Your company’s offer acceptance rate is a pretty straightforward metric. And it’s super important! It shows whether your efforts and tactics drive results. Moreover, it depicts how candidates perceive your company and if they find it to be the right environment for them. So, how to measure it? What to do for improved outcomes and more qualified hires? Take a sneak peek. This comprehensive guide will help you track & enhance your rates.
Basic meaning: What does the offer acceptance rate mean?
In simple words, an offer acceptance rate definition suggests that this metric showcases how likely candidates are to accept a job offer from you. So, it sort of indicates the success of your recruitment process. The good news is that you can get some results quite intuitively. And that means that meticulous round-the-clock tracking isn’t required to spot whether you’re doing an excellent job – or the other way around. But even though a low offer acceptance rate is easy to spot, it’s always best to dig in a little deeper if your hiring efforts start to fail. In fact, that’s the ideal time to snap out of it, measure your success with a precise formula, and start refining your tactics.
Average job offer acceptance rate
Here’s a crucial question to ask before you start tracking your results: What is a good offer acceptance rate? Well, that could depend on more than a single factor. But some figures are indisputable tho. So, if you only get around 40% of candidates who made it into the final round and didn’t choose to reject your job offer, that’s a clear sign of a disaster waiting to happen. On the other hand, expecting to score a 100% candidate leaping into your company is just crazy. For example, Google did manage to surpass a whopping 90% of accepted job offers. But – that’s a global giant.
According to some research, the average job offer acceptance rate is a bit under 80%. And these surveys were conducted across the tech industry. So, the figures do seem quite encouraging. If you’re one of those who can score this high, that’s the ultimate indicator that your requirements and candidates’ skills and aspirations match. Plus, your conditions and benefits (along with other key elements that attract or discourage potential hires) are also aligned with the market. And that’s a route toward becoming an employer of choice!
Offer acceptance rate formula
Companies tend to follow this metric annually. However, it can be tracked more often. Because some months just require more recruiting efforts, and some bring more qualified candidates to the pool. Still, the main recipe remains the same, regardless of how frequently you choose to measure your results. So, how to calculate the offer acceptance rate? Here’s your formula:
The # of accepted job offers is divided by the total # of job offers given within a (specific) period of time.
And here’s another key point to remember and track your metrics by – include only final and official job offers. Anything that’s been offered informally can’t be used for this equation.
More similar recruitment metrics to look into
There are countless reasons to keep track of recruitment metrics. Knowing your firm’s strengths and gaps will help you be more efficient, boost your hiring strategies, and save lots of time and money. It will lead to a more beneficial impact, in the long run, improving your retention rates (which indeed is a big deal). But, when it comes to the offer acceptance rate, these are the essential metrics you just have to watch out for:
- Days-to-accept: No worries, waiting for a few days before a candidate officially accepts the job offer is perfectly normal. Still, if a week goes by before you get any response, then you might need to rethink what you’re offering.
- No-show rate: On rare occasions, candidates accept to start a new job but fail to show up on their official day one. It could mean that they were still considering other offers and chose to go for another company. But if it turns out that this scenario happens to you every once in a while, something’s definitely off. Your evaluation process could be the problem here. You may have missed a few key points regarding the candidates’ expectations or motivation.
The best remedy for the struggles you could notice by tracking these two analytics is to structure your processes. In the first case, it could be smart to specify a time frame and let your potential hires respond within it. As for the second one, canvass your interview process and look for errors there.
How to increase offer acceptance rate in 3 easy steps
There are several tested ways to boost your score and hire more skilled candidates swiftly. However, we’ll talk about the big three now. So start by paying close attention to these components, and build your way to the top from there.
Explore the market & ensure your company’s got a competitive edge
Knowing what others do can help you map your very own efforts and outcomes. So, take a second glance at your competitors. On the one hand, it’s about the money. And you should get familiar with salary ranges within your niche. The most simple way to do so is by visiting those sources that offer collected salary data. And it’s best to search by industry and region.
But there’s more. Certain benefits and perks always work like magic. Flexibility and remote work are at the very top of the list of priorities for most tech talents. And now, new trends, like a four-day workweek, are emerging. Finally, it’s crucial to help your people feel fresh and secure. You can do so through better health plans, extra time off, etc. Take your pick. See what your target crowd wants and strives for, and do your best to keep their aims aligned with your hiring needs, budget, and capabilities.
Take a closer look at your interview process and refine it
Here’s a not-so-secret piece of info: most interview processes are found dreadful. In other words, candidates hate them. So, the first point that needs fixing is the length and complexity of the steps and phases your potential hires will go through. Don’t choose redundancy, and don’t get yourself tangled in multiple circles of obsolete interviews.
It’s also imperative to ask the right questions. That way, you can understand the candidates’ true motivations and goals. If the aftermath seems vague and the applicant obviously maintains a zero-given attitude, it’s probably wise to skip the official job offer. Finally, it’s essential to let candidates ask questions and state their concerns. Be accessible and grant them the information they seek.
Communicate with candidates and understand their needs
It does sound like a cliche, but when it comes to hiring, honesty indeed is the best policy. So, be sure to live and recruit by this simple rule. Be transparent from the initial point of contact with each candidate. And that covers the official job offer too. Sure, you must keep them informed throughout the whole interview process. But paper beats Zoom, so it’s essential to spread those words onto a written document.
Recruiters and hiring managers should speak about the company’s culture, values, and everything nice from the first meeting on. Then, other participants should take on the challenge and share their insights regarding the projects and skills needed to finish them successfully. And while at it, the company’s representatives and interviewers must listen closely to what their prospective hires have to say. And more importantly – what they have to ask. And finally, don’t be afraid to mention some gaps and negative points because those will come up eventually, so it’s better to be open about them as well.
Track your metrics & always know where to look!
If you aim for more efficient hiring, you must analyze your processes regularly. Also, be sure to ask the right questions. In this case, start with the basic ones, like – How do you calculate the acceptance rate? Then, come up with ways to improve your strategies based on the results you get when using the precise formula. In addition, follow those other analytics and KPIs to get complete insights and optimal results. And finally, don’t miss out on the brand-new tools and recruitment methods that can change your ways and drive all sorts of gains.
Don’t know where to start? We’re here to guide you through smooth hiring.
