The Sourcing Effectiveness & ROI Tracking Spreadsheet is a tool designed to help HR leaders and recruitment teams monitor, measure, and optimize the performance of their talent sourcing strategies. By tracking key metrics, costs, and conversions, you can make data-driven decisions to ensure that sourcing activities are delivering the highest return on investment (ROI). Below is a breakdown of the key components that should be included in the spreadsheet to track the effectiveness of your sourcing efforts.
Spreadsheet Structure Overview
The spreadsheet should consist of several tabs to track sourcing activities and their corresponding ROI. Here's an outline of the main sections:
- Sourcing Channels Overview
- Cost Tracking
- Conversion Metrics
- Candidate Quality Assessment
- Sourcing ROI Calculation
- Dashboard (Summary)
1. Sourcing Channels Overview
This tab should contain a breakdown of the different sourcing channels used to attract candidates. Some common channels include:
- Job Boards (e.g., Indeed, Monster)
- Social Media (e.g., LinkedIn, Twitter)
- Employee Referrals
- Recruitment Agencies
- University & Campus Recruiting
- Internal Talent Pool
- Company Careers Page
- Networking Events / Job Fairs
- Other
For each channel, track the following data:
- Channel Name: Name of the sourcing channel used.
- Source: The specific platform or tool used within that channel (e.g., LinkedIn Recruiter, Indeed).
- Number of Candidates Sourced: The number of candidates that applied or were sourced from this channel.
- Cost Per Channel: The cost of using each sourcing channel (e.g., job posting fees, agency fees, advertising costs).
- Source Engagement: Measure how engaged candidates are with your outreach (e.g., response rates, application completions, etc.).
2. Cost Tracking
This section of the spreadsheet should focus on tracking all the associated costs for each sourcing channel. Some of the key data points to track here include:
- Ad Spend: Total money spent on job ads, sponsored posts, or paid campaigns on platforms like LinkedIn, Facebook, etc.
- Sourcing Tool Subscriptions: The cost of any tools or platforms used for candidate search, such as LinkedIn Recruiter, job board subscriptions, CRM tools, etc.
- Recruitment Agency Fees: The cost associated with third-party recruitment agencies (e.g., contingency or retained fees).
- Referral Bonuses: If you are running an employee referral program, track the bonus payouts to employees for successful referrals.
- Event/Conference Costs: Fees associated with attending networking events, conferences, or job fairs.
- Other Expenses: Any additional expenses tied to candidate sourcing, such as hiring event costs or promotional materials.
Make sure to track costs monthly or weekly, depending on how often you run campaigns, and categorize them accordingly.
3. Conversion Metrics
This tab should capture the success rate of your sourcing efforts. You'll need to track how well candidates from each sourcing channel move through the recruitment funnel:
- Total Candidates Applied: The total number of candidates who applied via each sourcing channel.
- Candidates Screened: The number of candidates who passed the initial screening process.
- Candidates Interviewed: The number of candidates invited to interviews.
- Offers Extended: The number of job offers made to candidates sourced from this channel.
- Offers Accepted: The number of job offers accepted by candidates.
- Hiring Conversion Rate: Calculate the percentage of applicants from each channel who were ultimately hired.
To calculate conversion rates for each stage:
- Screening Conversion Rate = (Candidates Screened / Total Candidates Applied) * 100
- Interview Conversion Rate = (Candidates Interviewed / Candidates Screened) * 100
- Offer Conversion Rate = (Offers Extended / Candidates Interviewed) * 100
- Hiring Conversion Rate = (Offers Accepted / Offers Extended) * 100
These metrics will give you a clear picture of where candidates are dropping off in the process and how effective each sourcing channel is at moving candidates through the pipeline.
4. Candidate Quality Assessment
In this tab, you can track the quality of candidates sourced from each channel. Metrics to include here are:
- Hiring Manager Satisfaction: Track feedback from hiring managers on the quality of candidates (e.g., high, medium, low).
- Time-to-Fill: Measure how long it takes, on average, to fill a role through each sourcing channel.
- Candidate Retention: For new hires, track the retention rate over a defined period (e.g., 3, 6, or 12 months) to assess whether candidates hired from certain channels are staying longer.
- Performance: If available, track the performance of hires sourced through each channel. For instance, are candidates from certain channels performing better or hitting key performance indicators (KPIs) faster?
You can use a simple rating system (1-5 stars or Low/Medium/High) to assess satisfaction, retention, and performance.
5. Sourcing ROI Calculation
This is the critical section where you calculate the ROI of your sourcing efforts. For each sourcing channel, calculate:
- Total Cost of Sourcing: Sum up the total cost of using each sourcing channel (cost per channel + any other associated costs).
- Cost Per Hire (CPH): Calculate how much it costs to hire one candidate from each sourcing channel. Use the formula:
- CPH = Total Cost of Sourcing / Number of Hires from the Channel
- Quality of Hire: Assess the quality of candidates hired from each sourcing channel (based on performance, retention, etc.).
- Sourcing ROI: This formula measures how much value you are getting from each sourcing channel relative to the investment:
- ROI = (Value Generated by Hire – Cost of Sourcing) / Cost of Sourcing
6. Dashboard (Summary)
The final tab should serve as a quick, at-a-glance summary of all the key metrics and calculations. The dashboard will help HR leaders and recruitment teams quickly understand which sourcing channels are delivering the best results and ROI. You can include:
- A total sourcing cost breakdown for each channel.
- Conversion rates and candidate quality assessments for each sourcing channel.
- Hiring ROI and a comparison of different channels to easily see where your efforts should be focused.
- Visual aids, such as charts or graphs, to display trends over time (e.g., cost per hire, conversion rates, ROI).
Conclusion
The Sourcing Effectiveness & ROI Tracking Spreadsheet is an essential tool for tracking the performance of your sourcing strategies. By regularly reviewing these metrics, you can identify which channels are most cost-effective, how well they are converting passive candidates into hires, and what improvements can be made. This data-driven approach will help you optimize sourcing efforts, improve efficiency, and ensure that your recruitment budget is being spent wisely.