Sourcing Metrics

Standard
Version I, 2018
TABLE OF CONTENTS
Introduction 3
Sourcing "Function" Definition 4
Sourcing Workflow 5
Metrics Selection Criteria 6
Validation Process 7
Sourcing Metrics Standard 8
Sourcing Metrics for Future Consideration 13
Metrics not Recommended for Assessment of the Sourcing Function 15
Point of View: Diversity 16
Point of View: Cost 17
Barriers to Sourcing Metrics Success 18
Glossary of Terms 19
Resources 22

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Introduction

“What gets measured gets done.” – This is Thanks to all Sourcing Metrics
true, especially in a time when data-driven Working Committee Members:
insights are becoming an integral part of Name (LI) Role
demonstrating ROI of talent programs and
Nicole Dessain CEO, talent.imperative
processes. Sourcing is no exception. As one
inc
of the fastest growing fields within Talent
Acquisition, there exists little consensus to Danielle Director of Talent
date around standard definitions, Monaghan Acquisition, Amazon
frameworks, roles, processes, and fair Glenn VP, Global Sourcing
measurements of the function. There was Gutmacher Strategy Lead, State
consensus that this would be a perfect Street
space for ATAP to take the lead in defining Mary Brogan VP, Talent Acquisition,
standards! Fidelity Investments
Rob Sunderland Talent Acquisition
A sourcing metrics working committee was Manager, Southern
launched in January 2018 consisting of a Company
diverse group of fifteen Talent Acquisition Ronnie Bratcher Sourcing Consultant
veterans with the goal to draft a first
iteration of a sourcing metrics standard. Rebecca Fouts Sr. Sourcing Recruiter,
Salesforce
For eight months, the committee
Alan LaRotonda Talent Acquisition
deliberated, drafted, discarded, validated
Professional, Contract
and re-designed to create an initial version
of sourcing metrics that would become a Steve Levy VP Customer Success,
future standard. Our hope is that Crowded.com
practitioners will take what’s outlined in this Rob McIntosh Principal Advisor &
document, test it inside their organizations Founder, McINTOSH & Co.
and provide feedback along the way so we Sue Viswanatha Sr. Recruiting Consultant,
can collectively continue to evolve this into Evolent Health
something impactful for the Talent Chris Murdock Sr. Partner, IQTalent
Acquisition community. We are currently Partners
evaluating how we might capture your
Garrick Weaver Sr. Talent Acquisition
insights in an interactive way. In the
Manager
meantime, please direct any feedback to
[email protected]. Richard Kolikof Managing Dir., The
Winthrop Research
Happy sourcing! Group
Nidhi Jain Technical Sourcer, Viasat
Nicole Dessain Inc.
Committee Lead Table 1: ATAP Sourcing Metrics Committee Members

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Sourcing "Function" Definition

The following definition was created by the

ATAP Sourcing Metrics Committee with the
purpose to identify the scope for developing
sourcing standards. This does not mean
that Talent Acquisition (or a full-cycle
recruiter) might not perform additional
tasks.

Sourcing is a multi-stage process that

may include any or all of the following
tasks: Research as well as identification,
engagement and screening of individuals
with the end goal of producing qualified,
interested and available people. Figure 1: Sourcing Lifecycle

The sourcing lifecycle includes: research Sourcing is the essential first phase of
(collecting relevant data about individuals, proactive talent generation. Sourcing is not
companies, and markets); applying the reactive function of reviewing resumes
creative search techniques (internet and applications sent to the company in
research, referrals/networking, searching response to a job posting.
resume databases, mining social networks,
etc.); engagement techniques (e.g. via Based on our audience validation (p. 7), 86%
phone, web, email, social/text, AI/chat bots); of respondents agree with the above
and assessment/pre-qualification definition of sourcing and thus it forms the
techniques (mandatory/minimum basis for our sourcing metrics
requirements, MOATS), with the goal to recommendations.
present quality profiles to the Hiring
Manager or Recruiter to process further.
This is where the sourcing process ends.

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Sourcing Workflow

Sourcing is an integral part of the end-to-end Talent Acquisition process. It is important to

understand each step in the process to clearly delineate metrics that might measure the
entire process versus those that only measure sourcing activities.

Figure 2: Generic End-To-End Talent Acquisition Process

1) Req Received (Who: Hiring Manager)

2) Recruiter receives, conducts Intake Meeting with Hiring Manager (Who: Recruiter, Sourcer,
Hiring Manager); example resumes are sent for calibration to Hiring Manager

3) Sourcing Required? (Who: Recruiter/Sourcer)

a. Yes = Sourcing engaged/ clock starts
b. No = Regular Talent Acquisition process continues

4) Regular Talent Acquisition process continues (Who: Recruiter)

a. If sourcing requested after initial recruitment begins (Who: Sourcer)
i. Sourcing engaged/ clock starts

5) Sourcing proceeds in tandem with standard Talent Acquisition process (Who: Sourcer)

6) Candidate(s) identified / final interviews (Who: Recruiter, Hiring Manager)

a. Sourced candidate selected?

7) Process complete

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Metrics Selection Criteria

As part of developing a global standard for 5. Functional metrics result in insights for
sourcing metrics the Sourcing Metrics operational improvement of the
Committee wanted to have a way to sourcing function; individual ones
objectively and consistently select relevant inform coaching and performance
metrics based on a set of criteria. review and are in the control of the
Sourcer.
In doing so, the first step was to define
criteria to narrow down an initial long list of Next, it was validated whether this
20 metrics that was created in early 2017 narrowed set of metrics provided a
and underwent an initial peer validation at balanced measurement of the sourcing
SourceCon Fall 2017. function. In order to decide on the initial
metrics set that would be proposed as a
These are the five criteria the committee global standard, the following set of criteria
used to assess each metric: was applied:

1. Is focused on sourcing-related • Metrics that are few and focused. A best

activities only. Sourcing metrics practice for any measurement context is
selection will focus only on the steps to focus on a few key metrics. A risk in
performed as part of the sourcing starting off with too many metrics is that
process (see section Sourcing “Function” it might result in analysis paralysis.
Definition). Metrics that measure the Focusing on a few metrics is more likely
end-to-end recruiting process are out of to inspire action and can be managed
scope for the purposes of this sourcing more sustainably.
standard but should be part of assessing • Span across the entire sourcing
the overall Talent Acquisition function. lifecycle and serve continuous
2. Has a clearly articulated purpose. Each improvement. A comprehensive set of
metric considered has to have a clearly metrics should ensure that each step of
defined answer to the questions “Why the sourcing process is measured.
do we care?”, “What business problem • Balance key sourcing metrics
does this metric provide insight for?”, categories. The final metrics set should
and “Who is the intended target not over-index on just one metrics
audience for this metric?” category, but balance relevant categories
3. Is SMART (Specific, Measurable, (quality, time, productivity, customer
Action-oriented, Relevant, Timely). The experience, diversity, and cost).
anatomy of each metric should pass the • Can be applied across various sourcing
SMART test. contexts (e.g. in-house, 3rd party,
4. Can be considered a "standard" and be global). The final metrics set needs to be
benchmarked in the future. A long- agnostic to how the sourcing function is
term goal for ATAP is to provide sourcing structured.
benchmarking insights. Any metrics
selected today need to have the
potential to be able to be benchmarked
in the future.

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Validation Process

Initially, the committee circulated thoughts Key findings include:

regarding a definition for Sourcing which
were peer-validated at the SourceCon • 60% of respondents have a talent
conference in February 2018. In addition to sourcing role/department. Of those with
work at the committee level, further a talent sourcing function, 52% have a
validation around the scope of the centralized model that reports up
definition of Sourcing, as well as the role of through Talent Acquisition.
diversity in Sourcing, were discussed in an
ATAP webinar (June 13, 2018) as well as a • Of those with talent sourcing
Sourcing metrics discussion as part of departments, 43% have less than 10% of
Lever’s Summer Sourcing Summit (June 20, their Talent Acquisition FTEs dedicated to
2018). sourcing.

Concurrently, the committee developed a • 86% of respondents agree with the

survey regarding the definitions, metrics definition of sourcing the committee
and other items discussed elsewhere in this outlined on page 4 of this paper.
report. We reached out to the general
sourcing and talent acquisition community • Each of the four metrics validated
with a solicitation to complete the short received a 54% or higher approval rating
survey (incl. ATAP’s full membership, and which will be detailed in the following
abbreviated promotions linking to the section of this paper.
survey were sent through other relevant
channels, such as SourceCon’s Facebook • Based on the audience validation survey,
group). the committee revised calculations and
definitions for each metric for greater
Over 100 respondents representing over 67 clarity.
organizations in 33 industries completed
the survey. The plurality of responses were • Top barriers to sourcing metric success
from “manufacturing/utility” firms (36%) and are the inability to track work of sourcing
tech firms (25%), with a mix of function and data integrity/cleanliness.
company/organization sizes (36% of firms The committee added guidance around
with 10,000+ employees, 21% of firms with these barriers on page 18 of this paper.
1000-5000 employees, and 13% of firms with
less than 50 employees). 82% of responses
were from North America.

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 As a result of the aforementioned committee
work and validation, these are the four metrics
that are being recommended as an initial set
of a sourcing metrics standard:

# Metric Category Sourcing

Activity
1 Submittal to Quality Pre-Qualify
Business Acceptance
(SBA) %
2 Time to Submit Time Creative
Search,
Engagemen
t, Pre-
Qualify
3 Pipeline Conversion Productivity Market
Research,
Creative
Search
4 Sourcing Satisfaction Customer Pre-Qualify
Score (S3) Experience
Sourcing Metrics Table 2: Recommended Sourcing Metrics

Standard

8
Metric: Submittal to Business Acceptance
(SBA) Percentage

According to the audience validation survey, Submittal to Business Acceptance (SBA) % was
rated as moderate/high importance by 73% of respondents.

Definition: Calculation:
Number of candidates that are submitted to # of candidates accepted (for that req)/ total
the business (or recruiter) by the sourcing # of QIA (Qualified/Interested/Available)
function against the requirements of the candidates submitted
position that are accepted (move to the next
step in the process) for the role they were Example: 10 QIA candidates submitted with 8
sourcing for* by the business (or recruiter) as accepted = 80% SBA
a percentage.

Purpose: Audience:
Most Talent Acquisition functions’ struggle is CHRO / Business / Talent Acquisition
related to the hand-off of candidates to the Function / Sourcer and Recruiter partnership
business. SBA is the best quality measure of performance
candidates that has direct accountability
back to a Sourcer against requirements for
the role.

Guidance:
SBA is recommended to be measured weekly/monthly/annually at the individual and
functional level; best results if data is collected from your Applicant Tracking System (ATS) or
Candidate Relationship Management (CRM) solution. 80% SBA is recommended as the
benchmark. *If candidate is accepted, but for a different role that becomes a pipeline
candidate and is not considered as part of this metric calculation.

Further Reading:
McIntosh, Rob (2018): “One Recruiting Metric to Rule them All”

Table 3: Submittal to Business Acceptance Metric

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Metric: Time to Submit

Time to Submit was rated as part of the audience validation survey as moderate/high
importance by 71% of respondents.

Definition: Calculation:
Time it takes to submit one QIA (Qualified, Clock starts once the req is approved* (not
Interested and Available) candidate to the created), and the clock stops once the
recruiter/business once the requisition is candidate (information) is submitted to the
approved. recruiter/business (in calendar days).

Example #1: On July 5th the requisition is

approved. On July 14th the sourcer submits a
QIA candidate to the recruiter.
Time to Submit = 9 calendar days.

Example #2: On July 5th the requisition is

approved. On July 14th the sourcer submits a
QIA candidates to the recruiter (9 days), a
second candidate on the 11th day and a third
on the 15th day.
Time to Submit for this req = 11.6 calendar
days (average time of all candidates
submitted)

Purpose: Audience:
Time to Submit highlights lost opportunity CHRO / Business / Talent Acquisition function
cost of reqs remaining open. Measurement / Sourcer & Recruiter partnership
against different req types which have performance
different market supply and demand
differentiators, helps with planning and
budgets.

Guidance:
Time to Submit is recommended to be measured weekly/monthly/annually at the functional
level ensuring variance between easy to fill and hard to fill roles is taken into account.
Best results are achieved if data is collected from ATS/CRM and actions are time stamped
accurately; benchmarking would have to be done by industry, job family and geography
given the wide variations related to these realities. *If your organization uses intake meetings,
the clock might start after the meeting but is only recommended if you have a well-defined
step in your ATS else you cannot measure it.
Note: We do not recommend the metric to be Time To Acceptance, given the Sourcer cannot
control how quickly a recruiter or hiring manager will accept or reject the candidates they
submit (see SBA Metric).

Table 4: Time to Submit Metric

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Metric: Pipeline Conversion

Pipeline Conversion was rated as part of the audience validation survey as moderate/high
importance by 60% of respondents.

Definition: Calculation:
Percentage of pipeline candidates converted # of candidates added to a pipeline / # of
to active candidates on active open reqs. candidates that are accepted against an
open req
Pipelining is the pro-active identification and
Example: A sourcer creates a ‘Pipeline Req’ to
engagement of potential talent that meets
identify all the Sharepoint Architects in
the business demand ahead of an open
Chicago.
requisition, it is not the pipelining of talent
100 people (Sharepoint Architects) are
against an open requisition.
identified and added. In the next 12 months,
40 of those initially identified names are
A pipeline could be name/title/company…It is
converted into QIA candidates and are
when the candidate is converted and
accepted by the business against an
matched to an open req, that they are QIA’d.
requisition that need to be filled (See SBA
metric).
Example: Building talent communities,
Pipeline conversion for the Sharepoint
networking events, etc.
project = 40%

Purpose: Audience:
Shows efficiency of quality candidates being CHRO / Business / Talent Acquisition function
identified and then ultimately converted to / Sourcer & Recruiter partnership
an open req. Helps measure, refine and performance
improve your sourcing strategies
effectiveness of engaging and converting
people to QIA’d candidates.

Guidance:
Pipeline Conversion is recommended to be measured monthly/annually at the individual and
functional level; best results if data is collected from ATS/CRM; benchmarking would have to
be done by industry, job family and geography given the wide variations related to these
realities.
Recommendation is to create Pipeline Requisitions on the following approaches that might
best suit your companies need:
• Functional job family (Example: SharePoint Architects)
• Job Family by location (Example: HR Generalists in Atlanta)
• Aligned Sourcers (Example: Sourcers supporting the filling of hi-tech roles in a company)

Further Reading:
Craven, Matt in ERE Media (2018): “The Vision of Pipeline Sourcing - Part 2”
Sullivan, John in ERE Media (2018): “Talent Pipeline Case Study - Nestle Purina Reaches an
Amazing 43 Percent of Hires”
Table 5: Pipeline Conversion Metric

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Metric: Sourcing Satisfaction Score (S3)

Initially, the committee proposed a Net Promoter Score for the business partner experience
metric. However, during validation it became clear this metric needed to be re-considered.
Only 54% of respondents rated this metric as moderate/high importance. The feedback
revealed that while a customer experience metric was desirable, Net Promoter Score was not
considered as an adequate way to assess business partner experience and satisfaction of a
Sourcer’s activity. So, the committee revised this metric as follows:

Definition: Calculation:
A survey that captures the satisfaction of Q: "How satisfied are you with agreed upon
everyone that worked with the Sourcer and Speed, Communication, Quantity, and
the sourced candidates across four Quality of the sourcing conducted by [Insert
components: Sourcer Name]?”
• Speed
Speed: 0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10
• Communication
Communication: 0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10
• Quantity
Quantity: 0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10
• Quality
Quality: 0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10
0 = Not At All ; 5 = Somewhat; 10 = Extremely
Average the four scores to get the S3 from
each stakeholder.

Purpose: Audience:
This metric is meant to take the pulse of the CHRO / Business / Hiring Managers /
business partners (e.g. Recruiter, Hiring Interviewers / Talent Acquisition function /
Manager) interacting with the Sourcer for Sourcer & Recruiter partnership performance
their sourced candidates.

Guidance:
Sourcing Satisfaction Score (S3) is recommended to be measured at the individual level. The
S3 questions should be asked of all of the business partners who were involved with and/or
received the Sourcer’s work. Our recommendation is to conduct the survey after each req is
filled. Some ATS’ can be configured to generate an email template to launch the survey when
a req is closed. Best results if data is collected with a survey tool (e.g. Survey Monkey) and
clear definitions of each of the points on the scale are provided. 8+ S3 is recommended as the
benchmark. If a business partner consistently gives 5s or 6s, but still hires sourced candidates,
the Sourcer’s supervisor can use this to dig deeper. If someone consistently gets 8+, but no
hires, this is an opportunity to discover that the Sourcer is liked by the business partner but
not really getting the guidance to be successful.

Further Reading:
Dessain, Nicole in ERE Media, Inc. (2015): “Why The Hiring Manager Experience Is More
Important Than the Candidate Experience”

Table 6: Souring Satisfaction Score (S3)

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Sourcing Metrics for Future Consideration

There are nine additional metrics the committee reviewed but decided not to include in the
initial sourcing metrics standard set because they currently do not meet several standard
selection criteria. However, the committee recommends for Talent Acquisition and Sourcing
leaders to review the below and determine whether there are some that they might want to
experiment with as part of their overall metrics mix. If several of these metrics are being
used, further refined and standardized they may be reviewed to be included in future
iterations of the sourcing metrics standard.

Metric Definition Guidance

Sourcing Funnel Ratio of candidates screened to Create a consistent definition for
candidates accepted “screening”; overall, “sourcing
efficiency” might be a better
metric instead.
Net Promoter Rating of scale of 0-10 by Net Promoter Score is
Score (NPS) – candidate regarding satisfaction recommended to be measured at
Candidate with Sourcer’s output and the individual and functional level.
performance Weekly/monthly/annual cadence.
Best results if data is collected with
a survey tool (e.g. Survey Monkey)
and clear definitions of each of the
points on the scale are provided;
9+ NPS is recommended as the
benchmark. Experimentation
whether to use as overall TA NPS
or parsing out sourcing part with
candidates.
Cost Per Sourced In comparison to other sources; Any metric past SBA is a recruiting
Hire only sourcing costs (source per metric and should be tracked as a
hire; spent per Sourcer; labor and recruiting metric; this might be
tools) divided by sourced measured as part of your overall TA
candidates metrics mix; recommended use of
a consistent Cost Per Hire metric
(ideally the ANSI CPH Metric
Standard). Some Sourcers also
process applicants which needs to
be accounted for.
Cost Per The cost of candidate by source Any Metric past SBA is a recruiting
Candidate metric and should be tracked as a
recruiting metric. This might be a
metric you want to measure as
part of your overall TA metric to
measure overall ROI.

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Sourcing Metrics for Future Consideration

Metric Definition Guidance

Time To Find Average time from start of Define when the clock starts on
sourcing engagement to point this metric. Given Sourcers can
quality candidates are identified proactively pipeline talent ahead
(quality = resume or profile of demand, it might skew the
matches requirements) results.
Diverse Slate Every company needs to define While a diversity metric is
what “diverse” means to them. The important, this is past SBA (hand
term ‘slate’ relates to a group of off to recruiting/business)
people being interviewed/assessed
If a Diversity Sourcing Metric is
that fall into that definition.
desired, the SBA Metric could be
[Example: Increasing gender/race used with a % of candidates that
at a certain level in the are diverse that are
organization] submitted/accepted. Expectation
needs to be set that diversity
sourcing might need more time
(and possibly cost).
Candidate Overall candidate response rates Given there are so many ways
Response Rate to Sourcer outreach candidates can be contacted
(email, text, sourcing
tools/platforms, etc.), trying to
normalize all the data into a
central repository to analyze is a)
very labor intensive b) open to lots
of data integrity issues.
Source Cost Ratio Direct and indirect cost of sourcing Any metric past SBA is a recruiting
divided by overall sourced metric and should be tracked as a
compensation handed off to recruiting metric.
recruiter/hiring manager.
Source Efficiency Sourced candidates in process At the end of the search, look at
divided by total candidates number of people that are moved
identified and contacted through process beyond SBA (post
mortem metric). It’s a way for
management to see whether team
is efficient which may lead to
process and performance
improvement.
Table 7: Additional Sourcing Metrics

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Metrics Not Recommended for
Assessment of the Sourcing Function

The seven remaining metrics were deemed by the committee as metrics that would not
fairly assess the sourcing function or as redundant to another metric that was selected as a
standard.

Metric Definition Guidance

Source Utilization Number of hires per source Any metric past SBA is a recruiting
metric and should be tracked as a
recruiting metric.

Diversity Leads Percentage of diverse candidates Visual identification is not legal in

identified / engaged and certain states / countries.
submitted

Diversity Hire Rate Performance against diversity Any metric past SBA is a recruiting
target goal metric and should be tracked as a
recruiting metric; lack of standard
definition of diversity (e.g. gender,
race, ethnicity, age,
background/thought)
Pipeline Efficiency Average time from point pipeline Redundant metric to “Time to
candidate is identified to point Submit”
candidate is... (What is the fair
hand-over for sourcing?)
Pipeline Activity Percent growth of pipeline Redundant metric to “Pipeline
(quarterly/annually). Number and Conversion”. Additionally, the focus
variety of candidates in the should be on quality outputs not a
pipeline. Percent of candidates metric based on volume.
removed from the pipeline.
Sourcer Comparison of production vs Given targets vary on so many
Productivity target (target being expected factors for each
volume of candidates presented company/industry/job
and accepted to actual) family/geography, etc., and the
focus should be on quality of
service, not quantity, this metric
drives the wrong behaviors and
sets the wrong expectations with
recruiters/business.
Sourcing Cycle Average time from candidate Redundant metric to “Time to
Time identification to engagement to Submit”
submittal

Table 8: Metrics Not Recommended

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Point of View: Diversity

According to LinkedIn’s Global Recruiting While not being able to measure effectively,
Trends 2018 survey conducted with 9,000 Sourcing needs to be aware of the diversity
Talent Acquisition professionals, 78% of definition and focus on areas for the
respondents indicated that they believe particular organization they are serving and
diversity is one of the top trends that will do their best to support this in their
shape the future of the function. sourcing efforts.

The committee believes the sourcing The committee welcomes any and all
function has an obligation and feedback of how we collectively might
responsibility to impact diversity inside collaborate on developing diversity sourcing
organizations, especially due to its position metrics. If anyone is aware of a viable metric
at the top of the recruiting funnel where it to be considered, please submit it for
can influence which candidates are being consideration.
presented to the business.
Tracking sourcing channels for their
This top-end position in the funnel presents diversity yield was discussed as a possible
a great opportunity but paradoxically poses measurement at a Director-level ATAP
measurement challenges. member validation webinar on June 13,
2018.
The committee strove to include diversity
metrics, but found that to be difficult at this The committee also compiled
time due to a variety of reasons including: recommended reading on the topic of
diversity in Talent Acquisition in the
• No consistent global measurement “Resource” section of this document.
standard for “diversity”
• Legal limits to visual identification of
candidates at the top end of the funnel
• General lack of insight at the sourcing
stage as to a prospect’s gender, ethnicity,
etc.

Despite these current barriers to creating

standard diversity sourcing metrics, the
committee’s position is to continue to push
the envelope in this vital area and
encourage organizations to embrace
diversity metrics such as “Diversity Hire
Rate” or “Diverse Slate” as part of their
overall Talent Acquisition metrics mix.

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Point of View: Cost

Readers might be surprised to find that no

cost-related metrics made it to the list of
recommended sourcing standards. After all,
the “holy grail” of any people-related metric
is to be able to show the monetary impact
to the business.

While the committee agrees that this is

critical, the cost metrics that were reviewed
all span beyond the immediate control of
the sourcing function and thus become
Talent Acquisition metrics.
Figure 3: Example of Time to Fill Decrease Pre- vs Post
However, there are scenarios where it might Sourcing Function (Source: Nicole Dessain,
be critical for sourcing to quantify its talent.imperative inc)
monetary impact, such as:
• assessing whether to outsource all or
Value measures after having implemented
parts of the sourcing function,
an internal sourcing function might include:
• calculating the business case to establish
• Reduction in staffing and search vendor
an internal sourcing function, and
spend
• measuring the value once an internal
• Optimization of job board spend
sourcing function is established.
• Comparison of cost per hire before and
after sourcing function implementation
• Comparison time to fill before and after
sourcing function implementation (see
example above)

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Barriers to Sourcing Metrics Success

For the top two barriers, the committee

attempted to provide guidance on how to
address:

Barrier #1: Inability to track work of

sourcing function
• Hold status meetings with all
stakeholders in the process to provide an
update on search projects and how the
process is flowing. Provide the
opportunity to discuss any questions.
• Assign “agent code” in ATS/CRM for each
Sourcer which follows candidate and
Figure 4: Top Barriers to Sourcing Metrics Success provides transparent reporting
(Source: ATAP Sourcing Metrics Audience Validation • ATS/CRM “tags” that might have been
Survey, n= 69)
used for candidate skills can also be
Talent Acquisition and Sourcing leaders assigned to Sourcers’ names and become
often encounter key challenges when searchable per candidate
defining sourcing metrics, creating reports,
and setting fair targets. Barrier #2: Data integrity cleanliness
• Involve analytics/data scientist to help
As part of the committee’s validation with initial clean up (e.g. tap into HR
approach we asked the community what analytics team inside your organization)
the top barriers to sourcing metrics success • Audit Sourcer’s files (random sampling of
are. dates and source codes to check if all
reportable fields are accurately
completed)
• Standardize tagging and categorizing
candidates status in ATS/CRM
• Set expectation of why data integrity is
key and ensure accountability checks and
balances are in place

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Glossary of Terms

Term Definition
A
Active Candidate A prospective candidate that is actively looking for a new
opportunity, who may have also applied to company’s reqs.
Active Req A funded position that has leadership approval and is ready to work
on by sourcer/recruiter
Artificial Intelligence Development and use of data analytics as a tool to assist in
(AI) strategic sourcing and research.
Applicant Tracking Corporate wide enterprise system that Talent and HR organizations
System (ATS) use to identify, account, and manage those who have been
recruited and employees.
C
Calibration A term within the sourcing activity that helps both sourcer and
business (recruiter/hiring manager) to obtain accuracy. This is done
early in the sourcing activity (usually soon after “kickoff” meeting).
The research and candidate development could be adjusted if
needed to improve quality of candidate.
Candidate Any person who says they are interested regardless of source.

Chat Bot A device and tool used for instant communication. Could be used
within the sourcing and recruiting team, as well as between
candidate and employer website, mobile device, etc.
Cost Per Hire (CPH) This is an overall Talent Acquisition metric. It is recommended to
use a consistent Cost Per Hire metric (ideally the ANSI CPH Metric
Standard).
CRM Candidate Relationship Management Software. A tool that allows
Talent Acquisition to track and evaluate the sourcing and recruiting
processes.
E
End-to-End Recruiting Qualifying requirements, sourcing, screening and submitting
Process resumes, interview process, and selection.
F
Full-Cycle Recruiter Also known as “Life cycle recruiter”, the recruiter is responsible for
every stage of the hiring process, from the initial job requisition and
hiring manager intake, sourcing, interviewing, presenting to hiring
manager, offer negotiation, all the way through to onboarding.

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Glossary of Terms

Term Definition
H
Hiring Manager (HM) The ONE who initiates the requisition. The HM identifies the need,
the requirements, and works with Talent Acquisition to identify,
interview, and help close candidates.
I
Intake Kick off or engagement meetings with the hiring manager
Meeting/Engagement conducted at the beginning of a search. The sourcer/recruiter and
Meeting HM develop a plan to fill his/her position. That requires
communication, expectations, follow up, and calibration when
need be.
J
Job Family A group of jobs involving similar types of work and requiring similar
training, skills, knowledge, and expertise. The job family concept helps
organize related jobs and is particularly useful when job titles vary
across the company.
M
Mandatory Hiring Manager’s absolute mandatory requirements (e.g. years of
Requirements experience, degree, technology, and certification)
Metric Is a standard of measurement by which efficiency, performance,
progress, or quality of a plan, and a process can be assessed. In
Talent Acquisition it allows the measurement of effectiveness of
sourcing and recruiting.
Minimum Hiring Manager’s absolute minimum requirements the candidate
Requirements needs to succeed in the job
MOATS Money, Opportunity, Availability, Time, Start Date; how much
money they expect to make, what opportunity is the candidate
seeking, availability to move within the process, time to work
through process, start date (how much notice to give)
N
Nice To Have Skills or background backgrounds beyond mandatory
Requirements requirements that make a candidate extremely desirable for the
role

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Glossary of Terms

Term Definition
P
Pipeline To pipeline (or pipelining) candidates is to proactively identify
people ahead of the actual business demand. It is a tool used for all
levels of sourcing to provide a real time picture of the sourcing
process. What candidates identified, who is qualified, who is
handed off. All dated and A/R (action required) noted.
Pipeline Candidate A pipelined candidate is someone who potentially matches the
requirements of a future business need.
Pipeline Requisition A Pipeline Requisition is created in either an ATS or CRM with
specific requirements for candidates that would be proactively
matched to Pipeline Req ahead of the business demand.
Pipeline Requisitions are usually created and aligned to either ‘job
family’ roles (Example: Sales vs Engineering vs Finance) and/or by
business unit and/or Geography. Once the business has an
opening, QIA’d candidates are moved from the Pipelined
Requisition to an Open business demand requisition.
Prospect A person that is identified via sourcing and/or research, and is not
yet contacted.
R
Recruiter A member of the Talent Acquisition team is responsible for
recruiting and hiring candidates for their company’s or client’s
openings.
Requisition [req] Hiring need that has been officially approved by the organization.
Once approved sourcing and recruiting activities begin.
ROI Return On Investment
RPO Recruitment Process Outsourcing, typically done by a 3rd party
vendor
S
Sourcer A skilled person who works alongside with recruiters and Hiring
Managers to identify, screen, and submit qualified candidates. Skills
needed; sourcing, recruiting, phone interviewing, ability to qualify
candidates.
Sourcing Metric Sourcing metric is a measurement of the effectiveness of a sourcer
specifically and sourcing as a function.
T
Time To Fill The clock starts at job requirement hand off and terminates when
the candidate accepts offer and gives a start date.
Table 8: Glossary of Terms

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Resources

1. Bersin by Deloitte (2018) Our insights: A 8. Johnson, S. et al. (2016) If There Is Only
highly mature TA team… One Woman in Your Candidate Pool,
http://marketing.bersin.com/rs/976- There’s Statistically No Chance She’ll Be
LMP-699/images/HITA_Infographic.pdf Hired. In: Harvard Business Review.
https://hbr.org/2016/04/if-theres-only-
2. Bika, N. (2018) How to measure talent one-woman-in-your-candidate-pool-
pipeline metrics. In: Workable. theres-statistically-no-chance-shell-be-
https://resources.workable.com/tutorial hired
/measure-talent-pipeline-metrics
9. Kazim, N. (2018) Improve Your Diversity
3. Boudreau, J. (2018) Everyone’s Got HR Sourcing With These Simple Tricks and
Metrics. It’s What You Do With Them Tips. In: SourceCon, ERE Media.
That Matters. In: TLNT, ERE Media. https://www.sourcecon.com/diversity-
https://www.tlnt.com/everyones-got- sourcing/
hr-metrics-its-what-you-do-with-
them-that-matters/ 10. LinkedIn (2018) Global Recruiting Trends
2018.
4. Crispin, G. (2014) Net Promoter Score & https://business.linkedin.com/content/da
Candidate Experience. In: Recruiting m/me/business/en-us/talent-
Daily. https://recruitingdaily.com/net- solutions/resources/pdfs/linkedin-global-
promoter-score-candidate-experience/ recruiting-trends-2018-en-us.pdf

5. ERE Media, Inc. (2015) A Standards 11. McIntosh, R. (2016) The Next Generation
Recruiting Metrics List. of Recruiting Benchmarking Is Here. In:
http://media.eremedia.com/uploads/20 ERE Media. https://www.ere.net/the-
15/09/03122304/ERE-Benchmarking- next-generation-of-recruiting-
Metrics- benchmarking-is-here/
v2.pdf?_ga=1.160122676.842901754.1452
020693 12. Sullivan. J. (2018) Need Women
Applicants? Why Micro-targeting
6. Google (2018) What We’ve Learned Women triggers More to Apply. In: ERE
About Diversity & Inclusion. Media. https://www.ere.net/need-
https://diversity.google/insights/ women-applicants-why-micro-
targeting-women-triggers-more-to-
7. Google reWork (2018) Measure apply/
outcomes.
https://rework.withgoogle.com/guides/
unbiasing-gather-data-and-measure- Disclaimer: The committee attempted to
decisions/steps/measure-outcomes/ select resources that provide the most
insightful additional reading; some of the
recommend articles were published by
ATAP members.

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 Founded in 2016, the Association
of Talent Acquisition
Professionals (ATAP) is the only
global, member-driven non-
profit representing all of talent
acquisition. ATAP established
the Professional Code of
Recruiting Integrity, builds a
common body of knowledge for
and advocates on behalf of the
profession, and fosters an
inclusive community of all
professionals who have talent
acquisition responsibilities

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