If you’re still thinking of relying on Excel for reporting, or if recruitment analytics sits at the bottom of your Request For Information (RFI) list, you’re making a huge mistake.
Manual reporting could cost up to $79k USD per year, with 900 hours of productivity lost and untold sales revenue gone. It bleeds money.
Shopping around for a new recruitment CRM? Don’t just ask if it offers analytics / reporting capabilities. Evaluating analytics shouldn’t be a checkbox exercise.
The real questions you should be asking relate specifically to your recruitment business needs - managing a Temp / Contract business is very different from what a Perm or Exec Search firm needs.
Make a list of the specific key reporting metrics or dashboards you need, or better yet, ask the vendor which best-practice dashboards they offer.
1. Analytics versus Reports
- Reports can give some key information and a high-level overview, but a closer look won’t give you any more detail.
- Analytics gives you the ability to drill down and to make knowing your business easier. The best analytics dashboards come with pre-built filters. Think of it like a five-star restaurant knife set: slice, dice, mince or julienne your data.
- Drilling down will allow you a chance to support your team, regardless of whether your workplace is remote or in-office. Personalize one-on-one coaching for your consultants, identify bottlenecks across teams, locations, brands and divisions, & more.
2. The What, the Why and what to Watch
For any analytics dashboard, ask the 3 “W”s: What (what is the dashboard measuring), Why (how does it benefit you), and what to Watch (key points for this feature).
2.1 KPI Tracking
What: KPIs (you can call them Goals / Targets) are the gold standard for measuring your team’s success. Objective, measurable, adjustable.
Why: A hybrid workforce is the new normal. One dashboard for centralized KPI tracking surveys all teams’ activities.
Watch: The best KPI tracking lets you drill down into teams’ and individuals’ activities. Not every goal needs to be the same for everyone, or stay the same forever. KPI monitoring dashboards give an instant view on who needs training or something more demanding.
2.2 TV Dashboard
What: A TV dashboard displays key business metrics in real-time on a television or wallboard.
Why: Nothing motivates recruiters like a score to beat. Visualized goals and productivity are easy to spot, foster friendly competition, and allow the celebration of wins in real time.
Watch: See if this dashboard can track not just basic KPIs like revenue, but other metrics like Placements, Activities Done, or Top Performers. (We find the last category gets people really fired up.)
2.3 Mobile Analytics
What: A quick peek at biz stats on the go.
Why: Stay in the know no matter where you are. Take control of your data and your business any place, any time.
Watch: Mobile shouldn’t mean sacrificing functionality. You’ll still want pre-built filters. And it shouldn’t be an afterthought - look for a vendor that invests in building a native mobile app and a vendor that upgrades the mobile in tandem with their web app.
2.4 Fees & Forecasting
What: A measure to calculate how much revenue your business will take in.
Why: Assess individuals’ and business performance, plus have the visibility to plan and invest going forward. Know exactly how much money’s coming in, including booked and actual fees over time.
Watch: Take a deep dive into how the forecasting gets done. The best calculations are AI-driven.
2.5 Temp & Contractor Reports
What: Reports that track finishing dates, unutilized contractors, and redeployment rates (the percentage of contractors placed in a new assignment after their current role ends). A must-have for Temp / Contract recruitment.
Why: Acquiring contractors costs money - placement, compliance, and pay all add up. 70% of contractors fail to be redeployed. That’s easy money and a good investment walking away from your agency.
Watch: Beyond a simple redeployment rate, can you identify which individual contractors are not being sent out? Get contract finish dates and set up new placements for them before they slip away.
2.6 Data Integrity
What: Highlights and gives you a bird's eye view of data quality across your database. This shows where data is missing, duplicate records, and other gritty bits that should be cleaned up for better search results.
Why: Searching your own database - and trusting those results - is the most efficient use of your money. According to the HCMC Business Intentions Survey for July 2021, 45% of recruiters thought their database was flawed or incorrectly tagged. This led them to rely on job boards, spending more when they could’ve sourced the same candidates internally with better data integrity.
Watch: Specificity is key. Look for a system that lets you place your own value on missing data fields to mine the best results. Make sure it allows you to take actions like merging records, instead of just pointing fingers at dirty data and leaving your disgruntled team to clean up.