Ever felt like your hiring process is stuck in slow motion, even when everything seems to be working?
You’re not alone. According to SHRM, the average time to fill a role is 36 days—and in fast-moving industries, that’s an eternity. But here’s the catch: most organizations focus too much on the finish line and not enough on what’s slowing them down.
That’s why it becomes important to track Recruitment Process Outsourcing (RPO) performance metrics. But a lot of brands don’t have any idea of what they should measure and how to do it.
In this blog, we’ll break down 8 essential metrics that give you visibility into what’s working—and what’s not—in your RPO strategy.
From Cost Per Hire to Hiring Manager Satisfaction, we’ll cover what each metric means, how to calculate it, and why it matters.
RPO Metrics You Must Track to Monitor Performance
Cost Per Hire (CPH)
Definition: Cost Per Hire measures the total expenses incurred to recruit and onboard a new employee. This includes advertising costs, recruiter salaries, referral bonuses, and other related expenditures.
Calculation: CPH = Total Recruitment Costs/Number of Hires
Tracking CPH helps you identify where you’re overspending and what’s driving unnecessary delays. For example, if external agency fees are spiking while internal hiring slows, it may point to inefficiencies in candidate sourcing or screening.
Lowering CPH without compromising quality usually means faster, more focused processes—like automating resume screening or tapping into pre-vetted talent pools. A well-optimized CPH is often a leading indicator that your RPO partner is aligned with your hiring velocity goals.
Time to Fill
Definition: Time to Fill refers to the number of days it takes to fill a job vacancy, starting from the job requisition approval to the candidate’s acceptance of the offer.
Calculation: Time to Fill = Date of Offer Acceptance − Date of Requisition Approval
Time to Fill is the core indicator of recruitment efficiency. When this number is high, it often signals delays in sourcing, screening, or decision-making.
A reliable RPO partner should consistently benchmark and reduce this number by streamlining workflows, building candidate pipelines, and using predictive analytics to forecast hiring needs.
Reducing Time to Fill translates directly to faster business continuity and better candidate experiences—both crucial for scaling organizations.
Interview to Offer Ratio
Definition: This ratio indicates the number of candidates interviewed before an offer is extended. It reflects the effectiveness of the screening process in identifying suitable candidates.
Calculation: Interview to Offer Ratio = Number of Interviews Conducted/Number of Offers Extended
A bloated ratio means your team is spending too much time interviewing candidates who aren’t the right fit—wasting time and resources.
A well-performing RPO will tighten this ratio by improving pre-screening, refining job descriptions, and aligning closely with hiring managers. When fewer interviews lead to more offers, you’re not only saving time but speeding up the entire decision cycle.
Offer to Acceptance Ratio
Definition: This metric measures the percentage of job offers accepted by candidates, providing insight into the competitiveness and attractiveness of the offers made.
Calculation: Offer to Acceptance Ratio=(Number of Offers Accepted/Number of Offers Made)×100
Low acceptance rates slow down hiring and force you to restart the process repeatedly. A high-performing RPO team should help craft better offers and maintain strong candidate communication throughout the funnel.
Improving this ratio boosts your conversion rate—meaning fewer reworks, faster hires, and significantly less TAT creep.
Quality of Hire
Definition: Quality of Hire evaluates the value new employees bring to the organization, often assessed through performance reviews, productivity metrics, and cultural fit.
Calculation: Quality of Hire = Sum of Performance Scores for New Hires/Number of New Hires
It might not affect initial turnaround directly, but Quality of Hire has massive downstream effects. Poor-quality hires lead to early exits, rehiring loops, and loss of team productivity—dragging your TAT longer over time.
An RPO that delivers consistently high-quality candidates helps avoid these pitfalls and keeps your recruitment machine moving forward, not in circles.
Candidate Satisfaction
Definition: This metric gauges the experience and satisfaction of candidates throughout the recruitment process, typically collected through post-interview surveys.
Calculation: Candidate Satisfaction Score = Sum of Satisfaction Ratings/Number of Respondents
A positive candidate experience can speed up decision-making, reduce drop-offs, and encourage quicker offer acceptances. On the flip side, poor experiences often lead to ghosting or offer rejections, forcing you to restart the process.
A responsive, well-managed RPO will ensure timely communication, clear expectations, and a streamlined experience—all of which help shorten the hiring cycle and improve your employer brand.
Retention Rate
Definition: Retention Rate measures the percentage of new hires who remain with the company for a specified period, indicating the effectiveness of the hiring process in selecting candidates who are a good fit.
Calculation: Retention Rate = (Number of Employees Retained/Number of Employees Hired)×100
A low retention rate means you’re rehiring for the same roles repeatedly—ballooning your TAT and draining team energy. By tracking this, you can pinpoint if the issue lies in hiring, culture fit, onboarding, or unrealistic job expectations.
A quality-focused RPO will align candidate sourcing with long-term fit, helping you avoid backfills and keep your time-to-hire trending down.
Hiring Manager Satisfaction
Definition: This metric assesses the satisfaction of hiring managers with the recruitment process and the quality of candidates presented.
Calculation: Hiring Manager Satisfaction Score = Total Satisfaction Ratings/Number of Managers Surveyed
Unhappy hiring managers slow things down—delaying feedback, rescheduling interviews, or pushing back on candidate selections. When satisfaction is high, collaboration improves, decisions are faster, and alignment on ideal candidate profiles tightens.
A proactive RPO keeps hiring managers in the loop and adapts quickly to their needs, which keeps your hiring engine running smoothly and efficiently.
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Conclusion
At the end of the day, what gets measured truly gets managed. And in the world of RPO, where time, quality, and cost are constantly in play, these eight metrics aren’t just numbers—they’re strategic levers that can transform how you hire.
Tracking Cost Per Hire helps you budget smarter. Watching Time to Fill shows you where delays are happening. And metrics like Candidate Satisfaction and Quality of Hire make sure you’re not just filling roles—but filling them right.
When you add in insights from Hiring Manager Satisfaction and Retention Rate, you get a full 360° view of your RPO performance.
If your current RPO partner isn’t helping you track these KPIs or continuously optimizing to improve them, it might be time to rethink the relationship. A high-performing RPO should act like a true extension of your team—not just filling positions but driving talent outcomes.
Frequently Asked Questions
What is the most important KPI for measuring RPO performance?
While all metrics matter, Time to Fill is often the most telling KPI. It reflects the speed and efficiency of your RPO process. However, for a holistic view, you should also track Quality of Hire, Cost Per Hire, and Candidate Satisfaction to ensure speed doesn’t compromise quality.
How can improving the Interview to Offer Ratio speed up hiring?
A better Interview to Offer Ratio means your screening and shortlisting processes are sharper. Fewer interviews per offer signal that you’re putting only the most qualified candidates in front of hiring managers—saving everyone time and accelerating decisions.
What’s a good Offer to Acceptance Ratio in RPO recruitment?
A strong benchmark is an 80-90% acceptance rate. If you’re consistently below that, it may point to issues in compensation, employer branding, or candidate experience—all areas where a strategic RPO partner can offer quick wins.
Why is Candidate Satisfaction a critical RPO metric?
Today’s candidates are more selective than ever. A high satisfaction score means candidates feel respected, informed, and valued—which increases offer acceptance rates and reduces ghosting. It also strengthens your employer brand in competitive markets.
How does Supersourcing help companies improve their RPO performance?
Supersourcing goes beyond just filling roles—we build custom RPO solutions that focus on speed, quality, and retention. With a tech-powered platform, pre-vetted talent pools, and dedicated hiring pods, we help businesses reduce Time to Fill by up to 50%. Our model is built for scale, transparency, and partnership—so whether you’re hiring 10 or 1,000, you’re always ahead of the curve.