Looking beyond the scorecards and KPI’s
In measuring supplier recruiting performance, there are repeating cycles measured by most as “Key Performance Indicators” or KPI’s that are reflected as ratios. This includes such ratios as the number of candidates resume submittals needed to achieve one hiring manager interview or the number of manager interviews to confirm one candidate hire, among several other KPI’s. Typically, these performance measures will be periodically calculated on scorecards to indicate how well the supplier is doing as compared to pre-established KPI objectives and benchmarked to other suppliers’ performance collectively.
While scorecard KPIs (Key Performance Indicators) and ratios are essential for evaluating the performance of a staffing service provider, there are several other crucial factors worth considering. Here are several:
Niche experience
Does the staffing service provider thrive in a particular skill or industry niche? If so, their performance metrics over time may not measure up to those of the supplier who is a generalist. However, when those same metrics are calibrated against their performance within their niche, a true picture emerges as to the capabilities of the supplier.
Quality recruitment process
There are several different recruiting approaches at work today within the staffing services supplier community. Those that focus on “quality first” may be slower in terms of candidate submittals and their overall submission numbers (per job requirement) may tend to be low by comparison. These firms would typically rather not submit a marginally skilled candidate than send a candidate that doesn’t meet their exacting standards. For the client evaluating a supplier with this approach, there may be a balance needed when accounting for candidate profile submittal speed, the volume of resumes sent, and the quality of the candidates submitted when they measure the supplier’s performance.
It should be noted that a supplier who falls into the “quality above all” category can demonstrate a clear continuous improvement process at work in their organization in the form of feedback loops measured against their own internal KPI’s.
Candidate retention and positive job performance feedback
Retention of candidates and job performance feedback are two factors that indicate that a quality recruiting process is at work.
Responsiveness and customer–employee service
Adding more of the soft measures that are important in evaluating supplier performance may include such factors as responsiveness through open and transparent communication, strong customer/employee service processes, a cultural fit with the client’s organization, and a demonstrated ability to scale quickly to changing needs.
A good supplier is continually learning and adapting to meet their internal business goals and, at the same time, working to exceed the expectations of their clients. The full understanding of the supplier’s performance should be balanced within the context of not only their previous performance and that of their peers but also by factors that are unique to that supplier.
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