While most execs say branding matters, too many teams are flying blind without the right numbers to back it up.
What metrics actually show if candidates dig your company?
Forget the fluff stats – we’re talking about the measures that connect your brand to real results like faster hiring, lower costs, and keeping your best people around.
Our guide cuts through the BS to show you exactly which employer branding KPIs really move the needle for your talent strategy this year.
No corporate speak, just practical insights to help you crush your recruiting goals.
Why employer branding metrics matter
Most companies track basic stuff like application numbers, but they’re missing the bigger picture.
When you measure the right things, you can see exactly where candidates drop off, what makes them accept offers, and why your best people stick around.
The reality is that candidates research your company like they’d research a major purchase.
They check reviews, ask friends, and stalk your social media.
By tracking how they interact with your brand at each stage, you can fix the weak spots in your recruiting process and highlight what makes your company special.
Smart metrics don’t just look good in reports – they save you serious cash.
Companies with strong employer brands spend way less on recruiting, fill positions faster, and keep employees longer.
But you can’t improve what you don’t measure. Can you?
So let’s look at the right metrics to track that can help you out.
1. Candidate net promoter score (NPS)
Candidate Net Promoter Score (cNPS) provides a clear, quantifiable indicator of how your recruitment process impacts potential employees.
It originated from the traditional Net Promoter Score, a widely used marketing metric.
At its core, cNPS measures how likely candidates are to recommend your company’s hiring process to others based on a single powerful question: “Based on your experience as a candidate, how likely are you to recommend applying to [company] to others?” Candidates respond on a scale from 0 (extremely unlikely) to 10 (very likely).
Responses fall into three distinct categories:
- Promoters (9-10): Candidates who had excellent experiences and would actively recommend your company
- Passives (7-8): Satisfied but unenthusiastic candidates who likely won’t promote or criticize your company
- Detractors (0-6): Candidates who had negative experiences and might share unfavorable feedback about your company
The cNPS calculation is straightforward: subtract the percentage of detractors from the percentage of promoters.
The score ranges from -100 (all detractors) to +100 (all promoters).
Why candidate NPS matters?
First and foremost, tracking candidate NPS helps you enhance your candidate experience.
In this job market, your reputation significantly impacts recruitment success.
Approximately one-third of candidates have declined job offers specifically because of negative employer reviews online.
Candidate NPS serves as a critical employer branding metric for several reasons:
- Improves recruiting processes: By gathering direct feedback, talent teams gain insights into specific areas needing improvement in their hiring workflow.
- Strengthens employer brand: A poor candidate experience doesn’t stay private—72% of job seekers share negative experiences online, while 55% avoid certain companies after reading negative reviews.
- Predicts future relationships: According to research from the Talent Board, candidate resentment (people severing relationships with companies due to poor experiences) has increased by 40% since 2016.
- Converts candidates to customers: Poor candidate experiences can cause potential customers to avoid doing business with your company altogether.
- Creates brand ambassadors: Promoters become powerful advocates, recommending your company to their networks without any additional recruitment costs.
How to track candidate NPS
Implementing candidate NPS tracking requires strategic planning:
- When to measure: Track cNPS at multiple stages throughout your recruitment process:
- After application submission
- Post-interview
- After rejection
- Upon onboarding
- Who to survey: Ask the cNPS question to all job seekers, whether hired or not. Rejected candidates often offer more candid assessments that identify genuine improvement opportunities.
- Implementation methods:
- Manual surveys: Simple email surveys or feedback forms
- Dedicated candidate experience tools: Software that integrates with your ATS
- Pop-up prompts: Automatic survey requests that appear after application submission
- Best practices:
- Use anonymous surveys to encourage honest feedback
- Supplement the main NPS question with 3-5 additional questions to understand the “why” behind the scores
- Set SMART improvement goals, such as “Improve our cNPS by 10% in one quarter”
- Track trends over time to evaluate the impact of improvements
2. Employee referral rate
Employee referrals represent a powerful indicator of your organization’s cultural health and employer brand strength.
Understanding your employee referral rate provides insight into how current employees perceive their workplace.
It measures the percentage of new hires that come from recommendations made by your existing workforce. The formula is straightforward:
Employee referral rate = (Number of hires from employee referrals ÷ Total number of hires) × 100
Research shows that employee referral programs are prevalent across industries, with 63% of companies having documented referral processes in place.
This percentage rises to 69% among larger organizations with over 1,000 employees.
Nearly a quarter of all hiring across industries happens through employee referrals, highlighting this channel’s significance in modern recruitment efforts.
Why employee referrals reflect employer branding
Your employee referral rate serves as a litmus test for employer brand strength.
Consider this fundamental truth: employees rarely recommend workplaces they dislike.
When staff members enthusiastically refer candidates, they’re essentially endorsing your organization’s culture, values, and work environment.
The connection between referrals and employer branding works through several mechanisms:
- Authentic brand ambassadorship: When employees refer candidates, they implicitly tell prospects: “This is a great place to work, and I’d love for you to join me here”.
- Pre-vetted cultural fit: Referred candidates typically align better with your company culture, resulting in longer tenure and higher retention rates.
- Performance indicators: Data from Dell shows that sales teams hiring through referrals see higher revenue performance from these employees.
- Market penetration: Employee referrals help your employer brand reach passive talent who may not be actively searching through traditional channels.
Beyond these advantages, the financial benefits are substantial.
The average cost per hire through referrals is approximately $1,000 compared to typical recruitment costs ranging from $4,000 to $18,000.
How to measure employee referral rate
Tracking your employee referral rate effectively requires:
- Key tracking components:
- Number of referrals: Count new hires that came through employee recommendations
- Total hiring volume: Track all new hires across the same time period
- Technology utilization: Implement an Applicant Tracking System (ATS) to automate referral tracking
- Complementary metrics to monitor:
- Workforce participation rate: The percentage of employees actively participating in your referral program
- Referral quality: The number of qualified candidates referred versus other recruiting methods
- Retention comparison: Retention rates of referred hires versus those from other sources
- Optimization strategies:
- Secure senior leadership buy-in for program success
- Keep employees informed about their referrals’ progress
- Set clear expectations about ideal candidates
- Simplify the referral process through user-friendly technology
3. Glassdoor rating trend
Glassdoor rating trend measures the fluctuation in your company’s overall score and category-specific ratings over time.
The platform calculates ratings based on anonymous reviews from current and former employees, typically on a scale from 1 to 5.
Currently, the average company rating on Glassdoor is 3.3 out of 5.
Rather than focusing solely on your current rating, tracking the trend reveals crucial patterns in employee sentiment.
This employer branding metric encompasses:
- Overall company rating: A comprehensive score reflecting all reviews
- Sub-category ratings: Specific scores for workplace culture, compensation, leadership, and work-life balance
- CEO approval rating: Percentage indicating leadership perception
- Rating distribution: The spread of ratings across the 1-5 scale
Why glassdoor reviews impact employer brand
The influence of Glassdoor ratings on recruitment and employer branding cannot be overstated.
Research confirms that 86% of job applicants research company reviews and ratings prior to deciding where to apply.
This means candidates form impressions about your organization before any direct interaction occurs.
In an experimental study, researchers found that participants who saw positive reviews formed better opinions of companies, showed greater eagerness to apply, and requested smaller salary increases compared to those who viewed negative or neutral reviews.
The connection between reviews and business performance extends beyond recruitment.
Organizations with high employee satisfaction on Glassdoor consistently outperform their peers financially.
This correlation underscores how employer branding affects multiple aspects of business success:
- Talent attraction: Reviews influence candidates’ willingness to apply and compensation expectations
- Consumer perception: 64% of consumers stop purchasing from brands after hearing about poor employee treatment
- Investor confidence: Employee satisfaction correlates with stronger financial performance
How to monitor and improve glassdoor ratings
Effectively tracking your Glassdoor rating trend requires:
- Monitoring tools:
- Free Glassdoor Employer Profile to visualize ratings and interview trends
- Review Intelligence™ tool to analyze employee sentiment using natural language processing
- Improvement strategies:
- Respond thoughtfully to reviews with personalized, heartfelt responses
- Create action plans from feedback to drive organizational improvements
- Encourage balanced review submission to counteract potential rating imbalances
- Implement internal improvements to address root causes of negative feedback
4. Career page analytics
Behind every click, scroll, and application on your career site lies valuable data waiting to be analyzed.
Career page analytics provide crucial insights into how job seekers interact with your employment brand online.
What are career page analytics?
Career page analytics tell the story of candidates’ end-to-end experience on your career site, revealing not just where their journeys begin and end, but also why.
These metrics track how potential candidates interact with your employment content, providing quantifiable insights into your recruitment marketing effectiveness.
Key career page analytics include:
- Site visits: The total number of people visiting your career page
- Traffic sources: Channels generating traffic to your career site
- Bounce rate: Percentage of visitors who leave after viewing only one page
- Exit rate: Proportion of visitors who leave from a specific page after viewing multiple pages
- Forms drop-off rate: Percentage of candidates who begin but don’t complete application forms
- Application rate: Number of completed applications received through your career site
- Job view metrics: How many visitors view specific job postings
Why career page behavior reveals candidate interest
Career page behavior serves as a digital fingerprint of candidate engagement with your employer brand.
According to research, 33% of job seekers use employer career sites to search for jobs—a 7% increase compared to previous years.
Career page analytics reveal candidate interest through several mechanisms:
- Higher organic traffic generally signals stronger employer brand recognition
- Time spent on specific pages highlights which aspects of your employment offerings resonate most with potential applicants
- Bounce rate (benchmark: 35%) provides immediate feedback on content relevance
- Forms drop-off rate offers valuable insights into application process barriers
For instance, if a user encounters a mandatory CV upload field on mobile, they’re likely to abandon the process.
With a 35% drop-off rate on 100,000 started applications annually (at $10 per candidate acquisition cost), you could be losing 35,000 applications and $350,000 from your recruitment budget.
How to track and optimize career page metrics
Implementing effective career page analytics requires:
- Essential tracking tools:
- Google Analytics: Provides comprehensive visitor data
- ATS integration: Connects application data with visitor information
- Dedicated recruitment analytics platforms: Offer recruitment-specific insights
- Optimization strategies:
- Analyze source traffic patterns to identify your most effective recruitment channels
- Examine your career site structure and content to reduce exit rates
- Monitor application form completion times and dropout points to simplify the process
- Ensure mobile-friendliness since most users access career sites via mobile devices
5. Offer acceptance rate
Offer acceptance rate (OAR) measures the percentage of job offers accepted by candidates compared to the total number of offers extended by your organization.
The calculation is straightforward:
Offer acceptance rate = (Accepted offers ÷ Total offers made) × 100
Currently, the average offer acceptance rate across industries hovers around 69.3%.
However, this benchmark varies significantly by sector and role type, with technical positions experiencing rates as low as 65%.
For exceptional candidates in priority positions, acceptance rates can drop to approximately 30% during competitive job markets.
Why offer acceptance rate reflects employer brand strength
Your OAR serves as a direct reflection of employer brand health.
When candidates decline offers, they’re essentially voting with their career choices—revealing potential misalignments between your company’s promises and candidates’ perceptions.
A high acceptance rate (above 90%) indicates excellent alignment between candidate expectations and your employer value proposition.
This harmony suggests your recruitment messaging accurately represents workplace reality, building trust throughout the hiring process.
Conversely, a low OAR signals potential employer branding problems.
These might include:
- Uncompetitive compensation packages compared to market standards
- Poor communication during the recruitment process
- Misalignment between job descriptions and actual offers
- Negative company reputation in candidate communities
How to improve offer acceptance rate
To boost your acceptance rates:
- Ensure competitive compensation through regular market research. With 72% of candidates citing compensation as a critical factor in their decision-making, staying current with salary benchmarks is essential.
- Streamline your hiring process—today’s candidates expect efficiency and transparency. Lengthy processes lead to candidate disengagement and increased likelihood of competing offers.
- Leverage candidate feedback through surveys to understand rejection reasons. This data helps reshape future offers based on actual candidate preferences.
- Maintain transparent communication throughout the recruitment journey. Clear explanations about role expectations, company culture, and growth opportunities help candidates make informed decisions.
Putting it all together
Effective employer branding strategies require more than gut feelings or sporadic feedback.
Measured, quantifiable data through these five metrics creates a comprehensive dashboard for your recruitment efforts:
- Candidate NPS reveals how your hiring process affects potential employees
- Employee referral rates act as a litmus test for your cultural health
- Glassdoor rating trends offer unfiltered external perspectives
- Career page analytics uncover digital behavior patterns before applications even begin
- Offer acceptance rate confirms whether your employer value proposition truly resonates with top candidates
These metrics work together as an interconnected system rather than isolated data points.
Declining candidate NPS scores might explain dropping application rates on your career site.
Similarly, negative Glassdoor trends could correlate with decreasing offer acceptance rates.
Rather than implementing all five metrics at once, start with those addressing your most urgent talent acquisition needs.
Companies struggling with candidate quality might focus first on career page analytics and Glassdoor ratings.
Teams facing offer rejections should examine candidate NPS and offer acceptance patterns.
Measuring these employer branding metrics transforms your recruitment approach from reactive to proactive.
When executive leadership questions recruitment effectiveness, you’ll have concrete data demonstrating progress and pinpointing challenges.
Competitive advantage in talent acquisition comes from understanding exactly how candidates perceive your organization at every touchpoint.
Your journey toward data-driven recruitment excellence begins with measuring what matters most.
Frequently asked questions
1. How do you measure the ROI of employer branding efforts?
Measure ROI by tracking cost-per-hire reduction (strong brands reduce costs by up to 50%), time-to-fill improvements, quality of hire metrics, and retention rates.
Calculate savings from reduced turnover and recruiting expenses against your employer branding investments.
2. Are Glassdoor ratings actually important for attracting talent?
Absolutely.
With 86% of job seekers researching company reviews before applying, Glassdoor ratings significantly impact your talent pipeline.
Research shows candidates request smaller salary increases from companies with positive reviews and are more eager to apply to them.
3. How can employee referral rates improve your employer brand?
High referral rates indicate your employees are proud brand ambassadors.
Referred candidates typically have better cultural fit, longer tenure, and cost significantly less to hire (about $1,000 versus $4,000-$18,000 through traditional channels).
Referrals also help your brand reach passive talent who aren’t actively job searching.
