An efficient hiring process is tricky to achieve. On one end there is an urgency to fill a position but on the other, it takes time to hire a candidate who will meet your needs while gelling with your team and fitting in with your company culture. Managing the recruitment process comes down to using recruiting metrics to analyze hiring times so managers to see what works and what needs improvement.
What is Time to Hire?
Time to hire is the number of days it takes to hire a new employee. It begins when a candidate responds to your job posting and ends when he or she accepts an offer, spanning the length of time a candidate is in your talent pipeline. This metric is used by HR and hiring managers to develop an efficient recruiting strategy.
Why Does the Time to Hire Metric Matter?
Your time to hire metric can tell you a lot about your recruiting process and can hold a mirror up to the candidate experience. It can identify pain points and inefficiencies that slow the process down. Ask yourself these questions:
- How long does it take you to spot that you have the right candidate?
- How fast do you move when you find the right person?
- Where are the bottlenecks in your hiring process?
Take too long to recognize and respond to candidates, i.e. “leave them in the lurch”, and the right candidate may decide not to accept an offer. Once you evaluate the data, you can see where improvements need to be made.
Google Hire, which was sunsetted in 2019, recommended using an Application Tracking System like the one offered by Arcoro.
An ATS can automatically track your time to hire metric as well as offer reporting on time to hire by role or department. Once you have this data, you can see which hiring managers are taking longer than others or which departments are falling behind. Even better, an ATS can notably improve your time to hire.
What is the Average Time to Hire?
Time to Hire fluctuates by industry, city and role. According to a survey by Glassdoor, time to hire typically takes anywhere from 10 to 53 days. The process was longest for government sector jobs and shortest for restaurants, bars and supermarkets. It is no surprise that the city with the slowest hiring process was Washington D.C. The area with the fastest process was Kansas City, a hub for rail transportation, manufacturing and distribution. According to LinkedIn, the average time to hire is 30 days. SHRM puts that number higher at 36 days. How does your business measure up?
How to Measure Time to Hire
Time to hire measures the actual days it takes from a candidate entering your talent pipeline to accepting an employment offer. This metric is used to develop hiring plans and set recruiter workloads. SHRM offers a tool that automatically calculates time to hire, but a spreadsheet works in the same way.
To find the Average Time to Hire use your time to hire rates for the last month. For example, if in the last month you hired four employees at 14, 17, 25 and 30 days your average time to hire is 21.5 days.
14 + 17 + 25 + 30 = 86 / 4 = 21.5
Time to Hire vs Time to Fill
Time to fill is another metric to consider when determining the efficiency of your hiring process. Time to fill is often used interchangeably with time to hire but there is a distinction. Where time to hire starts when the candidate enters your talent pipeline, time to fill starts when the job is posted. Using the above table, time to fill would be 21 days.
Where time to hire allows you to track any inefficiencies in in the application process that could harm the candidate experience, time to fill provides a broader examination. For example, if it takes weeks for potential candidates to respond to your job listing, you could be posting in the wrong spot. A good ATS offers a wide variety of posting options from niche job boards to social media.
Time to fill can also pinpoint a lack of employer branding. Your employer branding should be clear and consistent across the board. Candidates are less likely to apply for a position if they’re unclear about the company and what it offers. A solid employer brand strategy considers how others view a company, including industry colleagues, competitors, customers, as well as current and potential employees. A job posting should cover pay and benefits offerings, but also culture, perks, work-life balance, projects and roles to reinforce your branding.
How Improving Time to Hire Helps with Other Recruiting Goals
Not only does improving time to hire allow you to maximize the candidate experience, it can also impact other goals. If your company is looking to fill positions, a shorter time to hire helps get candidates on the job faster. By making your hiring process more efficient, i.e. shortening the time it takes to select candidates, setting up interviews and making offers, high quality candidates remain engaged.
An efficient recruiting process also saves time and money. The less time you spend targeting and recruiting, the more money you save. For example, if your time to hire clock is already up to 30 days and your top candidate declines your offer, the process starts all over again. Not every candidate will accept, but a shorter time to hire means you’re not out months of work.
And even with a short time to hire, compliance can still be met. A full-featured ATS will automatically track all applications, providing reports to maintain EEOC and AAP compliance. It also allows you use candidate batching, which targets candidates based on pre-screening questions, so you don’t have to report on hundreds of candidates.
Making the decision to track and reduce your time to hire begins and ends with a great ATS. Arcoro’s ATS will simplify the hiring process by automating key functions like:
- Employer branding
- Job distribution
- Social recruiting
- Candidate management
- Compliance
- Reporting
It simplifies the process for administrators by giving them the ability to:
- Distribute open positions to job boards with one-click
- Reach local and national candidates
- Reach veterans and minorities easier
- Source reporting with analytics
- Create a strong employee brand
- Access EEO survey data
- Review unlimited candidates
- Schedule interviews
- Create quick offer letters
- Send assessment/tests
- Send background and drug screen prompts
- Post to niche job boards
Candidates remain engaged because the software allows them to:
- Apply to the position within minutes
- Parse their resumes
- Send in their resumes without a login
- Receive automated communications
Contact us to schedule a demo to see how the Arcoro ATS can reduce your time to hire.
