Objective Performance Ratings Drive Real Recruiting Results

In my last post, I outlined the theory for why objective recruiter ratings ensure you have great recruiters working on all your jobs. But do highly rated recruiters really get substantially better results? The answer is a resounding yes. On Scout, everyone wants to work with highly rated recruiters in part because they have a better experience, but most importantly, because they get better results. Results drive performance. Performance drives results.

For example, most employers use both in-house talent acquisition professionals as well as third party recruiters from search or staffing firms. Of course, it is important to objectively rate both types of recruiters, and the power of objective ratings is seen clearly in the graph below. As shown in the following chart, even “average” recruiters (three-star working with three-star) submit good candidates and get a very high percent (24%) of them into the interview process. However, with top recruiters (five-star working with five-star) the results are nearly 100% better with a staggering 45% of all candidates accepted into the interview process!

Highly rated recruiters also shine in terms of executing on diversity and inclusion initiatives. The higher rated the recruiter, the smaller the gender pay equity gap, with five-star recruiters virtually eliminating any gap at all.  The data shows that with the best recruiters, managers don’t have to choose between great candidates and diversity, as the best specialty recruiters clearly can deliver both.

Ratings work because they provide critical information on who is good at what, but also, like other reputation systems such as Uber, AirBnB or Yelp, they have the power to influence and change behavior (for the better). For example, recruiters who know they’re being measured will not submit marginal candidates because it will hurt their ratings. At the same time, ratings provide consequence for employer recruiters who fail to include adequate information or respond to candidates in a timely way.  Over time, the consequences inherent in a good ratings system challenges everyone to perform at higher and higher levels.

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It’s clear that successful recruiting requires great specialty recruiters to be working on each and every job. It also is clear that the best way to ensure you have great recruiters working on your jobs is to use objective, job-type-specific, performance-based ratings. This type of rating system incorporates and summarizes all the critical aspects of recruiting performance, from candidate access to understanding job requirements and culture to advocating for the candidate and company and closing the deal. We see this in the data with regards to who submits great candidates and the compensation of those who are hired because the best recruiters negotiate good deals between great companies and candidates. Objective ratings also incorporate benchmark comparable data so you not only know who is good at what types of jobs within your talent acquisition staff and staple of vendors, but also, how that group compares with those competing with you to get the best talent.