HR and recruitment advice

Top 3 Recruitment Metrics Charities Should Be Using To Hire Top Talent

HR teams, are you looking to streamline your recruitment process? Here’s our top 3 Moxie tips.

Let’s set the scene.

You work for an incredible housing association or charity that’s doing its part to make a real difference in the lives of people in the community.

You joined, fully equipped with experience in policy placement and strategic planning, and better yet, you joined because your values align!

Making a positive difference is what you’re all about. You understand your charity's mission and you want to play your part in creating a brighter future. Kudos to that.

So, now you’re tasked with hiring and onboarding an entire team…no pressure. The fundamentals are easy: Hire caring and talented individuals who share your passion for wanting to make a positive difference (with the experience to back this up.)

The job adverts have been written and posted and yet…silence

*Queue the tumbleweed passing by*

Or, perhaps you ARE receiving applicants, but unfortunately, they’re just not quite hitting the mark regarding their experiences or qualifications.

We feel your pain.

As a recruitment agency that specialises in working with third-sector organisations and charities, we often receive feedback on the challenges HR teams struggle with when it comes to hiring the right people.

Our Support & Supported Housing team have put together a free, downloadable guide to help charities identify ways of strengthening their recruitment process.

In this blog we’ll take a look at 3 Moxie Metric recommendations to track during your recruitment process, not only to identify gaps in attracting and retaining talent but to understand the overall candidate experience.

  1. Source of Hire

Let’s dive into an essential aspect of recruitment for charities: Source of Hire.

Ever found yourself wondering where your top-notch candidates are coming from? Are they coming from your website, are your team just as excited to shout out and refer your roles, or perhaps they’re filtering through via recruitment agencies?

Well, Source of Hire is like your trusty map, guiding you to the root of your best hires. It helps you uncover answers to questions like:

  • Where are your job postings reaching the right audiences?

  • Which platforms or channels are supplying the most promising candidates?

  • And where should you focus your recruitment efforts for the best results and return on investment?

Understanding your Source of Hire can truly be a game-changer in the competitive race to secure top talent.

So, here are some Moxie top tips to make the most of this metric:

  1. Cast a Wide Net: Don't limit yourself -Explore various platforms, from specialist job boards to social media campaigns, to expand your reach and attract a diverse pool of talent.

  2. Analyse and Adapt: Keep a keen eye on the data. Look for trends, capitalize on successful channels, and refine your recruitment strategy.

  3. Embrace Diversity: Diverse sources often lead to a more inclusive talent pool. Actively seek out opportunities to connect with candidates from different backgrounds and communities to enrich your organisation.



  1. Application Rate

Something you may want to consider is integrating ATS into your recruitment process.

Not only do we recommend this, but 83% of recruitment professionals say that having an ATS has helped them recruit faster.

"Your application rates can tell us so much about the attractiveness of your adverts and employer brand, how competitive your offering is, the accessibility and ease of your process etc.”


Your application rates can tell us so much about the attractiveness of your adverts and employer brand, how competitive your offering is, the accessibility and ease of your process etc.
Keeran Williams
Support & Supported Housing Senior Talent Partner

Application functions are a make-or-break deal when it comes to securing potential candidates, especially in the digital age.

Up to 90% of job seekers will use their mobile phones to search for new job opportunities, so it’s important to consider how user-friendly your application process is across multiple platforms.

Low application rates are likely the result of a poorly designed, complex, or lengthy application process. With candidates in the driving seat, it’s crucial to have this part of the recruitment process optimized to bring in the best results.

The bigger the talent pool, the bigger the odds are of finding the right person to join your team. An ATS system is a great way to track and identify the gaps that may be holding up your recruitment process and give you answers as to why great applicants are dropping out.

  1. Time To Hire & Time to Fill

Time to hire measures the duration from when a candidate first enters your recruitment pipeline right up to their job offer acceptance. Understanding this metric will help highlight the following:

  • The time it takes to know if you have the right candidate

  • The time it takes to offer a role once the right candidate has been found

  • Where are the gaps in your recruitment process - what are the hold-ups?

An example of a timeline could be:

A job advert is posted on the 1st of February> An application is received on the 10th> Between the 10th-24th is spent attending interviews and awaiting evaluations> On the 26th the candidate receives a job offer> On the 28th the candidate accepts the offer

Time to hire formula: The time between the date on which their application was received (10th) and the date on which they accepted the offer (28th) is the time to hire (18 days)

In today's competitive market, speed is everything, so any delay in the process could mean losing out on exceptional candidates to competitors. We advise finding a way to review and respond to applicants within 24 hours, and as soon as you see a CV or application you like, don’t hesitate, book them in for an interview .
Keeran Williams
Support & Supported Housing Senior Talent Partner

Did you know that 57% of job seekers will lose interest if the recruitment process takes too long?

If you're noticing you’ve got a good response from candidates but they’re not lasting through to the job offer stage, this may be a good indicator that you should find ways to speed up the process, such as utilising a recruitment agency (ahem…we hear Moxie People are pretty good.)

A good recruitment agency can add value to your process by finding and engaging niche candidates within smaller talent pools. A specialist agency will save you time by removing the heavy lifting, i.e. sifting through CV’s and picking out key skills and values that align with your organisation - ultimately, finding you the best match.

Case Study time!

Here’s how we were able to help Sue Carter from Llamau in their recruitment drive in just 2 months, on time and on budget.

3 Quickfire Moxie Tips To Improve Your Time To Hire

  1. Introduce pre-screening assessments early in the process to identify suitable candidates swiftly, streamlining the shortlisting and interview stage.

  2. Create a recruitment charter with your team that focuses on speed and efficiency, for example, reviewing and responding to all new applicants within 24 hours.

  3. Partner with a specialist recruitment agency that understands and cares about your organisation

Time to hire and time to fill are often linked with similar meanings, however, when used correctly, the time to fill metric can offer a unique insight into the efficiency of a recruitment process. It’s one of the most common KPIs to track when it comes to your business planning.

What questions do these metrics ask?

Time to hire: Once you have candidates for a job opening, how many days does it take you to hire someone?

Time to fill: Once a job opening has been published, how long does it take you to hire from this point?

As demonstrated, these metrics are closely related but distinct in their own right when it comes to their placement in the recruitment funnel.

Time to fill measures the duration from when a job opening is posted to the moment the position is successfully filled. This includes activities such as reviewing applications and the decision-making of a candidate’s selection.

It’s essentially a way to measure and plan the entire hiring process whereas time to hire zeroes in on the selection process and its efficiency.

We hope this blog can kickstart spark some great conversations about your recruitment funnel, helping you get to the nitty-gritty of your data and find a smoother recruitment process to hire amazing candidates.

If you’re looking for additional metrics to guide your recruitment process, you’re in luck. We’ve prepared a free downloadable recruitment insight guide to help your charity thrive this year.

Additional support can always be found with our Moxie team.

Get in touch!

We’re always happy to help.

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