The three essential recruiting metrics are time to fill (how many days it takes to fill a role), cost per hire (internal and external costs divided by the number of hires) and quality of hire (how new hires perform and whether they stay). Tracked together, they show whether you hire quickly, at a reasonable cost and, above all, hire the right people.
Many companies hire without knowing what a role really costs them or how long it sits empty. Yet every week without someone in the job weighs on output, service or the team that has to pick up the slack. Measuring shows you where the process stalls and helps justify the right investments.
This guide covers the formulas, worked examples and a simple dashboard you can set up whatever the size of your company.
How do you calculate time to fill and time to hire?
There are two measures. Time to fill counts the days from job approval to offer acceptance. Time to hire counts the days from first contact with the chosen candidate to acceptance. Use the average or, better, the median across all positions filled during the period.
Example: a role approved on March 1 with an offer accepted on April 12 gives a time to fill of 42 days. If the chosen candidate was first contacted on March 20, time to hire is 23 days.
For context, SHRM reports in its 2026 benchmarking data, drawn from more than 4,600 organizations, a median time to fill of 39 calendar days for non-executive positions. That data comes mostly from U.S. employers, so treat it as a general reference and compare yourself first with your own past results.
How do you calculate cost per hire?
The basic formula, also used in the ANSI/SHRM cost-per-hire standard, is: (external costs + internal costs) ÷ total number of hires for the period.
| External costs | Internal costs |
| Job board and advertising fees | Recruiter time (salary and benefits) |
| Agency or RPO fees | Manager time spent interviewing |
| Assessments and background checks | Applicant tracking tools |
| Candidate travel | Referral bonuses |
| International recruitment and relocation costs | Employer branding activities |
Example: over one quarter, $18,000 in external costs and $12,000 in internal costs for 10 hires gives a cost per hire of $3,000. Also break it down by type of role, since a specialized position does not cost the same as an entry-level one.
A low cost is not always good news. If the new hire leaves after three months, you start over. That is why cost should always be read alongside quality of hire.
This calculation also helps you compare options. Hiring in-house often looks cheaper than using an agency, until you add up manager hours, repeated postings and weeks of vacancy. Compare both scenarios using the same cost categories, then factor in the quality of hire each one delivers.
How do you estimate the cost of a vacant position?
Cost per hire does not tell the whole story: an empty position also costs you every day. To estimate it, start from what the role generates or prevents: lost output, overtime paid to the team, contracts turned down, subcontracting, service delays. Divide that monthly amount by the number of working days, then multiply by your time to fill.
This is only an estimate, but it often changes the conversation with leadership. Cutting a few weeks from time to fill can be worth more than saving on advertising fees.
How do you measure quality of hire?
Quality of hire is the most useful metric and the least standardized. The simplest approach is to combine three or four measures, each scored out of 100, and average them.
- Manager rating at 90 days, using a simple scale (for example 1 to 5, converted to a percentage).
- Retention: is the new hire still there at 6 or 12 months? (100 if yes, 0 if no, then averaged across the cohort).
- Probation or onboarding goals met.
- Time to full productivity, where the role makes it measurable (output, sales, files processed).
Example: an average manager rating of 80%, 12-month retention of 90% and 70% of goals met give a quality-of-hire score of 80 out of 100. What matters is keeping the same method from one period to the next so you can follow the trend.
Which other metrics are worth tracking?
- Offer acceptance rate: a low rate often points to pay or a process that needs work.
- Source of hire: where your best hires come from (referrals, job boards, agency, international recruitment).
- Early turnover: the share of new hires who leave within six months.
- Interview-to-hire ratio: too many interviews per hire means screening needs tightening.
How do you build a simple recruiting dashboard?
Start with a spreadsheet with one row per position: opening date, date of first contact with the hire, acceptance date, source, direct costs, then the 90-day rating and whether the person is still there at 12 months. Within a few months you will have enough data to spot the hardest roles to fill, the most cost-effective sources and the stages where candidates drop out.
Share the results with leadership every quarter, with one improvement recommendation at a time. A metric that never leads to a decision is not worth tracking.
"Hiring fast and cheaply only matters if the person you hire succeeds and stays.
Frequently asked questions
What is the difference between time to hire and time to fill?
Time to fill runs from the day the position opens to the day an offer is accepted. Time to hire runs from your first contact with the chosen candidate to their acceptance. The first reflects your whole process; the second shows how quickly you move once a good candidate is in front of you.
Should internal salaries be included in cost per hire?
Yes. The time recruiters and interviewing managers spend often makes up a large share of the true cost. A reasonable estimate of hours spent, multiplied by an average hourly rate, is enough to get started.
How often should we track these metrics?
Monthly works for time to fill and hiring volume. Cost per hire is best calculated quarterly. Quality of hire needs more distance: measure it at 90 days, then at 6 or 12 months.
Does a small business need software to track these metrics?
Not at first. A well-kept spreadsheet, with one row per position and the key dates, is enough to calculate all three. An applicant tracking system becomes useful as your hiring volume grows.
Want to improve your recruiting metrics?
Industrielle RH helps employers shorten time to fill and improve quality of hire through permanent recruitment, recruitment process outsourcing (RPO) and international recruitment. Book a meeting to review your open roles and current results.