The past couple of years in recruitment have been labelled by many of OneUp Sales clients as golden years. But what do the statistics really say? And how could it help you maximise revenue and productivity? Stick with us as we take a deep dive into our platform data and share some of the most interesting stats in recruitment productivity right now:
Interviews Booked
Our sample of 1000 recruiters (who use OneUp Sales) booked 717 interviews in May 2022 - this is more than double the number of interviews booked in May 2021. Moreover, the number of interviews booked increased steadily month by month in 2021, but really steadied out in 2022.
This might be because recruiters have spent time fine-tuning their processes, ensuring they can be more consistent in sending out the right CVs and securing candidate interviews. Of course, it's likely that 2021 saw a lower number of interviews due to the restrictions in place to protect people during the pandemic - and generally a lot less people were hiring at this time.
December in both years saw a drop off in the number of interviews being booked - and if you work in recruitment this won’t come as a surprise to you. December is the month when people (especially decision makers!) start winding down their hiring efforts, meaning recruiters are booking fewer interviews and securing fewer placements.
Our recent report, The Hiring Hustle: Recruitment Productivity Roundup 2023, examines this December drop more closely and delivers actionable suggestions for making the most of a quieter month in recruitment. Some ideas include:
- Diversifying your communication at this time of year.
- Spending time on admin-specific tasks.
- Reaching out to past candidates to ask for referrals or see how they’re settling in.
Calls per Outcome
When it comes to calls per outcome - as in, how many calls it takes to either add a new job vacancy or make a new placement - this is at its highest in the final quarter of the year. This is again reflective of the December drop and the lead up to this, where recruiters have to work harder to make the magic happen.
Our data suggests that it takes recruiters an average of 77 calls to generate an outcome in the final quarter of the year - compared to an average of only 46 calls to generate an outcome in the first quarter of the year.
Reflecting on this data, it seems that things across the recruitment industry are getting done much quicker in the first quarter. It is worth capitalising on this and building on the ‘New Year, New Me’ momentum - you don’t have to let things drop back down in the middle of the year!
CVs Sent
July through November were the most consistent months for sending out CVs - the number barely shifts during this time. Consistency and productivity generally go hand in hand.
Research by Troy Smith - Assistant professor of management at the University of Nebraska–Lincoln’s College of Business, looked at how fluctuating ‘levels of challenge’ for employees lead to a lack of productivity. By keeping expectations, workload, targets, systems, and policies consistent, employees tend to be a lot more consistent.
Smith’s research ‘distinguished between challenge and hindrance stressors. Challenge stressors, such as introducing levels of complexity and accountability, tend to generate personal growth and achievement. Conversely, hindrance stressors, such as changing bureaucratic policies or constrained resources, tend to interfere with accomplishments and achieving goals.’
If your own data doesn’t necessarily reflect the consistency that our data shows, then it’s worth taking the time to ensure your systems are as fine-tuned as they can be - and also making sure you are on top of any recruiter training!
Sending the right CVs out the first time around and making a match much earlier on in the process is what your team needs to be doing.
Placements Made
In terms of placing candidates in job roles, this statistic is a really interesting one. The number of placements our clients made was triple in January 2022 compared to January 2021 - an exponential increase. We know that early 2022 saw the highest ever level of job vacancies across the UK, with over 1.28 million jobs available to candidates. This is 94% higher than the number of vacancies in March 2021 - again, likely because of the lack of hiring at this point due to the pandemic still being in full swing.
So it’s no wonder that our recruitment clients were able to generate such a large amount of success in 2022, with so many jobs available to candidates. Keeping an eye on the job market as a whole is vital for recruiters, so you and your team can know when to really make a push.
Revenue per Call
The highest average amount of revenue generated per call was in February 2022, at £65.68 - unsurprisingly, this statistic was at its lowest in December, when recruiters generated an average of £32.12 per call.
The first quarter overall is when revenue per call is at its highest, which means it is the ideal time to capitalise on what you’re doing and go at it hard. Many recruitment firms heavily incentivise at the end of the year as they know it will be quiet, but we would suggest carrying this incentivisation into your overall company culture. That way, when things are good, they’ll be great.
Of course some times of year will always generate a higher revenue per call, but there are ways to make this more predictable and consistent. Switching things up based on the time of year - (for example, using LinkedIn rather than calls in December, so people have a message to read when they return from their time off instead of a call lost in the ether) is a fantastic way of doing this.
Calls Made
OneUp clients made the most calls in October 2022; they made the least in the first quarter of the year. Looking at the final quarter in particular, one way of boosting productivity in recruitment at this point is to act as though this quarter is made up solely of October and November. Taking 2 months to hit a 3-month target might seem impossible, but knowing that December will be much quieter, it makes sense to condense your efforts and get a head start earlier on.
This means you won’t feel guilty using the final month of the year for different tasks - sending out Christmas cards or messages to clients and candidates, refreshing your email templates, and planning for the following year. Going into a brand new year with everything in place, nothing outstanding, and a renewed relationship with old contacts is a sure fire way to guarantee success.
In the recruitment industry, productivity is the key to success, and these stats prove that consistency is an attainable goal.
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Read our full report here: The Hiring Hustle: Recruitment Productivity Roundup 2023.
