Investing in a recruitment partner, like any other business decision, must be measurable and deliver a return on investment.
While there is no denying that outsourcing your recruitment comes with a host of benefits, it’s important that you constantly monitor and measure the success of your recruitment partner to ensure you are getting the most out of your partnership.
You can measure the success of your recruitment partner in lots of ways, however it’s important to track different metrics to see if your partner is on track to meet their goals. Before you implement your recruitment solution, you should know exactly how you will measure success and agree these parameters with your recruitment partner.
Typically, strict Service Level Agreements (SLAs), alongside a series of Key Performance Indicators (KPIs) are the best way to measure and track success. An SLA is formally agreed between both partners prior to commencing the service delivery, to define expectations and responsibilities within the partnership, whereas KPIs measure the recruitment partner's performance to meet the agreed SLAs.
Below are examples of SLAs you should consider setting up with your recruitment partner:
- Source of hire: What is your direct fulfillment rate?
- Cost savings against benchmark savings
- Candidate feedback: How is this measured?
Check out these examples of common KPIs that your recruitment partner should be monitoring on a daily basis:
| KPI | Measurement |
| Optimise CV to placement ratio and effective monitoring of time to fill and hire |
CV to placement ratio of 3:1
|
| Hiring Manager to provide feedback on candidates submitted within agreed timescale |
Feedback provided within two working days of candidate submission |
| Where interview is required the process should take place within a reasonable timescale | Interview to be scheduled within five working days of request |
For more examples of SLAs and KPIs you should measure with your recruitment partner, download our toolkit; ‘How to Outsource Your Contingent Recruitment’.
There is no one size fits all with SLAs and KPIs, and you should work with your recruitment partner to create a set of metrics that reflect your business needs, your requirements and the solution in place. Once you have implemented a recruitment solution, your recruitment partner should set up monthly and quarterly review sessions to monitor and measure any agreed SLAs and KPIs through a continuous improvement plan.
Continuous improvement is integral to getting the most out of your outsourcing solution and provides a great way to evaluate the partnership and identify any areas of improvement. However, it’s not just about focusing on innovation and disruption, it’s also about enabling your recruitment partner to find effective ways to improve their day-to-day activity.
Using the data from SLAs and KPIs, your recruitment partner will be able to identify any areas of weakness, whether that be low candidate satisfaction or poor time-to-hire, to adapt the solution and the strategy in place to drive improvements.
Ultimately, a strong set of SLAs and KPIs are key to understanding both the strengths and weaknesses of a recruitment partnership. However, a good recruitment partner will use these metrics to continuously improve and evolve the recruitment solution in place to drive a long-term recruitment partnership.
For more information on outsourcing your contingent recruitment, check out our toolkit which contains a series of helpful tips and guides from why you should consider outsourcing, right through to implementing a solution.
