Your free 6-minute recruitment health check
How effective is your recruitment? Understanding this is something every employer can benefit from.
Even if you're not hiring now. Because attracting and retaining the right people is business critical.
Yes, the goal is to hire the right person and for them to stay with you for the long term, but understanding recruitment effectiveness is more than this.
Ask these 10 simple questions to help you assess what’s working — and what’s not.
1. Are your recruitment campaigns attracting the right people?
How much time do you spend reviewing unsuitable applicants? My guess is a lot.
I read recently that people/HR professionals spend 3-5 hours per day reviewing applications. Half of your work day? Unless recruitment is your core role, you know this is too much.
While every candidate needs a response, you should only be spending time on suitable applicants. Aim for a suitability ratio of 30% or higher. You can achieve this with an optimised recruitment approach based on insights and powered by great content.
2. Are you getting enquiries and applications from people who are interested in your organisation, not just people who need a job?
Intention matters. Of course your candidates are applying and interviewing elsewhere. But how much do your candidates want this job and to work with your organisation?
Perhaps you just need a bum on a seat. A person who needs a job and has the skills, period. It that's the case, my content and approach are not for you.
If you're still with me, my guess is you want to hire someone who wants to work with your organisation. They want this job. So they need to know you.
They will do their research. Be proactive and transparent about who you are, what you offer, and why people should choose you.
Are you giving people a compelling reason to choose you? Or are you just another job ad in the crowd?
3. Critically evaluate your job advertising, careers page and all candidate touch points.
I know, this is not question, Here it is:
Is your messaging compelling, clear and accurate?
Recruitment is marketing. When you’re hiring, you are selling an opportunity.
If your recruitment content is generic, vague, confusing or filled with cliches or jargons, great talent will keep scrolling.
7 in 10 people say lack of information is a key frustration when they're looking for a new job.
The key here is clarity, authenticity and differentiation.
Would you be excited to apply for your own job posting? If the answer is no, we should talk.
4. Are you honestly and authentically communicating your employee value proposition (EVP)?
Your EVP is not a shiny list of benefits. It’s the value you provide to your people.
This week AHRI published an article about how an employer turned their EVP into a strategic asset. Hoorah!
I wrote about this last week: We need to talk about your real EVP.
Authentic recruitment messaging builds trust, attracts more of the right people and increases new hire commitment and performance
94% of candidates are more likely to apply if you actively showcase your culture and employer brand.
Let's do it!
5. Where are you sourcing suitable candidates?
Yes, job boards are the go-to place to find people. Yet half of NFP organisations struggle to attract the talent they need this way.
Here's why:
You are competing for attention in the NOISIEST part of the market.
You are hoping the right people happen to find you (rather than being intentional about reaching them).
You are limiting your reach to people who are actively searching (more on this coming).
Think of recruitment as a marketing challenge. How can you attract attention from the right people?
Get clear on who you want to attract and what matters to them.
Craft messaging that resonates.
Be visible beyond job boards.
6. Are you reaching passive and hidden talent?
Job boards only reach a fraction of the candidate market. 7 in 10 people are open to a new opportunity, but not actively searching.
How can you reach passive and hidden talent?
Be intentional, creative and proactive.
If you follow the 3 steps above, you can leverage your content to attract and engage attention from the right people.
7. Are there any unnecessary barriers or hoops in your process?
Some of the complexity in hiring processes is unnecessary. Controversial? Perhaps. But you know it's true.
Too often, recruitment is designed to protect the organisation, not create a great experience for the people you’re trying to attract to join you.
The truth is, hiring teams are not the only ones with selection criteria.
Effective recruitment processes are clear, human and purposeful. They respect people’s time and help both parties assess alignment.
8. Are you losing people to other offers and why?
It stings when this happens. If you’ve ever reached the end of your hiring process thinking you’ve found the one only to have them decline the offer and walk away, you are not alone.
Sometimes this is about salary, but not always.
I have also seen this happen because of misaligned expectations, poor communication and delays.
How can you avoid this happening?
Getting recruitment right is about being clear, timely and consistent. Build trust and engagement through every single interaction so that by the time you get to offer stage, they’re all in.
9. How would candidates rate their experience with your organisation?
Almost every person I’ve spoken to and met during 20 years doing this work has a story about poor candidate experience. Lack of feedback, long silences, cold rejections and vague emails.
All of these experiences stay with us as human beings.
What’s scary is that things haven’t improved. What I want to know is why hiring teams (and recruiters) think it’s okay not to respond or worse, ghost people after an interview.
Just this week I read that half of Australian job seekers have walked away from a recruitment process because of poor communication and 51% of people have been ghosted.
A 2025 LinkedIn report shows 57% of job seekers say they’re hearing back from hiring managers less often than in previous years.
Seriously? How are we still here?
Every interaction a candidate has with your organisation matters. Treating people well isn’t simply about being ‘nice’ — it’s an investment in your brand and reputation.
10. What does new hire data tell you about sentiment, engagement and performance?
In recruitment we often measure time to fill, application source, application quality.
I know you measure retention, turnover and engagement.
Retention shouldn’t be measured in isolation. Employee sentiment — how people feel in the early weeks and months of a new job is incredibly insightful for your recruitment approach.
40% of people who leave a new job within the first 12 months, say their decision is based on a mismatch between what was discussed during the hiring process and the reality of the job.
This is not a performance issue. This is a recruitment and messaging issue.
Connecting the dots between your new hire data and your recruitment approach can be very powerful.
Flexible talent support for NFP leaders
I am deeply committed to making recruitment easier for nonprofit leaders.
I support leaders and organisations to attract the right people through:
traditional recruitment solutions
flexible unbundled recruitment support
helping you review and improve your recruitment approach
helping you understand and articulate your real EVP through employee research
leveraging this research to develop authentic recruitment content
building campaigns that reflect culture and the employee experience
consulting and advisory work to develop talent attraction strategy and capacity.
If you’re curious to know more, send me a message or get in touch for a chat.
As a communications professional and writer turned recruiter, I know modern recruitment is marketing, and I'm on a mission to share this approach with the sector.
Each Friday, I share talent attraction advice and insights. The Nonprofit Talent Edge will help you become more intentional, creative and proactive with your recruitment.
Have a great week.
Cynthia