What is hiring velocity?
Hiring velocity refers to the speed at which a company can hire new employees. It measures the efficiency and effectiveness of the hiring process by tracking the time it takes to fill open positions. Hiring velocity is an important metric for organizations as it directly impacts their ability to attract and retain top talent.
A high hiring velocity indicates that a company can quickly identify, evaluate, and hire qualified candidates. This can be advantageous in competitive job markets where talented individuals are in high demand. A fast hiring process allows companies to secure top candidates before competitors snatch them.
According to Ben Schwencke, Hiring velocity is a metric that assesses the effectiveness and speed of an organization’s hiring process. It is computed by dividing the total number of job positions successfully filled by the total duration it takes to fill a position.
The Hiring Velocity Formula:
Hiring velocity = Number of hires
Time to hire
Hiring Velocity vs Time to Hire
Contrary to popular opinion, hiring velocity is different from time to hire. At the same time, time to hire means the amount of time it takes for a candidate to get hired, from first contact to accepting the offer. Julija Velijkovic, a Talent Acquisition Specialist, implies that hiring velocity is a talent acquisition metric that measures a change in position over a change in time. It helps keep track of the number of vacancies available in the organization versus the number of placements achieved in a given period.
Research differentiates hiring velocity from time to hire in that when tracking hiring velocity, you are not measuring particular hires, you are measuring your directional hiring force in a set period, checking to see if you are meeting hiring demand. On the other hand, when tracking the time to hire, you will be measuring the time it takes to fill a position. You will be calculating the time it takes to get from candidate sourcing to candidate accepting your job offer.
It is important to note that Hiring Velocity is not about filling positions as quickly as possible. Instead, it involves ensuring that organizations fill as many posts as they open in a given period.
The ultimate goal of hiring velocity is to improve the overall recruitment efficiency, which can help companies achieve better results.
Related: Hiring Journey: Everything you need to know
Why Is Hiring Velocity Important?
According to a blog by Alexandra, it is crucial because it generates valuable recruiting data and acts as a reliable team production metre; it reveals the effectiveness of your hiring process and asks, “Are you filling hiring demand?”
A blog by Amanda Prince suggests that with growing competition among companies for the same top talent and an ever-increasing need to hire fast for multiple roles, it’s important for hiring managers to evaluate how effective and efficient their hiring process is to build out efficient teams and meet yearly Key Performance Indicators (KPIs).
She further explains that a positive hiring velocity indicates that your hiring strategy is effective and that your team has a manageable workload. On the contrary, a negative hiring velocity indicates areas of the hiring strategy that may need to be refined. Making adjustments can help a team improve operational inefficiencies and lighten workloads.
Hiring velocity offers insights into how different roles impact hiring time. For instance, executive-level roles may take longer than lower-level roles. Keeping track of hiring velocity can allocate the relevant time to fill specific roles. It also gives confidence to the hiring team that they can hire the individuals needed should vacancies arise.
Research shows that by increasing hiring velocity, companies can reduce the time and money spent on recruiting and training new employees. According to the Society for Human Resource Management (SHRM), the average cost per hire of respondents from one survey is $4,129 per position. Hiring costs mount up quickly, and it can be very expensive for companies needing to hire for more than one position.This results in significant cost savings, especially for companies that hire many employees each year. Hiring velocity helps minimize these costs by streamlining the recruitment process and reducing the time it takes to on-board new employees.
Once you have figured out the time taken to fill a vacancy, it is also important that you break each part down stage by stage to get your hiring velocity or the amount of time it takes candidates to move from one stage of the hiring cycle to the next. After determining your hiring velocity, you find out which hiring process stages have bottlenecks. A study shows that this will guide putting in place an action plan to address the departments, teams or individuals causing delays.
An article by Jim D’Amico implies that hiring velocity can help recruiters set realistic goals for their recruitment process. When they understand how long it takes to fill positions and how many positions can be filled in a given time frame, recruiters can set achievable targets and measure their progress against them.
Hiring velocity is important because it helps improve a candidate’s experience. One may wonder how. A report by Greenhouse states that 41% of respondents stated that a recruiter who responds and follows up has a major impact on candidate experience. Almost 58% of candidates expect feedback within a week, so it exerts pressure on the recruitment team to assess candidates as fast as possible in the hiring process.
By tracking hiring velocity, recruiters can ensure that they are hiring the right people at the right time, which can significantly improve their recruitment process.
In conclusion, hiring velocity is a key metric that measures the speed and efficiency of a company’s hiring process. A high hiring velocity indicates that an organization can quickly identify, evaluate, and hire qualified candidates, giving them a competitive edge in attracting top talent. On the other hand, a low hiring velocity suggests inefficiencies in the recruitment process, leading to delayed decision-making and missed opportunities.
- What is Hiring Velocity, and why is it Important? - September 28, 2023
