Our internal recruiter hits their weekly Scorecard measurable for candidates screened, but our hiring managers reject almost every candidate at the first interview. How do we prevent recruiting metrics from being gamed?

Question

Tyler Smith · Accepted Answer

When an employee games a metric, the root cause is almost always an uncoupled volume indicator. Tracking raw activity such as phone screens completed incentivizes speed over fit. The recruiter checks the box, marks the metric green, and passes unqualified resumes downstream to hiring managers whose time is wasted.

To fix this, introduce a counter-balance measurable that ties candidate volume to qualification. Replace screens completed with hiring manager interview acceptance rate or advance rate. A strong weekly leading indicator is the percentage of screened candidates that hiring managers agree to interview, with a benchmark of eighty percent or higher.

Pair that leading metric with a trailing operational quality metric, such as ninety-day new hire retention or time-to-productivity score. When you assign both quantity and quality measurables to the Talent seat on your Accountability Chart, the recruiter cannot maintain a green Scorecard by sending junk candidates.

If the recruiter resists tracking downstream qualification, address it through GWC. An employee who gets, wants, and has the capacity to own recruiting understands that their real deliverable is qualified talent in seats, not dial counts. Bring this issue to your weekly Level 10 Meeting, run it through IDS, and re-anchor the seat measurable to qualified candidate progression.