To most in the recruitment industry, it is a mystery.

Why do two recruiters who work equally hard and have similar personalities produce such different results?

It’s not a mystery to me, although it took me a long time to work out.

Those two recruiters will differ on one or more of three key measures.

• The quantity of their activity.
• The quality of their activity.
• Who they do that activity with.

I wrote an article explaining this and a book based on it – so get around both.

For today, though, to keep it easy and straightforward, here are four numbers every recruiter should know, measure relentlessly, and seek to improve forever.

Most of us don’t like ‘measurement’ because we see it as inevitably uncovering our shortcomings or weaknesses. And that’s threatening.

I understand.

The problem is that if you don’t know what you are not doing well, how can you improve it?



Most recruitment companies stumble right here. ‘KPI’ is a dirty word because it means ‘micromanagement’ to many. That view is ignorant. Measurement does not mean micromanagement. The way poor leaders implement measurement could involve ‘micro-management’ and often does in agency recruitment, but that is a different issue altogether.

The core concept is measuring and managing suitable activities and then seeking to improve their effectiveness. That is the way to develop as a recruiter and essential if you aim to be outstanding.

Healthy use of KPIs (or a dashboard or activity goals, call them what you will), means understanding your numbers and ratios and working to hit set activity levels and effectiveness ratios that you know create excellent outcomes. That is what successful recruiters do.

And just in case you are saying to yourself, ‘I don’t do that, and I am successful’, take heed. You would be much more successful, productive, and happier if you did! Complacency is your enemy on this one.

A contingent permanent recruiter must measure these four ratios and work on improving them.

(It’s a little different for Temp and Contract recruiters. Bit funkier, in fact. If I get ten comments below this blog asking for the Temp and Contract numbers, I will prepare it)

1: Your average placement fee.

Take your total fees for 2023 (or the prior 12 months) and divide that number by the total number of placements. That’s your average. Your average is not ‘what you think it is’ or what it ‘would have been if those three big ones had closed’. It’s an empirical number. Total $ fees divided by the number of placements. Your average placement fee is probably lower than you thought. There are two actions you can take to improve.

1) Raise your percentage fee

2) Work more senior jobs so the salary and therefore the fees are higher.

You could do both. But the point is you won’t be able to raise your average fee unless you know what it is, take action, and then measure progress.

2: Candidate referral to CCI (Candidate/ Client Interviews) ratio.

Take your total candidate referrals to clients for an interview. Usually, that means resumes submitted. Be honest. How many candidates did you recommend for an interview? Then, divide that number by the total number of first interviews arranged over a year.

You are a transactional resume jockey if you send out 12 CVs to jobs and only average one CCI as a result of those 12 referrals. Of course, it differs from market to market. A recruiter with ‘Recruiter Equity’, self-belief and some sense of self-esteem starts from believing that you only refer candidates you think are suitable for an interview. So, if you only refer candidates you think are suitable, they should all be interviewed, right?

However, being able to make that judgement starts with taking a qualified job order, providing consultative advice, and only referring candidates that match the criteria. It also can require the skill of selling your candidate to the client. You are the ‘agent’ for the candidate. You ‘represent’ them. You are a professional; if you refer them, the clients must interview them. That’s your mantra. Imagine the difference in your life, self-esteem, success, repeat business, and income if you could switch from one in 12 to one in three. Or two out of three! It still wouldn’t be good enough, but what a game-changer!

3: CCI to placement ratio.

Easy. Total interviews with clients in the past 12 months (First interviews only) divided by the number of placements. That is a magical number that will change your life if you improve it!

The better the job order qualification, the more committed the client, the better the match, and the better the quality of candidates, the better this number will be. Are you five to one? Move it to three to one, and then up the quantity when it is at three to one! That is the magic. If you had a footballer who scored a goal with one out of three shots s/he took, all you need to do is get them to shoot more, and the goals will come! (as long as quality was consistent). Same with recruitment. Once the ratio is set and the quality is consistent, up the volume!

4: Job fill ratio.

Total number of jobs you took in the last 12 months divided by the number of placements. Hmmm, a bit scary, hey? You guessed one out of three. But it’s one out of five, isn’t it? Don’t cheat. Every job you took goes into the calculation. I don’t care if the client ‘withdrew it’. You lost it.

What professional only succeeds with 1 out of 5 of their client projects? Accountants? Hairdressers? Architects? Brain Surgeons? It is unthinkable. But we live with it in Agency recruitment and think we are doing well. Until the stress of consistent failure and low financial return bites, the tears flow, and we admit to being ‘burned out’. I see recruiters and recruitment companies complaining that jobs for recruiters have dropped from 8 per month to 7. But it only takes 2 or 3 placements a month to hit good goals! So, fill a higher percentage of the jobs you have before you worry about more jobs to fill! But you can only improve if you know what your ratio is. I am betting, if you are honest, the number will be one out of 4, or worse, because, indeed, that is the universal average in both the UK and Australia. But who woke up saying, “My goal is to be average today”?
 Not you, I am sure.

So, there are the four magic numbers you must know. Calculate them now. Your ATS should be set up to do this.

What is your average placement fee?
What is your candidate referral to CCI ratio?
What is your CCI to placement ratio?
What is your job-fill ratio?

Get these numbers. Be honest. Work out an action plan to improve on each metric. Measure quarterly.

Here is a scenario. Most recruiters would not know what their numbers are for this chart. But that’s why so many recruiters underachieve, and many leave the industry.  Look at it closely. How do you increase productivity based on this info?

Yes, you can work harder and improve your influencing skills, and that is all part of it.

Taken from the ‘Recruit Masterclass’ available on the Savage Recruitment Academy

But this is where science meets art in recruitment. The science tells us that there are three actions we can take

1) Increase your average fee

2) Improve your CCI to placement ratio

3) Make more CCIs

You cannot manage what you do not measure

Get these numbers for you and your team

Set a plan to improve.

Pull the right levers.

Send me 10% of all the extra fees you make

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All this and so much more on the Savage Recruitment Academy

NOW is the time to upskill your recruiters.

Support them during the tough times and see them fly when the market recovers.

Sign up for the SRA for the full 2014 masterclass and 100 extra hours of training.

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