Acquisition (TA) is no longer a function that simply fills roles. It’s a strategic pillar of business growth. With increasing pressure to improve recruitment efficiency and outcomes, TA leaders must back their strategies with data. That’s where they need the best recruiting software to get easy visibility into the hiring data.
But the key lies not just in collecting data, but in tracking the right hiring metrics consistently and frequently enough to catch issues early. In this blog, we’ll unpack the key metrics for talent acquisition to monitor fortnightly, why these recruitment KPIs matter, how to calculate them, and how a high-tech recruitment management system can help in this process.
How Frequently Recruitment Teams Should Monitor the KPIs
The answer is fortnightly because that creates a balance between reactive and strategic hiring. Weekly reports often show small fluctuations in recruiting metrics that may not be meaningful. On the other hand, monthly reports might delay corrective action required in the hiring strategy. By reviewing the most important recruiting metrics every two weeks from the recruitment management system, TA leaders can spot hiring trends early, adjust sourcing efforts, and resolve bottlenecks before they turn into bigger issues.
For example, if your offer acceptance rate suddenly drops this week, waiting another 2–3 weeks to investigate could cost you great candidates. A fortnightly review gives you just enough time to evaluate your hiring strategy and take action.
5 Most Important Recruiting Metrics to Improve Hiring Performance
1. Total Positions vs. Positions with Offer
This is an often overlooked, yet key operational metric for talent acquisition. It tracks the number of unfilled positions in relation to total hiring needs.
The formula for calculating this recruiting metric is:
(Number of Positions with Offer / Total Approved Positions) × 100
For instance, if you have 30 approved positions and only 5 have reached the offer stage, your offer conversion rate is 16%. That’s a strong signal for leadership to take notice. A low offer-to-total ratio can point to bottlenecks in the hiring process or misalignment in sourcing strategies.
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2. Applicants Per Role
This metric provides insight into your job visibility and reach to candidates.
If you see the number of applicants per role drop sharply in your recruitment management system, it could indicate ineffective job descriptions, poor platform targeting, or a weak employer brand presence. Too many applicants, on the other hand, may burden recruiters with irrelevant resumes.
3. Offer Acceptance Rate
This recruiting metric shows the percentage of candidates who accept your job offers. It’s a powerful pulse check for candidate experience, employer branding, and competitiveness of your compensation.
The formula for calculating offer acceptance rate is:
(Offers Accepted / Offers Extended) × 100
Out of 10 offers sent, if only 6 were accepted, the offer acceptance rate would be 60%. If your target is 80%, this number signals a need to review your process. A declining offer acceptance rate might suggest issues with the salary, slow turnaround time, or poor interview experiences.
4. Time-to-Hire
Time-to-hire measures the number of days between when a candidate enters your pipeline in your talent acquisition software and when they accept an offer. This is one of the key metrics for talent acquisition that directly reflects how efficient your hiring process is.
The formula for calculating time-to-hire is:
Time-to-Hire = Offer Accepted Date – Application or Sourcing Date
If a candidate applied on July 1 and accepted an offer on July 10, your time-to-hire is 9 days. If your company’s average was 6 days in the previous cycle, this trend will call for a reevaluation. A rising time-to-hire may indicate delays in screening, feedback loops, or offer negotiation. Once you find out the reason, you can optimize the process and reduce the risk of losing top talent in this competitive market.
5. Effectiveness of Sourcing Channels
Not all sourcing channels perform equally. Some generate volume, while others bring quality. Measuring the conversion rate of candidates from each channel helps TA teams invest wisely and ensure better ROI for the organization.
The formula for calculating the effectiveness of each channel is:
(Hires from Channel / Total Applicants from Channel) × 100
Suppose in a 2-week period, you sourced 100 candidates from LinkedIn and made 10 hires (10% effectiveness), while job boards yielded 150 applicants and only 3 hires (2% effectiveness). This signals that LinkedIn is your most efficient source this cycle for the specific roles. Tracking this data fortnightly in your recruitment management system will allow for effective reallocation of sourcing efforts.
What About Cost-per-Hire, Quality-of-Hire, or Attrition?
While these are some of the most important recruiting metrics, they cannot be tracked fortnightly. Here’s why:
- Cost-per-hire involves aggregating financial data, better tracked monthly or quarterly.
- Quality-of-hire requires performance data post-joining, usually 30, 60, or 90 days later.
- Attrition rates reflect long-term trends, not short-term shifts.
Fortnightly tracking is best suited to recruiting metrics that fluctuate quickly and influence day-to-day TA decisions.
Final Thoughts
The future of recruitment belongs to teams that combine human instincts with real-time data. By monitoring the key recruiting metrics fortnightly, TA leaders gain the visibility needed to optimize their hiring pipeline, ensure business alignment, and improve recruiter performance.
But none of this is possible without the right recruitment management system.
Talentpool’s AI-powered talent acquisition software gives you the analytics, insights, and automation you need to lead with confidence. Book a demo now!
